Maidstone Road
Beltring
https://whatpub.com/blue-bell
Above photo, circa 1910, kindly sent by Derek Radburn. Showing the
pub in the livery of Isherwood, Foster & Stacey's Lower Brewery,
Maidstone. |
Above photo, date unknown. |
Above postcard, circa 1908. Kindly sent by Rory Kehoe. In the livery
of Isherwood, Foster & Stacey's Lower Brewery, Maidstone. |
Above photo, 1930. |
Above photo, date unknown. |
Above photo, 2003 kindly sent by Derek Radburn. |
Above photo, 2003 kindly sent by Derek Radburn. |
Above photo, 2003 kindly sent by Derek Radburn. |
Above photo, 2003 kindly sent by Derek Radburn. |
Above photo, 2003 kindly sent by Derek Radburn. |
Above photo, 2003 kindly sent by Derek Radburn. |
Above photo 2013. |
Above photo 2013 by Tasha Nicholls.
https://tashanicholsphotography
|
Above photo 2010 by Stacey Harris
Creative Commons Licence. |
Above drawing 1965. |
Above sign left 1987, sign right July 1988.
With thanks from Brian Curtis and Roger Pester
www.innsignsociety.com. |
Above sign left, April 1993, sign right 2003.
With thanks from Brian Curtis
www.innsignsociety.com. |
The census of 1891 referred to this as just the "Bell Inn." I
also have reference to a "Bell"
addressed in East Peckham which could be one and the same.
Supplied by Alfred Leney Co Ltd, who bought out Thomas Walker's Phoenix
Brewery in 1859 and registered as such in 1896, until bought out by Fremlin
Brothers brewery of Maidstone in 1926, brewing at the Dover brewery ceased
in 1927, which later passed to Whitbread.
An entry in Fremlin's 1950s publication called "Where shall we go,"
indicated the following:- Phone - East Peckham 213, Parking accommodation -
30 coaches (Appointment) 50 cars, Lunch - Snacks at bar, Tea - Snacks at
bar, Remarks - Piano available. View of Large Hop Farm.
Kentish Gazette, 6 August 1850.
EAST PECKHAM. Hop Dinner.
On Wednesday last the annual hop dinner took place at the "Bell Inn,"
Beltring. There was a larger attendance than usual. Mr. Bookham, of West
Malling, in the chair. Mr. Martyr Luck, of Pembary, was the winner of
last year’s sweepstakes. There were twenty-six sets for the present
year, varying from £150,000 to 250,000. The average betting was about
£200,000.
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Maistone and Kentish Journal, 1 December, 1898.
Paddock Wood. Larceny.
Frederick Levitt, 58, gardener, pleading not guilty to an indictment
charging him with having stolen two flower pots and plants, the property
of John Henry Baldwin, of the "Maidstone Road Inn," Paddock Wood, on
November 8th.
Mr. Hohler appeared for the prosecution.
It appeared that the prisoner visited the inn on the day in question and
the ensuing morning the plants were missed from the greenhouse. He
afterwards saw the landlord of the "Beltring Bell Inn," and sold the
plants to him for 4d. Prisoner contended that he purchased the plants,
together with some tools.
The Judge, in summing up, expressed his regret that there was no power
given to the Magistrates to dispose of such cases of petty larceny.
Prisoner was found guilty, and sentenced to 1 month's hard labour.
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Information taken from
http://www.ghostconnections.com/The%20Blue%20Bellgc.htm 2006.
GHOST CONNECTIONS.
Background:
The Bluebell Inn at Beltring is easily missed sitting, as it does just
off a busy dual carriageway past the Hop Farm. It is one of the oldest
buildings in the area dating back at least 600 years. It is believed
that there may have been a building here before this. In a time when
hops were the main industry in these parts this was the only public
house for miles and inside there are photographs of this era showing
crowds of people being served through the windows. It now consists of 2
bars (one considerably older than the other) and a restaurant with
living quarters above. Outside is an early 20th Century function hall.
Ghost Connections received reports of sightings of spirits within the
building and previous clairvoyant information of a spirit in the
restaurant area. Tales of unnaturally quickly expiring batteries in
clocks abounded and some photographs taken in the hall, shown to the
team on a recce, prompted them to 'feel' the atmosphere here and deem
this worthy of some attention on the night. An account of a ‘dream' of a
boy crawling though a hole in the attic had previously been said the be
close to an account of a boy jumping out of a previous window on the
upper floor.
It was intended to investigate the attic area although due to
circumstances beyond the team or tenants control this was not feasible
on the night.
The team investigated the hall and the restaurant area using various
methods and used the opportunity of the photographs shown to them of the
hall to experiment with long exposure photography in an effort to
replicate often produced images said to provide evidence of ghosts.
Ghost Connections - Ian, Paddy, Kim, and Dave.
Method:
Use of EVP, still photography and camcorder to record the evenings
events whilst calling for spirit in the hope of capturing evidence of
paranormal activity.
