ENGLAND'S BEST PUBS
The General Tarleton, Yorkshire Dales
Chef Tommy Banks, a celebrated Yorkshire chef, is most famous for his award-winning restaurant the Black Swan at Oldstead, but he’s no stranger to pubs. Actually, the Black Swan originally operated as a pub, with Banks serving drinks at his family’s establishment before graduating to the kitchen. In 2023, he opened Abbey Inn in Byland, and he has recently launched a hospitality arm dedicated to restoring other pubs across the UK. The first project is General Tarleton with eight rooms in the village of Ferrensby, near Harrogate. Food, naturally, is top notch, with refined versions of traditional pub dishes made with local produce – the perfect fuel for riverside strolls and into the Nidd Gorge, a local beauty spot.
Bat and Ball Inn, Oxfordshire Countryside
It’s dogs by the fire and dog collars at the bar at this charming pub in the village of Cuddesdon, best known for its clergy college. It launched at the start of the year by the owners of Lamb Inn in nearby Little Milton, and the chefs at both locations cut their teeth at two-Michelin-star Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons down the road. The Bat and Ball is the more casual of the pair – there’s even a dart board – and menu items elevate classic pub food and dial them up with premium local produce. The five bedrooms have walls painted in rich autumnal shades to match the surrounding countryside, which is nestled between the Cotswolds and Chilterns.
Kings Arms Inn, Lakeland
This family-owned pub, which reopened at the end of August, is at the center of the Lakeland village of Hawkshead, just a short walk from the Beatrix Potter gallery and the Hawkshead Grammar School museum, where a young William Wordsworth etched his name into his desk. It’s rich in history in oak beams and stone floors at the King’s Arms too, which dates back to the 17th century. Behind the dark-wood panelled bar is a selection of regional ales including Coniston Old Man Ale and Cumbrian Ales Loweswater Gold, while the food leans towards classic with Cumberland scotch eggs and beef wellington. Just the thing to be tucking into after a hike up nearby Latterbarrow fell.
Wellington Hotel, Cornish Coast
Known affectionately as The Welly, this historic coaching house overlooks Boscastle harbour on Cornwall’s dramatic north coast. St Austell Brewery recently invested heavily renovating it, and the results are evident in the snug dining areas, intimate corners and stained glass panelling. The best rooms are the turret suites with freestanding baths, but all 14 come with local art on the walls and ordnance survey maps and a South West Coast Path national trail book for walks. The path runs right outside: west to Tintagel Castle, legendary birthplace of King Arthur as per myth, or round past Pentargon waterfall. Post-hike, there’s pints of local ale by the fire and plates of fish and chips to look forward to, made with local catch in Gem Ale batter.
The Woolpack Inn, Hampshire Countryside
Fresh from a makeover by influential interior designer Nina Campbell, this rural inn is the social hub in the small village of Totford in peaceful Candover Valley. It is surrounded by fields and woodlands, so chef Luke Stradling has plenty of local produce to draw on – supplemented by the pub’s sizeable vegetable garden, right now filled with pumpkin, celeriac and winter leaves. In addition to providing almost all the vegetables on the menu, staff also contribute 20% of the harvest to local charities and homeless shelters. Upstairs, eight bedrooms are named after game birds, but it’s fly fishing the local star draw – angling for trout in the famous chalk stream of the River Itchen.
The Fleur de Lys, Dorset Countryside
Pub and restaurant firm Chickpea has nailed the modern country pubs with rooms formula – great food, friendly bar and keen prices for overnighters. The latest addition to the fold is Fleur de Lys, a 17th-century inn in the village of Cranbourne. The novelist Thomas Hardy was a frequent visitor here and references it in his novel Tess. The renovation reflects its period charm: hops drape over the large open fireplace, candles glow on tables and, upstairs, the nine bedrooms are decorated in muted colours. Walking routes loop around Cranborne Manor, with dishes such as Brixham bass, venison chop and sticky toffee pudding to look forward to back at the pub afterwards.
Penny Bun Inn, Yorkshire Dales
Named after a mushroom found in local woods, Penny Bun is a departure from your traditional boozer. With its earthen walls and palette of earthy browns, the look is more wabi-sabi minimalism than traditional pub fixtures. Between Ilkley and Otley in the Yorkshire Dales, the recently opened pub is part of the Denton Reserve, a 2,500-acre estate undergoing an eco-friendly overhaul, focusing on carbon capture and sustainable agriculture. It supplies many of the ingredients found on the menu at the Penny Bun, such as pork croquette salad or beetroot gnocchi. The calming aesthetic particularly suits the five rooms (the best room comes with a standalone tub), with plush beds to sink into after hikes on Ilkley Moor, right outside the front door.
The Ship, Norfolk Coast
This summer, The Peyton sisters rebooted this seaside inn with nine beamed bedrooms in the village of Brancaster. The cuisine has Mediterranean influences, and while menus have a focus on seafood (a short walk from the coast), game from local estates is the highlight in autumn. For Sunday lunch, expect roasted venison served with foraged mushrooms instead of traditional meats, while in the bar settle in by the fire and tuck into a mangalitza pork sausage roll or monkfish scampi with a pint of local ale. Outside, the vast skies look especially arresting at this time of year – look out for flocks of migrating pink-footed geese – and walks cut through dunes and marshes.
Leicester Arms Inn, Kent
Across the road from the entrance to Penshurst Place, this Grade II-listed pub is more attractive than ever after a £1.2m revamp last year. It’s easy to see why it won Kent’s county prize at the national awards: there are deep leather armchairs by the fire in the bar, real Kentish ales from nearby Larkins, and cut-above cooking in the dining room. The menu focuses on local produce, with lamb scotch egg and Whitstable oysters, while 11 nature-themed rooms are decorated in a classic style. Four of them come with rolltop baths for soaking after walks after a stroll around the Penshurst Estate past River Medway, lakes and ancient oaks.
Swan Inn, West Sussex
The lengthy renovation of this historic inn in Fittleworth on the South Downs was well worth it. Period details from its medieval origins mix with stylish comfort in the bar, restaurant and 12 beautifully designed rooms – though it remains traditional, says the owner. Meals served in the wood-paneled, painting-lined dining room utilize local seasonal ingredients (foraged ceps and plum pudding on our visit) and lavish breakfasts are served in a barn in the pretty gardens. Historic guestbooks are fascinating: notable guests include JMW Turner, John Constable and Rudyard Kipling. There’s plenty to do nearby, from antique shopping in local villages to walks on the downs, Petworth House and Arundel Castle.
The Nevill Arms, Leicestershire Countryside
With its honeyed hamlets, pretty market towns and rolling countryside, Welland Valley is in a part of the country sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (similar to the Cotswolds but without the price tag). The Nevill Arms in the village of Medbourne was refurbished in 2023, with 10 rooms (some with four-poster beds) spread between the pub and former stables – and next year they’ll add a stone cottage next door too. On the food front, meats are reared on the owner’s farm, while in the inky blue-painted bar there’s a rotating line up of Langton Brewery beers on tap – the most popular of which is an amber ale, Inclined Plane, named after the canal lift at nearby Foxton Locks.
New Inn, Lancashire Countryside
New owners Ben and Lauren Sandiford took on the running of this seven-bedroom village inn in April. Ben brought his chef experience to the kitchen, which now produces classy comfort food (shepherd’s pie with mash and ewe’s cheese crumb or beef and ale suet pudding) to be eaten in the rustic dining area beside the fireplace. The bar attracts locals sipping on
