All smiles at Spike Milligan’s zany local

SPIKE MILLIGAN would have loved The Bell. The comedian once lived in Ticehurst, and his wacky but ever-charming humour is echoed in its exuberant pub.

And exuberance is the word here. Dating from 1560, this former coaching inn pairs ancient features with zany modern touches. Take its main bar: the original, lowbeamed ceiling appears at first to be held up by a wobbly-looking column of books. In the gents’, upside-down tenor horns have become urinals. In an adjacent snug, bird sketches and a Graham Sutherland self-portrait typify the inn’s eclectic artworks.

The Bell is rather like a beloved aunt or uncle – the sort who wears kooky clothes and bakes incredible brownies.

Four-time Chelsea Flower Show gold-medallist Jo Thompson designed the rear gardens. Summer cocktails may be sipped under a mulberry-tree canopy, beside fragrant rosemary bushes. Come winter, the focus at The Bell is on indoor fun: comedy shows, art classes and live music.

The bedrooms differ wildly in size. Seven in the main inn blend madcap with chic – mannequins here, pendant lights there.

Our vibrantly hued double/twin features a window seat, a vintage dentist’s chair and even a silverbirch trunk. The shower is handheld and curtain-less, but the medley of surrounding tiles is so pretty that this is forgiven.

Three slicker and more spacious lodges with oasthouse-like roofs dot the garden. The larger, twofloor Love Nest throws in a pubfacing balcony. Three more rooms are due next spring.

Ticehurst itself feels buoyant. Its 14th Century church overlooks enticing independent stores and red-brick cottages up flowery lanes. Everyone we meet seems fond and proud of The Bell.

There’s much more to like in this corner of Sussex’s High Weald: pick your own fruit at Maynard’s farm, fish at Bewl Water, or visit National Trust-owned Bateman’s, the preserved home of Rudyard

Kipling, and Pashley Manor and its lovely gardens.

We dined in The Bell’s cosy bar, alongside exhausted walkers and older couples enjoying a weekend away. Classic British cuisine with occasional French influences is offered, courtesy of newly installed head chef Mark Charker. Sussexlanded cod with broad beans, lovage and fish veloute sits alongside Bodiam cote de boeuf on the menu, but it’s several notches above gastropub prices, with pie and mash with braised lamb and vegetables coming in at £20.

Delicate puds include English strawberries with white chocolate and basil sorbet accompanied by pepper tuille, and tayberries with lavender shortbread, pistachio cream and yogurt sorbet.

Next morning’s mini-croissants are regrettably tepid, but my cooked English breakfast stars perfectly fried bread and the yummiest eggs I’ve ever scoffed.

• B&B from £155 per room per night, thebellinticehurst.com.