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Local produce for local consumption at the Olde Bell Inn, Hurley |
I’ve been invited to attend a BNI breakfast in the morning in Hurley. A village on the way to Henley in Berkshire, if you’re coming from Windsor! It’s on the way to Maidenhead if you’re driving or cycling from Henley!!
Anyway, thought I’d add this feature on the Olde Bell as the website looks great and I hope the breakfast is as good! ‘One finds one’s best welcome at an Inn’ The Olde Bell is the first in a family of modern day coaching Inns, all in historic timber framed buildings. Using locally sourced food cooked simply; eating, drinking, lodgings. Parts of the building date back to 1135, with nooks and crannies and crooked floors. For the warmer months, enjoy local ales and eats from our summer kitchen in our huge meadow garden, or in the winter, make yourself at home inside by our open fires. Only an hour from central London, 20 minutes from Heathrow with good transport links and wifi throughout. The Inn is not a hotel where the rooms dominate but where the common spaces are the heartbeat of the place. Extract from book ‘Legacy of an England’, Brian Cook, Batsford: ‘The major business of the inn is to provide sustenance and shelter. The traveller arriving after dark would be able to find wine and warmth. Mine hoste’s fires glowed and roared, his table was stocked with joints of equal size and succulence, his pewter sparkled and everybody seemed to be at the summit of health, heartiness and happiness.’ Food with heart and soul Eating and drinking is central to the Inn. We provide locally sourced food, served simply, using local suppliers from Machin’s butchers in Henley with on site smokery, to the Clarkes at Kingcup Farm who supply beautiful vegetables and introduced us to the local beekeeper. We can accommodate up to 60 for breakfast, lunch or supper in the main dining room, and also up to 12 in a private panelled room for more intimate gathering and feasting. Our menu changes daily and we bake our bread on site. The restaurant is open for lunch daily 12-3pm (4pm on Sundays) and for dinner on Monday to Saturday 6.30-10pm. 'Rosie is a cracking good cook. and has brought this passion for local and seasonal to the Olde Bell. The food has about it a distinctive gastronomic intelligence and literacy - it's Europhile in a very English way.' - Around Britain on a fork, Matthew Fort, Guardian, 28th June 2008 'Local chairs and local cheese' At the Olde Bell, we set out to reinstate the concept of a traditional inn and sense of life cycle into the building. Local historian, David Burfitt, provided photographs from over the ages, which are used throughout the bar. From village outings departing from outside the front door to sheep runs along the High st, the Inn shown as a centre for the community and part of daily life. Using country materials such as rush matting, traditional plaster made from lime and horsehair, and chairs from the Ercol factory in High Wycombe. From ploughmans lunches, afternoon teas to more substantial meals. Bar food is available from noon until 10pm. www.theoldebell.co.uk 01628 825 881 |
