Bells Hotel
The Bells is one of those Woolloomooloo fixtures which seems to have always been there and not changed much, mostly because it had one owner, the Miles family which purchased it in 1973, for 45 years until they sold it to publican and Sydney rich lister Arthur Laundy in late 2018 for about $15 million. The Laundy Group also picked up the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel opposite in March 2023, so it's probably a long term buy hoping for some gentrification of the neighbourhood. I went here once or twice but preferred the pubs closer to home with the newer pool tables.
Meanwhile, it still has its locals, although they're not the wharfies they once were. According to Louis Nowra's Woolloomooloo book, an earlier pub was demolished in the 1920's and this one was brought back from the Bay to allow a widening of the road. Australia's first world boxing champion and a teetotaller, Jimmy Carruthers, bought it in 1954. A former opponent, Ray Coleman, would come into the pub and taunt him, "You dog, Carruthers!" which was tolerated until Coleman abused Carruthers' wife, and a fight was arranged outside the nearby Art Gallery, a short engagement where Carruthers knocked out Coleman. Carruthers had won the Australian bantamweight title in 1951 and the world title the following year.
While this pub dates to 1922, the earliest on this spot was (possibly) Punch's Hotel in 1868, named for James Punch of Woolloomooloo Regatta fame (and several Sydney hotels). Although the Bells website refers to the original ale house ‘Punches’, which might not be exactly the same thing in a wharfies' pub.
Bells Hotel
The Bells is one of those Woolloomooloo fixtures which seems to have always been there and not changed much, mostly because it had one owner, the Miles family which purchased it in 1973, for 45 years until they sold it to publican and Sydney rich lister Arthur Laundy in late 2018 for about $15 million. The Laundy Group also picked up the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel opposite in March 2023, so it's probably a long term buy hoping for some gentrification of the neighbourhood. I went here once or twice but preferred the pubs closer to home with the newer pool tables.
Meanwhile, it still has its locals, although they're not the wharfies they once were. According to Louis Nowra's Woolloomooloo book, an earlier pub was demolished in the 1920's and this one was brought back from the Bay to allow a widening of the road. Australia's first world boxing champion and a teetotaller, Jimmy Carruthers, bought it in 1954. A former opponent, Ray Coleman, would come into the pub and taunt him, "You dog, Carruthers!" which was tolerated until Coleman abused Carruthers' wife, and a fight was arranged outside the nearby Art Gallery, a short engagement where Carruthers knocked out Coleman. Carruthers had won the Australian bantamweight title in 1951 and the world title the following year.
While this pub dates to 1922, the earliest on this spot was (possibly) Punch's Hotel in 1868, named for James Punch of Woolloomooloo Regatta fame (and several Sydney hotels). Although the Bells website refers to the original ale house ‘Punches’, which might not be exactly the same thing in a wharfies' pub.