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Picture source: www.huntscamra.org.uk

The Bell was situated on the Great North Road (later the A1) and closed in 2002. This pub is grade-II listed.

I own this former pub, and I have a few old photos but they are too big for me to scan. I met the former manager/landlord who mentioned he once served Dick Turpin (gave me a copy of his credit card slip as proof) and he served David Frost and David Bellamy in what is now my living room. There used to be several outbuildings as it was also a small holding until about the 1960s and one of these was used as a morgue, so it is supposedly haunted. Indeed, my father, who lives in an extension on the site of the outbuildings, has had some odd happenings, such as doors opening by themselves, his playing cards being put away while he had a nap, and the smell of pipe smoke in his hall. It dates from about 1750 and is thought to be on the site of an older building. The owners before us tried unsuccessfully to get planning permission for a number of projects, such as housing and a caravan site, but instead used the house as a 'dungeon' for special 'parties'. I am in the ambulance service, and colleagues recall being called here over the years to various complaints, but report it was being used as a brothel, a story many locals have also confirmed.

Barry Lawson

This pub was in my family since the 1700's, ending with Mary Haggar in 1914.

Janice MacCallum

One of my great-grandmothers, Ann Bridges nee Metcalfe, lived here during her childhood in Victorian times: one of the younger daughters of a large family who ran the pub/coaching inn. I believe Mary Hagger was her sibling closest in age to her. My father had a similar joke about Dick Turpin having rested at the 'family's inn' during Turpin's mythical ride between London and York.

Anne Powell (April 2014)

Listed building details:

Mid C18 Inn with outshut at rear. Red brick, English bond. Modern tile roof with end stacks. Two storeys and attics. Three dormers. Segmental arches to three flush wood frame hung sashes with glazing bars. Central doorway with doorcase of thin pilaster strips and flat door hood on shaped brackets.

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