Saturday 20 May was a beautiful summer's day in the ancient capital of Cornwall, Launceston, or colloquially Lanson. CAMRA members converged from west Cornwall, east Cornwall, Plymouth and even Hampshire through the old town centre to the 16th-century Bell Inn.

Tucked away behind St Mary Magdalene's Church in Tower Street, this fascinating pub was originally built to house the stonemasons who erected the church, hence the ecclesiastical appearance. Its name relates to the eight bells in the nearby church tower.

The Bell is a honeypot venue for real ale and cider lovers thanks to the efforts of licensee Ivor. In addition to the attraction of the ever-changing range of handpumped beers and ciders, we were there to present the certificate for Runner-up in the Cornwall CAMRA Pub of the Year competition for 2023.

After settling in for some beer and a chat, Branch Chairman Vince Curtis presented the certificate to Ivor explaining that to be rated second out of nearly 600 pubs in the county is no mean achievement and the Bell was only short of the winner's score by one mark in the judging. So near... so maybe next year! The Bell has been runner up in Pub of the Year before, showing the consistent high quality maintained.

We eagerly tried to work our way through the beers and a good time was had by all, only saddened by the news that one of our active CAMRA members in past years, Larry Braithwaite, had recently passed away at the age of 92.

Eventually it was time to disperse home. Some of us couldn't resist trying to lodge stones on Mary Magdalene's back. Val succeeded!

Word by Steve Barber and Roger Webster

Photos by Steve Barber