retiredmartin

In Pubmeister parlance the Bluebell in Lound is a lone straggler in my GBG conquest, tucked away in the nothingness between Retford and Donny (with apologies to my relatives in beautiful Bawtry).

It’s a vital tick on the way to completing Nottinghamshire GBG entries for the year before the Pubmeister.

I confess I was a bit confused by this one, though not as confused as WhatPub which reckons it’s in South Yorkshire.  I was sure I’d been to Lound recently; turns out that was the Gate in Sutton-cum-Lound.   Quite why Sutton gets a cum-Lound, as it were, but Lound doesn’t get a cum-Sutton, is presumably an agenda item for Bassetlaw Council.

I visited the Gate en route to Halifax a year ago with my parents, possibly the most northern pub they’d ever been in.  The fish and chips were very wonderful, but no photographic evidence appears to exist.  If I find ’em, you’ll see ’em.

Never mind, the Bluebell is a deadringer for the Gate, as Meatloaf once sang.

A shame the Christmas tat obscures some pleasant 1950s (?) touches.

And a shame about the thin glass, surely the curse of 2017.

But a fine beer selection, in the sense there’s only three and I’ve heard of them all. Hoorah !

This, America, is how to do pubs.  Middle-aged folk in pullovers talking about nothing(well, Christmas preparations) on a Friday evening, keenly observed by a middle–aged bloke with poor dress sense.

I’m sorry Welbeck Brewery had to pull the plug on their Sheffield flagship; their beers are well made in a BBB way, and were competently served here (NBSS 3).

In the public, all was chat. In the lounge, all was unpretentious dining.  North Notts knows how to do a simple village local.