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Agree with all of it - the ambience, the people, the attitude of the people, the parties, the qulity and range of edible goods, the way it's run and managed, the music.But also importantly its been a hub and space for the creativity of its users - think early stages of maximus, the fringe, bedlam, simon's printing, bike thingies, stanley, DJ's and musicians. Just as much as its a venue, its an artistic and creative hub that has played a big role for the arts in the city.

Sykes wrote:

The Bell is one of the few pubs that I feel comfortable walking into on my own.

That sums it up for me. I walked into the Bell more than a decade after last having gone to the Hat, and immediately felt at home again. I was even was welcomed back by Laurie, though I don't think I'd ever me him before! It seems a fitting continuation that it may well become owned by its denizens. La cloche est mort, vive la cloche!

I probably first went to the Bell in the early 80s, it was a regular destination as a teenager (under 18 ) and up until my early 20s when I moved away from Bath. I still come back to Bath and pop in for a pint or two as much as I can.

I started going to the Bell around 1965, and used to love talking to Brad (landlord) who was a jazz expert. He was also well known in jazz circles and called in once when Earl Hines was doing an impromptu gig with a quartet. Of course the pub was much smaller then, as the wall into the barn next door hadn't been knocked through, so the pub stopped at the end of the present stage. Often jazz musicians working at the Colston Hall in Bristol would come in to see Brad, and do some informal playing.

So, for me it's probably the historical associations as much as anything, although there's not so much jazz these days (in the 60's there would be trad jazz somewhere in Bath every night of the week, but the Bell was the mecca) I have seen some great musicians there over the years.

Anyone who is a regular at The Bell will know of the existence of a hallowed little part of the actual bar (closest to the fire and bar staff) which is endearingly known as The BBC (Boring Bastards Corner).

Anyone who knows me will know that - since the exile of Paul 'Nasher' Nashman to a jungle in South America (he was banished for performing his duties at the BBC a little too zealously) - I have played a vital role in making the working lives of the bar staff even more miserable than they would normally be, with the skilful use of harassment techniques involving repetition of old jokes, comments about clothing and hairstyles, inappropriate suggestions of a sexual nature, etc. etc.

To be able to perform this role and just overstep the bounds of acceptability without actually incurring a life-time ban takes great skill, and it is for this reason that most of the founder members of the BBC are of a great age - old enough, in fact, to be the fathers - if not grandfathers - of most of the bar staff. Actually, one of them is my grand daughter, but I still harass her like I do the others.

For reasons of ill-health (caused by a lifetime of alcohol and other abuse) I have - in recent years - not been able to sit at the BBC for any longer than an hour or two during the early evening (and more recently, the late afternoon), whereas in the old days I would sit there, entertaining the staff from 5.00 until midnight, whereupon I would go up to the club and carry on until 7.00 in the morning, only to repeat the process all over again the following evening.

My companions at the BBC are all roughly the same age as me, so we have a rota going which enables the younger members to take our places at the corner when we go home for our pathetic teas, and it is heartening to see how the next generation are picking up the baton and learning how to become just as boring as we ever were - in some cases even more so.

Yet another reason - if one were needed - to keep this fine tradition going buy buying The Bell for the community, and preserving the institution of the BBC for generations to come.

Well said! And on behalf of the many young staff, mostly girls, that you have harassed and left bored, tearful, resentful and/ or simply incapable of standing thanks to shots bought, may I say that we hope you carry on flying the flag for the BBC for many tedious years to come