History - The Early Years
Although no-one knows exactly when the Blue Bell sold its first pint, it has been serving the old boating community of Hardingswood for at least 130 years. It is known as “the pub on an island” as you have to cross water to reach it, either the Trent & Mersey Canal at the front or the Macclesfield Canal at the rear
The building itself, however, dates from thirty or so years earlier, and consists of two cottages which have been knocked into one. The story begins in 1838 when Joseph Biddulph and John Roberts leased adjoining plots of land from Richard Edensor Heathcote, a local landowner. These plots were stated to be “between the Trent & Mersey and Macclesfield canals, and close to the junction”. Five years later John Colclough leased another adjoining plot of land from Mr. Heathcote. Then in 1849 Joseph Biddulph sold the lease on his plot (including the buildings on it) to John Colclough, who now leased two plots , including the two cottages which form the Blue Bell.
We don’t know when the cottages became a pub, although there are mentions in trade directories of the 1870’s and 1880’s of beer sellers at Hardingswood. However by 1893 it had acquired its name. It was on the 25 October that year that the property was sold at auction following the death of Emma Colclough, the widow of John (probably not the same John who had leased the land in the 1840’s but almost certainly a descendant.) The property is described in the sale advertisement as “All that free and well-accustomed beerhouse, known as the Blue Bell Tavern”, and the lot included 3 other cottages and stable buildings. These possibly stood at the rear, or may have been the the cottages which stand on the immediate right. The successful bidder at the auction was Albert Colclough (presumably of the same family) who then sold it on to John Colclough junior, making a £10 profit in the process!
