The Blue Bell was built around 1600. From then on it was used for a variety of purposes but in 1798 it was converted from a warehouse into a public house. Legend has it that when this conversion took place a lot of church towers in York were undergoing renovation.
But that’s just the beginning!
For centuries The Blue Bell has been one of Britain’s most-loved pubs. Now, for the first time, its social, architectural and ownership history are revealed.
During the pub’s closure due to the Coronavirus lockdowns John researched the history of the pub and has written the first volume of The Blue Bell’s story.
The History of The Blue Bell, Volume I: 1798-2022 is now available over the bar for £12.95. If you forgot to get one when you were in, email John at bluebellyork@gmail.com for postage details.
The History of The Blue Bell, Volume One: 1798 – 2022 was launched in May of 2023. The night was so eventful we all joked that Volume II already has its first few pages written!
Since the book launch many people have been in touch with stories, anecdotes and personal pictures of the ‘old days’ dug out of dusty attics and even dustier memories. The following is collated from Blue Bell regulars who – after having read the book – got in touch to offer additional information about the history of this beautiful little pub. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch and offered further insights and information – it means the world that The Blue Bell still holds a treasured place in so many hearts.
The bells from these towers were made with gun metal and stored in the warehouse for safe keeping. So when the pub was refitted the owners decided to name it after the contents found – hence why the pub is named after the bell, not the flower.
A lot of what you see and experience in The Blue Bell today is due to what we affectionately call ‘The Robinson Dynasty’. In the January of 1903 George and Annie Robinson took on the pub and created the House Rules you can still see today. Annie gave birth to a baby girl who they named Edith in the December of the same year. The pub was given a very trendy Edwardian make-over, the glazed bricks were added and the front door was moved to it’s current position on Fossgate. They ran the pub through World War One, the Spanish Flu, the depression of the thirties and World War Two. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1947 before Geroge sadly passed away a year later.
Annie then took over the running of the pub and celebrated her 85th birthday here in 1962. When she passed away in 1963 the lease transferred to their daughter Edith who by now was 60 herself. Edith (or Mrs Pinder as she preferred to be known) kept her mother and father’s rules in place and wasn’t one for change. She ran The Blue Bell with the uncompromising attitude learnt from her parents until 1992 when she passed away after 89 years of being at the pub. In that time she saw 17 US Presidents, 18 British Prime Ministers and five monarchs come and go – all whilst nothing in her treasured Blue Bell changed one bit.
But that’s just the beginning! During the pub’s closure in the Coronavirus lockdown John researched the history of the pub and has written the first volume of The Blue Bell’s story.
York’s early Jewish community
“The first references to a Jewish community in York date back to the 1170s. Property deeds held in York City Archives and Durham Cathedral Archives refer to two very substantial properties, occupied by two prominent Jewish figures, Josce and Benedict.
Historians have usually placed Josce’s house and synagogue on Coney Street, and Benedict’s house on Spen Lane. Our research has shown this oft-repeated assertion to be false, based on a misunderstanding of the charter evidence.
In fact, Benedict lived on a corner plot at the junction of modern Colliergate and St Saviourgate. Josce lived diagonally opposite, on the corner of Fossgate, probably around the site currently occupied by the Fossgate Tap and Blue Bell pubs.”
-From John Jenkins via Alan
Full article:
John Jenkins, Co-Director of the Centre for Pilgrimage Studies, University of York and Louise Hampson, Research Fellow in History, University of York
28 December 2023 – 6-min read
The bells from these towers were made with gun metal and stored in the warehouse for safe keeping. So when the pub was refitted the owners decided to name it after the contents found – hence why the pub is named after the bell, not the flower.
A lot of what you see and experience in The Blue Bell today is due to what we affectionately call ‘The Robinson Dynasty’. In the January of 1903 George and Annie Robinson took on the pub and created the House Rules you can still see today. Annie gave birth to a baby girl who they named Edith in the December of the same year. The pub was given a very trendy Edwardian make-over, the glazed bricks were added and the front door was moved to it’s current position on Fossgate. They ran the pub through World War One, the Spanish Flu, the depression of the thirties and World War Two. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1947 before Geroge sadly passed away a year later.
Annie then took over the running of the pub and celebrated her 85th birthday here in 1962. When she passed away in 1963 the lease transferred to their daughter Edith who by now was 60 herself. Edith (or Mrs Pinder as she preferred to be known) kept her mother and father’s rules in place and wasn’t one for change. She ran The Blue Bell with the uncompromising attitude learnt from her parents until 1992 when she passed away after 89 years of being at the pub. In that time she saw 17 US Presidents, 18 British Prime Ministers and five monarchs come and go – all whilst nothing in her treasured Blue Bell changed one bit.
