Bell Inn, Nottingham

Always call in here one of Nottingham's finest three bar operation narrow passageway bars in small rooms at the front to the right and the left of you and a large room and long bar at the back. With a selection of hand pumps

Another of Nottingham’s Ye Olde Ancient Innes, the main claim to fame for this one is the C15th King Henry VI timber (unfound by me) and the cellar carved directly into the sandstone (tours on Tuesdays). Much bigger inside than the outside suggests. The two rooms either side of the entrance passageway are the oldest part of the pub and come with leaded windows (with a nice bell motif) and heavy ceiling timbering. The passageway then leads to a wide open space of back bar, which has attractive wood panelling, black and white prints of old Nottingham, chandeliers and stained glass skylights. It’s now a GK pub after their takeover of Hardy & Hansons a few years back but there is at least a bit of variety on the beer front, with a couple of guests on my visit (Holdens and Nottingham ‘Bell Inn Bitter’ brewery) alongside the lesser-spotted GK XX Mild which came out well enough. There’s a restaurant upstairs but after packing a few beers in before heading here I decided against tackling the stairs. The licensee timeline on the wall of the rear room is quite a nice touch and is obviously part of the ‘oldest pub in Nottingham’ PR campaign. Clientele are bit more upmarket than some of the other Nottingham pubs and so are the prices at the bar. Not necessarily a ‘must-do’ but worth a visit on an extended tour of duty.