The Investigation:
The team first located to the hall. General feelings of an oppressive
nature were sensed although despite calling out no activity was
experienced here. During a more intense séance held here feelings of
sickness were encountered and certain unexplainable noises were heard in
the area of the bar. There were a number of other noises but were found
to be electrical or mechanical equipment in this area.
Whilst in the hall the team also experimented with long exposure
photography with interesting results. Dave's Canon EOS-10 was also used
and the films are awaiting development. The airtight pendulum experiment
was set up and recorded on cam. From the teams position it seemed that
there may have been unexplained movement of the pendulum by request
although close scrutiny of the footage shows very little movement at
all.
This session had to be called off after an hour and a half as Kim felt a
tightening of the chest and throat and could not stop coughing severely.
CCTV had been set up to record continuously in this area.
The team had a short break and then moved into the main building to
investigate the restaurant area.
CCTV had also been set up here focussed on the fireplace area.
The team conducted a lengthy vigil in this area and also conducted a
glass experiment on a table prompting anyone else present to
communicate. No noises were heard of an unexplainable nature. Nothing was
recorded on cam footage or voice recorder that cannot be readily
explained.
Results
The CCTV and Voice Recorders produced nothing of note in any areas.
Camera footage and stills produced nothing of note in any areas.
The noises heard by the team were substantiated on recordings.
The glass experiment produced no movement at all.
Conclusion
Despite current reports and eye witness accounts from the venue no
evidence was forthcoming.
A few noises remain unexplained in the hall.
Kim's coughing cannot be explained naturally however its cause cannot be
said to be paranormal due to lack of conclusive corroborative evidence.
It may be suggested that the situation within the premises regarding
possible closure was having an influence on the staff and the team. This
is a suggestible reason for any normal ‘friendly’ activity to cease in
the light of impending uncertainty. We may never know if this was the
case. A further investigation in the future may establish if this theory
is at all relevant to the reported activity at The Bluebell Inn and
whether this is why little was experienced on the night we visited.
There was an amount of information forthcoming of a clairvoyant psychic
kind, but this cannot be validated. As Ghost Connections conducts
scientifically based investigations we do not publish such observations,
however, this information is held on a separate database and may prove
interesting when compared to other peoples experiences.
We would like to thank Derek and Mandy at The Bluebell Public House for
their hospitality and interest.
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Information below taken from
http://www.dhaplanning.co.uk 2014.
The "Blue Bell Inn" is a Grade II listed building dating from the 18th
Century or earlier. The site is also home to a curtilage listed single kiln
Oast, the ground floor of which is used as cellarage. The separate function
room of the inn, latterly used as a café, was destroyed by fire in May 2009
and the inn was left vacant.
The planning permission and listed building consent were first granted on
the basis of a hotel addition. They proposed rebuilding the dilapidated
toilet facilities at the rear of the inn and replacing the rear porch with a
window. The overpainted hanging tiles on the front will be replaced by
unpainted reclaimed tiles. The rebuilt toilet facilities and some levelling
of internal steps will overcome the inn's non-compliance with disabled
access requirements.
The first floor of the Oast was proposed to be converted to an ancillary
staff flat with an external wooden stair on the east (Laddingford) side. To
provide financial support to the inn, 15 rooms of hotel accommodation were
proposed on the site of the former café with a covered walkway to the
rebuilt toilet facilities area at the rear of the inn. This was of two
storeys, with the upper floor in the roof. Parking for 40 cars plus 4
mobility spaces was proposed and areas of hardstanding will be replaced by
landscaping. This proposal is an enabling development, the principles of
which are set out in English Heritage guidance.
The main policy conflict the development raised was with Green Belt,
which would not normally allow the hotel accommodation on the site of the
former café unless Very Special Circumstances are demonstrated. The wider
public benefit of enabling the listed inn to continue on a viable basis was
considered to amount to Very Special Circumstances. In addition, the new
accommodation is calculated to be the minimum necessary to make it viable,
as required by English Heritage. With the detailed submissions on ecology,
viability, flood risk, design and access etc submitted by dha in mind, the
proposal was not called in by the Secretary of State and permission was
granted by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council.
Following a period of marketing dha submitted an alternative enabling
scheme for conversion of the inn and oast to two dwellings with construction
of 3 new homes in the grounds. This was also granted planning and listed
building consent. Work started in 2013.
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LICENSEE LIST
STREETER Thomas Mar/1854-58+ (also carpenter)
STREETER Mary 1861+ (age 52 in 1861)
BARDEN John 1862+
MOUNTFORD David 1874-91+ (age 57 in 1881)
FRANCIS Leonard 1901-03+ (also farmer age 50 in 1901)
BURTON William J 1911-13+ (age 29 in 1911)
HUTCHINSON James 1918+
HUTCHINSON Harriet Mrs 1922+
JACKSON George E 1930+
BUTCHERS Frederick 1938+
RADBURN Derek 2003-08
https://pubwiki.co.uk/Bell.shtml
http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/bluebell.html
From the Kelly's Directory 1903
Census
Maidstone
and Kentish Journal
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