But that’s just the beginning! During the pub’s closure in the Coronavirus lockdown John researched the history of the pub and has written the first volume of The Blue Bell’s story.
York’s early Jewish community
“The first references to a Jewish community in York date back to the 1170s. Property deeds held in York City Archives and Durham Cathedral Archives refer to two very substantial properties, occupied by two prominent Jewish figures, Josce and Benedict.
Historians have usually placed Josce’s house and synagogue on Coney Street, and Benedict’s house on Spen Lane. Our research has shown this oft-repeated assertion to be false, based on a misunderstanding of the charter evidence.
In fact, Benedict lived on a corner plot at the junction of modern Colliergate and St Saviourgate. Josce lived diagonally opposite, on the corner of Fossgate, probably around the site currently occupied by the Fossgate Tap and Blue Bell pubs.”
-From John Jenkins via Alan
Full article:
John Jenkins, Co-Director of the Centre for Pilgrimage Studies, University of York and Louise Hampson, Research Fellow in History, University of York
28 December 2023 – 6-min read
“
I used to go to your pub in the 1970s every weekend on Saturdays when I came into York from Leavening for my weekly shop. Edith ( All the customers called her Edith, though for tradesmen it would have been more formal) took me down to show me the cellar which was immaculate and so clean you could have eaten off the floor. She still had wooden barrels and said that the only reason John Smiths were changing to metal kegs was because landlords no longer knew how to keep beer properly. She said that the day John Smiths tried to bring a metal keg to her they would be OUT.
Because other pubs had succumbed to the metal kegs it was the only opportunity for me to compare wooden barrel and metal keg. The wooden barrel in the Blue Bell won. I just remember that it was more mellow than the metal keg. I have fond memories of York, the Blue Bell and Edith.”
-From Barry
But that’s just the beginning!
But that’s just the beginning!
But that’s just the beginning! During the pub’s closure due to the Coronavirus lockdowns John researched the history of the pub and has written the first volume of The Blue Bell’s story.
The History of The Blue Bell, Volume I: 1798-2022 is now available over the bar for £12.95. If you forgot to get one when you were in, email John at bluebellyork@gmail.com for postage details.
“
Hi John,
My name is Paul and my wife and I called in to the Bluebell one afternoon a few weeks ago and you kindly signed “The History of the Bluebell” book.
My wife had been reading the book and there is a mention of the front window being changed in 1998 due to vandals. But also I was a regular when Jim and Sue had the pub and in 2007 a driver crashed into the front wall and I understood that the front window was damaged and had to be changed then. This hit the news in the Evening Press, yet there was no mention of the event in your book, so I assume nobody was around to inform you. I am 71 years old, but I would have thought someone a similar age or older and a regular in the Bluebell would confirm it?”
-From Paul & Keiko
The following appeared in the press
"WE ALL ran out thinking a bomb had gone off."
Those were the words of Sue Hardie, landlady of The Blue Bell pub, in Fossgate, York, after a car came off the road and collided with the watering hole's front wall.
"There was a huge bang, a crunch, and then something hit the wall," she said.
Onlookers said the driver had been trying to park the silver 5-Series BMW car, when it mounted the kerb, collided with a parked car and then the wall. Both the offside and driver's side wings were damaged.
One onlooker said: "I know it's a good pub, but I'm not sure about trying to get in it that way."
A worker at Alterations Express, opposite the pub, saw the incident unfold.
She said: "We were stood at the counter watching the woman trying to park up - we knew what was going to happen.
"She couldn't, and ended up hitting the car in front."
The following appeared in the press
"WE ALL ran out thinking a bomb had gone off."
Those were the words of Sue Hardie, landlady of The Blue Bell pub, in Fossgate, York, after a car came off the road and collided with the watering hole's front wall.
"There was a huge bang, a crunch, and then something hit the wall," she said.
Onlookers said the driver had been trying to park the silver 5-Series BMW car, when it mounted the kerb, collided with a parked car and then the wall. Both the offside and driver's side wings were damaged.
One onlooker said: "I know it's a good pub, but I'm not sure about trying to get in it that way."
A worker at Alterations Express, opposite the pub, saw the incident unfold.
She said: "We were stood at the counter watching the woman trying to park up - we knew what was going to happen.
