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ENGLAND'S BEST PUBS

The General Tarleton, North Yorkshire

Tommy Banks, a celebrated Yorkshire chef, is best known 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. Recently, he opened Abbey Inn in Byland, and he has just started a hospitality arm focused on reviving other pubs across the UK. First up is the eight-bedroom General Tarleton in the village of Ferrensby, near Harrogate. The cuisine is exceptional, with refined versions of traditional pub dishes made with local produce – the perfect fuel for riverside strolls and into the Nidd Gorge, a scenic local area.

Bat and Ball Inn, Oxfordshire

Dogs lounge by the fireplace and clergy at the bar at this quaint inn 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 the esteemed Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons down the road. This pub is the more relaxed option – it even features a dartboard – and menu items elevate classic pub food and dial them up with carefully sourced local ingredients. The five bedrooms have walls painted in rich autumnal shades to match the nearby landscape, which is sandwiched between the Cotswolds and Chilterns.

King’s Arms, Lake District

This family-owned pub, which reopened at the end of August, is at the heart of the Lakeland village of Hawkshead, just a short walk from Beatrix Potter Gallery and Hawkshead Grammar School Museum, where the poet Wordsworth etched his name into his desk. There’s plenty of history in the oak beams and stone floors at the King’s Arms too, which originates in the 1600s. Behind the dark-wood panelled bar is a roster of local beers including Coniston Old Man Ale and Cumbrian Ales Loweswater Gold, while the menu focuses on classics with Cumberland scotch eggs and beef wellington. The perfect meal to be enjoying after a stomp up nearby Latterbarrow fell.

Wellington Hotel, Cornwall

Affectionately called The Welly, this centuries-old coaching inn overlooks Boscastle Harbor on the rugged north Cornwall coast. A local brewery recently splashed millions doing it up, and it shows in the snug dining areas, snugs and stained glass panelling. The pick of the bedrooms 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 trail passes nearby: heading west to Tintagel Castle, legendary birthplace of King Arthur according to legend, or round past Pentargon waterfall. After a coastal hike, there’s pints of local ale by the fire and servings of fish and chips to look forward to, made with local catch in ale batter.

Woolpack Inn, Hampshire

Recently renovated by influential interior designer Nina Campbell, this rural inn is the centre of life in the small village of Totford in peaceful Candover Valley. Set amid fields and forests, so chef Luke Stradling has abundant regional ingredients to draw on – complemented by the pub’s large kitchen garden, currently growing pumpkin, celeriac and winter leaves. As well as supplying almost all the vegetables on the menu, staff also contribute 20% of the harvest to local charities and shelters. Upstairs, eight guest rooms are named after game birds, but fly fishing is the local main attraction – casting for trout in the world renowned chalk stream of the River Itchen.

Fleur de Lys Inn, Dorset Countryside

Pub and restaurant firm Chickpea has nailed the contemporary inns with accommodation formula – great food, welcoming bar and keen prices for overnighters. The latest addition to the fold is the Fleur de Lys, a historic inn in the village of Cranbourne. The novelist Thomas Hardy was a frequent visitor here and makes reference to it in his novel Tess. The revamp reflects its period charm: hops drape over the large open fireplace, candles flicker on tables and, upstairs, the nine bedrooms are decorated in subdued tones. Walking routes loop around Cranborne Estate, with dishes such as Brixham sea bass, venison chop and sticky toffee pudding to look forward to back at the pub afterwards.

The Penny Bun, North Yorkshire

Inspired by a fungus found in local woods, the Penny Bun is a break from conventional pubs. With its clay-plastered walls and palette of earthy browns, the look is more wabi-sabi minimalism than brass beer pumps. Between Ilkley and Otley in the Yorkshire Dales, the recently opened pub is part of the Denton Reserve, a 1,012-hectare estate undergoing an eco-friendly overhaul, focusing on carbon capture and sustainable agriculture. It provides many of the ingredients found on the menu at the Penny Bun, such as pork croquette salad or gnocchi with roasted garden beetroots. The calming aesthetic particularly suits the five bedrooms (the plum one comes with a freestanding bath), with plush beds to sink into after hikes on Ilkley Moor, right outside the front door.

Ship Inn, Norfolk

This summer, Sisters Siobhan and Caitriona Peyton revitalized 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 (less than a mile’s walk away), local game is the star turn in autumn. For Sunday lunch, expect roasted venison served with local wild 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 Moon Gazer Ale. Outside, the vast skies look particularly stunning at this time of year – watch for flocks of pink-footed geese – and walks cut through dunes and marshes.

The Leicester Arms, Kent

Across the road from the entrance to Penshurst Place, this Grade II-listed pub is more attractive than ever after a major renovation last year. No wonder it scooped Kent’s county prize at the national awards: there are deep leather armchairs by the fire in the bar, authentic Kent ales from nearby Larkins, and superior cuisine in the dining room. The menu focuses on local produce, with Kent lamb scotch egg and oysters from Whitstable, while the 11 botanically named bedrooms 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 the River Medway, lakes and ancient oaks.

The Swan, West Sussex

The two-and-a-half year refurbishment of this Grade II-listed coaching inn in Fittleworth on the South Downs was worth the wait. Period details from its medieval origins mix with modern comfort in the bar, restaurant and 12 elegant rooms – though it remains traditional, says owner Angus Davies. Meals served in the wood-paneled, painting-lined dining room draw on seasonal local produce (foraged ceps and plum pudding on our visit) and lavish breakfasts are served in the barn in the 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

With its honeyed hamlets, pretty market towns and undulating landscape, Welland Valley is in a region sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (like 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 soon they’ll add a stone cottage next door too. On the food front, beef, pork and lamb are reared on the owner’s farm, while in the inky blue-painted bar there’s a changing selection of Langton ales on tap – the most popular of which is an amber bitter, Inclined Plane, named after the lift at nearby Foxton Locks.

New Inn Yealand, 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 elevated comfort dishes (shepherd’s pie with mashed potatoes and cheese or beef pudding) to be eaten in the beamed dining room beside the fireplace. The bar attracts locals sipping on