A dash of nostalgia in the Old Bell's unchanged Tudor Bar

It was an enjoyable nostalgia kick for me when I called in to Derby’s Old Bell Hotel with my daughter Sharon a couple of weeks ago.

As it was a Friday, the Tudor Bar at the far end of the arch, through which coaches used to pass, was open, as it is also on Saturdays.

The ambience in the Tudor Bar seems much the same, centred on conversation.

By and large, it looks much as it did when, as a wide-eyed 18-year-old reporter, I would accompany the old fellas into the bar and soak up knowledge and experience, not all of it good, but mostly.

I say old fellas. The bar, for many years, was men only and a small toilet through a door off the bar contained only a male urinal. There was an exception to the men only rule, Alice, who managed the bar sternly in that room for many years.

There is a picture on the wall in the room now depicting the old days. They say judges, policemen and councillors were regulars and that big decisions were taken there. In the picture, a young Alice moves among the men with a tray.

By the time I went in, the men-only rule had not long been lifted – female customers were somewhat grumpily tolerated by some of the older men – but Alice was still in place.

By now a venerable age, she was kind to me, mostly kind to everyone, unless they stepped out of line, in which case a stare was usually enough to restore order.

The archway leading down to the door into the Old Bell's Tudor Bar.

That not too much has changed about the appearance in the Tudor Bar is of great credit to businessman Paul Hurst, who took over the near-derelict building in 2012 and made the room the first part of an extensive renovation which has run to over £1m and is still ongoing.

Built in 1650, the Old Bell was an important coaching inn, once hosting 40 coaches a day. Derby’s place halfway up the country made it an important stop-off on long journeys.

It is, beyond dispute, one of the jewels in the city’s crown, one of few such buildings still standing.

In a 2025 interview, Mr Hurst noted that while he had restored much of the first floor for functions and that the rooms were busy, the letting rooms on the second floor were a part of the overall project he had not yet reached.

In 2021, Mr Hurst put the pub on the market with an asking price of £1.5m and was quoted as saying “it is time to hand the baton over to someone else who can take the business to the next level.”

He added that he was dreading his last day and, it would seem, he dreaded it so much that, so far, it has not come. After all, it would be a massive undertaking for anyone prepared to go for it.

Anyway, back to the Tudor Room. As I said, it isn’t open every day and I did not know this when, a couple of months ago, this time with both daughters for the opening of Ashover Brewery’s nearby Tannery bar, I put my head in the room to see if it was operating.

There were rows of chairs set out inside and a guy sitting outside in the courtyard had his hopes raised. He was hosting an evening of comedy and thought he had his first customers. We had to disappoint him and I can only hope things got better later.

The historic picture of a busy day in the Tudor Bar with the only woman, bar manager Alice, moving among the regulars.

For my visit when it was properly open, it was disappointing to find there was no cask beer available in the room itself, although there were several good craft keg ales on.

You have to go back to the main bar at the front of the hotel, where there is an array of handpumps and a wide choice. I always drank Bass back in the day in the Tudor Bar, so Bass it was, carried back to the old room.

The customers in there were young-ish but the conversation was cheerful and animated and, watching them, it was easy to feel a similar ambience to the old days, just without the fog of cigarette smoke.

I felt comfortable, one of the big things I want from any pub. The décor is not quite the same – a tapestry, more of a carpet, that covered one wall is gone, replaced by the picture of Alice and customers but there remains a magnificent original fireplace and the stained glass windows are as immaculate as ever.

The solitary toilet is now unisex and so it should be.

The Old Bell Hotel has been the subject of a £1m renovation - and counting.

Talk about time passing. I was sitting in there close to 50 years since my first visit. Of course it has changed, yet it hasn’t, in so many ways.

Long may that remain so. I’ve never met Paul Hurst. He comes over as committed and convivial in the interviews I’ve seen.

Derby owes him a debt. I raised a glass to what he has done for the Old Bell and I hope he hasn’t finished yet.