Ringing up 20 years at the Bell

Licensees Keith and Vanessa Brewer are turning the clock back to celebrate 20 years at their pub, the Bell in Alderminster, this month.

Over that time, the Brewers have overseen a transformation of the Warwickshire.pub from a flagging local into an award winning destination food business.

To mark the anniversary, the Bell will be featuring the original menu from 1987 throughout April. The pub will also display memorabilia from the last 20 years including handcrafted posters and banners that were used to advertise theme and festival nights.

One highlight of the past 20 years for the Brewers claim was serving tea for the Queen and Prince Philip at Stratford Town Hall in 1996 to celebrate the town's 800th birthday. The Bell was also featured on ITV's Heart of the Country programme after taking the unusual step of introducing opera to a pub.

Keith and Vanessa have run a range of successful theme nights,starting with a Beaujolais Nouveau evening in 1987. Since then they have organised a special night every month ranging from Indian nights, and seafood festivals, to dinners for American Independence Day, and Derby Day.

Vanessa said: "We look forward to celebrating our anniversary month with our family, friends and customers. Looking back over the last 20 years, we've experienced so many changes - for instance we sold a pint of beer in 1987 for just 60 pence. I believe our success is simply down to providing good home cooked food at realistic prices in character surroundings served by cheerful staff."