| THE BELL - WINSHAM Mine Hosts - Terri and Tony. We arrived in Winsham as new owners of The Bell on 17th September 1999 not knowing what to expect. There was obviously some trepidation on our part, this being our first pub, but the impression we got when viewing of a friendly, warm helpful village was soon apparent. We were welcomed by everyone. This helped us settle into village life very quickly, so quickly in fact that it seems like we have always been here. The  Christmas period was very eventful, our first Christmas Draw was a success and for Christmas Day Lunch it seemed as though the whole village came out.Millennium at the Bell saw a fancy dress party, an yone arriving without fancy dress was asked for a donation of £5.00, with £75.00 being raised for local Charities.January saw a start to a much needed refurbishment. Having already replaced the windows in November, we proceeded to strip the walls and remove the bench seating. The ceiling was lowered by 3 inches with sound and fireproofing inserted. Wood panelling was put around the bottom of the walls and a heavy embossed paper above. A few eyebrows were raised when we painted it pink but once we had stained all the wood and replaced the carpet throughout, added new tables, chairs and wall lights everyone appreciated the "New Look".We are very proud to say that while all this work was going on The Bell never closed, although it was very hard work for both of us since we did most of it ourselves. It was very rewarding and we had it finished before Easter. Sometimes it seemed as though we were living on a building site, but we could not have completed it without the co-operation of out customers who lived through the refurbishment with us without a single complaint. Our first Street Fair was very eventful, very hard work, but it was all everyone said it would be, a lot of fun. We have also raised in our first year £685.00 through the Lottery Game. This will be shared between about ten different causes within the village, e.g. Playgroup, Winsham F.C., Davies Close and many more. Added to that we took part in a national Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Nurses which raised a further £106.00. All in all we think the villagers of Winsham are a very generous lot and we thank everybody who helped. Finally, we would like to thank everyone who has helped us through our first year, with a special mention for Ann and Alan, part of the fixtures and fittings when we bought The Bell. They have certainly made our lives a lot easier. We feel they are more friends than anything else. Having looked at forty pubs before choosing The Bell, Winsham we know that we have made the right choice. |
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