The Well Creek Trust committee has written to the West-Norfolk planning department formally rejecting the Five Bells Pub retrospective planning change of usage to “Let”, as per the following reasons:
- The Five Bells pub is a popular place with Well Creek boaters who travel from places as far away as Northampton and Wales and look forward to using our Church mooring located next to the Five Bells.
- The mooring can accommodate three 18 metre narrow boats or 8 four berth boats at one time and is always fully used.
- The attraction to the mooring is due to the good reputation of the family friendly Five Bells pub and the beautiful surroundings of the plants and shrubs that grow along the banks of the mooring.
- It is often said that the Pub and the mooring compliment each other.
- Because of the informal partnership between the 2 locations we always have the latest copy of the pubs menu displayed on our noticeboard.
- The Five Bells along with our mooring has been featured in several news journals and boating magazines and is one of the main reasons why the mooring is so popular and busy.
- This informal partnership brings focus to the boating fraternity, who venture into the village to restock their boats and this amenity is spread by word of mouth amongst the boaters, as well as the journals.
- The Well Creek Trust reached its’ 50th anniversary last year and the centre of the celebrations was planned around the Five Bells, the mooring and the village hall. The celebrations wouldn’t be the same without the pub which would have been the foundations to the daytime family celebrations in the village.
- In 2018, 920 boats used the Creek and a further 697 in 2019. A lot of these boats stop at the mooring on route to Ely, or west to Northampton and beyond. ***The Figures quoted are courtesy of the Middle Level Commissioners.
- Changing the usage to “Let” will be taking away a major benefit of the visit to the boaters, the Well Creek and tourism for the village.
Well Creek isn’t just enjoyed by local boaters who reside in the villages along the Creek, as stated above it is used by a wider boating community who call in at the Five Bells pub during their onward journey.