Thorpe Road
Tattershall Thorpe
Lincolnshire
LN4 4PE
The Blue Bell is a lovely old cottage style pub, whitewashed and with a traditional red pantiled roof. It dates from the early 1600s though apparently its origins go way back to 1257.
It is probably most famous as the local of the 617 Dambusters Squadron in World War 2 who were based at nearby Woodhall Spa airfield. There are photos of the airmen and women who visited the pub and pennies in the beams that were left to pay for their next pint. Though not all made it back.
The pub has appeared in a few BBC documentaries which explore its wartime role. It was in Episode 5 of the Hairy Bikers series The Pubs That Built Britain in 2016, and in the Bomber Boys presented by Ewan and Colin McGregor in 2012. It also appeared in an episode of Countryfile in 2014 which features a wartime airman based at Woodhall Spa.
My wife and I had a lovely meal here on a summers evening a couple of years ago, accompanied by a pint of the appropriately named Bomber County from Tom Wood’s Brewery.
