Public House And Museum In One

Prospective burglars should avoid breaking in to the Bell at Helmdon. Reason: the licensee, Mr A.G. Brook- house is a collector of old guns – and he is a good shot, too.

Hanging round his walls are over a dozen old rifles and pistols probably used in the days of Queen Elizabeth I … the American cavalry sword used in the Civil Wars … a flintlock pistol, the type favoured by highwaymen … and there are other long-stemmed rifles used in Moroccan and North-West Frontier battles.

African War Club

Also on view are Mexican wooded stirrups; an 1850 Guinness bottle, a witch-doctor’s stick, an African war club, a rhinoceros hide whip and many other interesting treasures.

In fact the Bell is a public-house and museum in one, Helmdon villagers enjoy browsing through Mr Brookhouse’s treasures …

And they confess that the surroundings are far more congenial than a museum!

Mr Brookhouse has been at Helmdon for about three months. How does he find village life after Birmingham? – “Very pleasant. But the water here – it’s awful; I can’t touch it. Now in Birmingham …”

Mercury & Herald – June 4th 1954