Sandy Bell's
Free folk plays here every evening, on Friday to Monday afternoons, and every afternoon through August.2
Why go
The room was a shop before it was a pub, and it has been a pub since at least the 1920s.3 Two small rooms sit either side of a pedimented arch, and the gantry, counter, vestibule and wall panelling are all dark wood and all still there. CAMRA grades the interior Two star and dates the last real change to about half a century ago.1 The building itself has no listing, which makes the survival of the fit-out a matter of nobody bothering to rip it out. Outside, ghost signs for the pub's earlier name, the Forrest Hill Bar, have been uncovered on the wall.2
The music is the reason to time a visit. Sessions are free and they run nightly, with afternoons added Friday through Monday and every afternoon in August.2
The beer sits still while the music moves. Four casks are permanent, Fyne Ales Jarl, Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted, Inveralmond Ossian and Orkney Dark Island, and one line changes.1 That is a house list assembled once and defended, and it covers a 3.8% golden ale through to a dark island beer without asking you to gamble.
Order this / avoid
- Order: Dark Island if the session is in full swing and you want something to sit with. It is the one beer on the permanent four that rewards a slow hour.
- Order: off the malt and gin shelves. The branch survey calls the whisky range impressive and no source has counted it, so ask what they are proud of.2
- Avoid: bringing anyone under 18. Children are not admitted.2
What locals & experts say
- CAMRA's Edinburgh & South East Scotland branch is unambiguous about what this room is for:
Sandy Bell's is the premier place for free live folk music in Edinburgh every evening and on Friday -Monday afternoons (daily in August). Bring along an instrument and join in!
2 - CAMRA's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors grades it
Two star - A pub interior of very special national historic interest
and sums the place up asA small folk music pub, barely altered in 50 years.
1 Its version of the schedule is narrower, giving Saturday and Sunday afternoons where the branch gives Friday to Monday, so check on the day. - Time Out Edinburgh (9 February 2024) ranks it sixteenth of the city's twenty-four best pubs and puts the music in its historical place:
Once a shop, Sandy Bell's has been a pub since at least the 1920s and has played a key role in the Scottish folk music revival. Musicians regularly rock up to play together just for fun.
3
Good to know
- Hours: Monday to Saturday noon to 1am, Sunday 12.30pm to midnight.2
- Timing: the two CAMRA records disagree on which afternoons carry a session, so if you are coming for a specific afternoon, phone first.
- Booking: none to make. Two small rooms, walk in, and the musicians take the corner they need.
- Getting there: Forrest Road runs south from George IV Bridge toward the Meadows, five minutes from the Royal Mile.
- Food: nothing is published anywhere. The pub is filed as a public house and no menu, dish or serving hour was found.
- Hygiene: the Food Hygiene Information Scheme result for 25 Forrest Road is a Pass inspected 7 December 2021, filed as Sandy Bell's Public House, with nothing pending. Four years and eight months is old enough that it describes a different staff.4
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: Not one of my saves. The case for it rests on CAMRA's branch survey of the sessions and on Time Out placing it sixteenth in the city.
Verdict
should-visit — Free folk runs here every evening and on Friday to Monday afternoons, and every afternoon through August, which makes this the one pub in the slice you can plan a night around without phoning anybody. CAMRA's branch surveyors call it the premier place for free live folk music in Edinburgh and tell you to bring an instrument and join in, which is a statement about how the room works and not a compliment. Time Out places it sixteenth of the city's twenty-four best pubs and traces its part in the Scottish folk music revival back to a room that had been a shop and has been a pub since at least the 1920s. The fit-out is dark wood throughout, an old gantry, counter and panelling, two rooms split by a pedimented arch, and CAMRA grades the interior Two star, one below the outstanding grade, with the building itself unlisted. The beer is fixed and decent: Jarl, Bitter & Twisted, Ossian and Dark Island permanently on, with a single changing line. It stops short of the top rung because nobody has evaluated the drinking, the whisky and gin range is uncounted, and the food-hygiene reading dates to December 2021.