The Bell, September 1999

A lovely pub tucked away down a leafy lane off the A4040 Harborne Lane in the Harborne area of Birmingham. A real feel of a traditional local as the pub attracts a chatty local clientele as well as a feeling that you are perhaps in a village far away from the city. In actual fact you're probably only 4 miles from the hustle and bustle of the centre of Britain's second city.

The pub is an old coaching inn that's been there for over 300 years. The picture below shows the front of the house and the tower of St. Peter's Church behind. When entering there's a small room to the left, a large comfortable lounge to the right and another small room to the left towards the back of the pub. Unusually the bar is actually situated in the hallway of the pub which does cause access problems during busy evenings when the queue from the bar tends to block the corridor. However, don't let that put you off the pub. They've also got their own L-shaped bowling green behind the pub with outside seating to one side with tall gas burners to keep you warm as the temperature drops on summer evenings. It's the perfect place for an evening drink if you're in the area. Talking of drink they have two real ales available, one of which is a guest.

The offer food at lunchtimes and every evening except Sundays.

Me on the night of my PhD submission
with lots of friends, July 2001