The Cartford Inn

This historic coaching house serves adventurous British pub food in poetic configurations. The cooking at The Cartford Inn is by mushroom forager and head chef Chris Bury whose CV includes the Fat Duck and Claridges.

Award-winning local suppliers include wine merchants D Byrne and Gornall’s Dairy. Typical starters include snails with ‘Nduja mayo, Bury black pudding doughnuts, and seared lamb’s heart with red peppercorns. Mains could be Goosnargh duck breast with pickled, green strawberries, rump of local lamb with sorrel pesto and sticky oxtail and real ale suet pudding. Dessert, meanwhile, could be homemade cherry Bakewell tart with fresh thyme and homemade vanilla ice cream or something decadently chocolatey, with poached blackcurrants and smoked whey.

The interior, some of which dates back to the 1800s, is packed with wood panels and idiosyncratic artworks, while the wider complex takes in glass-clad extensions, an alfresco terrace, and cool, eco-style cabins, integrated into the landscape.

It’s a place to get away from it all for a day, or a night – and enjoy some of the best food in the region at the same time.