"She couldn't, and ended up hitting the car in front."
“
It was great to meet you the other night! As promised, some pictures and info re Harry.
He was a rugby football player (what we would now call rugby league) from Tyldesley near Manchester and signed for York in 1899. When he had The Blue Bell it was very much a rugby football pub - all his mates sitting around drinking, talking about the game, placing bets. His wife remarked on their time at the Bluebell, "He drank more than we sold, and we sold a lot." They went on to have 10 children, later living on the Little Shambles and eventually Burdyke Avenue.
If there was space on a wall anywhere for the 1900-01 York team picture that has him on, I think he would be chuffed to bits with that. His time at The Blue Bell was brief compared with the Robinson era but I feel he made up for that in sheer character and notoriety!
The author mistakenly refers to him as Harry Hayley but it is undoubtedly our Harry. That’s my great aunt Nellie who must have given an oral history interview. She was named Grace after Harry’s playing partner George Grace.
I wonder whether George Robinson starting the football team (as in football not rugby football) was another rebuke to draw a line underneath the Blue Bell’s Harry era? Or maybe he just saw how well pubs and sport went together?”
-From Claire (nee Hayes)
Shortly after the book’s launch, a lady called Claire came in, bought a pint and said her grandfather used to run the pub. I politely told her that unless her surname was Robinson, I doubted her claim. However, when she revealed her maiden name to be Hayes, my eyes lit up.
Harry Hayes was the in infamous Landlord of The Blue Bell in 1902. Whilst researching the book I developed a love for Harry and his antics, but the limited material I was able to find meant that my affection for Harry was void of any context.
Claire has very kindly provided more information about Harry’s life and why he found himself at The Blue Bell in the early 1900s. Harry was an excellent Rugby player (referred to in the article as ‘football’) and was brought over to York to play here. He enjoyed a long and successful career in York and his team photo from the 1900-01 season – thanks to Claire – is now where it should have always been – hanging proudly on the walls of The Blue Bell.
The History of The Blue Bell, Volume One: 1798 – 2022 was launched in May of 2023. The night was so eventful we all joked that Volume II already has its first few pages written!
Since the book launch many people have been in touch with stories, anecdotes and personal pictures of the ‘old days’ dug out of dusty attics and even dustier memories. The following is collated from Blue Bell regulars who – after having read the book – got in touch to offer additional information about the history of this beautiful little pub. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch and offered further insights and information – it means the world that The Blue Bell still holds a treasured place in so many hearts.
These photos were sent to me shortly after publication, but would have been a brilliant way to show how the pub looked before the toilets were covered, the portable gas fires removed and hand pumps were added.
Shortly after the book’s launch, a lady called Claire came in, bought a pint and said her grandfather used to run the pub. I politely told her that unless her surname was Robinson, I doubted her claim. However, when she revealed her maiden name to be Hayes, my eyes lit up.
Harry Hayes was the in infamous Landlord of The Blue Bell in 1902. Whilst researching the book I developed a love for Harry and his antics, but the limited material I was able to find meant that my affection for Harry was void of any context.
Claire has very kindly provided more information about Harry’s life and why he found himself at The Blue Bell in the early 1900s. Harry was an excellent Rugby player (referred to in the article as ‘football’) and was brought over to York to play here. He enjoyed a long and successful career in York and his team photo from the 1900-01 season – thanks to Claire – is now where it should have always been – hanging proudly on the walls of The Blue Bell.
The History of The Blue Bell, Volume One: 1798 – 2022 was launched in May of 2023. The night was so eventful we all joked that Volume II already has its first few pages written!
Since the book launch many people have been in touch with stories, anecdotes and personal pictures of the ‘old days’ dug out of dusty attics and even dustier memories. The following is collated from Blue Bell regulars who – after having read the book – got in touch to offer additional information about the history of this beautiful little pub. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch and offered further insights and information – it means the world that The Blue Bell still holds a treasured place in so many hearts.
These photos were sent to me shortly after publication, but would have been a brilliant way to show how the pub looked before the toilets were covered, the portable gas fires removed and hand pumps were added.
Find us
Contact us
Contact info
53 Fossgate, York YO1 9TF
01904 654904
bluebellyork@gmail.com
Opening times
| Monday | 12-11pm |
| Tuesday | 12-11pm |
| Wednesday | 12-11pm |
| Thursday | 12-11pm |
| Friday | 12-11pm |
| Saturday | 12-11pm |
| Sunday | 12-11pm |
