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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. In fact, the Black Swan originally operated as a pub, with Banks serving drinks at his family’s establishment before graduating to the kitchen. Recently, he launched the Abbey Inn in Byland, and he has just started a hospitality arm dedicated to restoring other pubs across the UK. First up is General Tarleton with eight rooms 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 walks along the river and into 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 proprietors of Lamb Inn in nearby Little Milton, and the chefs at both locations gained experience at two-Michelin-star Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons down the road. The Bat and Ball is the more casual of the pair – it even features a dartboard – and menu items elevate classic pub food and enhance them with premium local produce. The five bedrooms have walls painted in rich autumnal shades to match the nearby landscape, 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 Beatrix Potter Gallery and Hawkshead Grammar School Museum, where the poet Wordsworth carved his name into his desk. It’s rich in history in the oak beams and slate floors at the King’s Arms too, which dates back to the 17th century. 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. Just the thing to be tucking into after a hike up nearby Latterbarrow fell.

Wellington Hotel, Cornwall

Affectionately called The Welly, this historic coaching house overlooks Boscastle Harbor on the rugged north Cornwall coast. St Austell Brewery recently invested heavily doing it up, and it shows in the cosy dining rooms, intimate corners and stained glass panelling. The pick of the bedrooms are the two in the pub’s turret 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 east towards 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 Gem Ale batter.

Woolpack Inn, Hampshire Countryside

Fresh from a makeover by renowned designer Nina Campbell, this country pub is the social hub in the small village of Totford in peaceful Candover Valley. It is surrounded by fields and woodlands, so head chef Luke Stradling has plenty of local produce to draw on – supplemented by the pub’s large kitchen garden, right now filled with pumpkin, celeriac and winter leaves. As well as supplying almost all the vegetables on the menu, the team also donates 20% of the harvest to local charities and homeless shelters. Upstairs, eight bedrooms are named after game birds, but fly fishing is the local main attraction – angling for trout in the world renowned chalk stream of the River Itchen.

Fleur de Lys Inn, Dorset

Hospitality group Chickpea has mastered the contemporary inns with accommodation formula – great food, friendly bar and competitive rates for overnighters. The latest addition to the fold is the Fleur de Lys, a 17th-century inn in the village of Cranbourne. The novelist Thomas Hardy was a regular guest 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 muted colours. Trails loop around Cranborne Estate, with dishes such as Brixham sea bass, venison barnsley chop and toffee pudding to look forward to back at the pub afterwards.

The Penny Bun, Yorkshire Dales

Inspired by a fungus found in local woods, the Penny Bun is a departure from your traditional boozer. With its earthen walls and palette of earthy browns, the style is minimalist than brass beer pumps. Located between Ilkley and Otley in the Yorkshire Dales, the recently opened pub is part of the Denton Reserve, a 2,500-acre estate undergoing a sustainably led transformation, focusing on carbon capture and regenerative farming. It provides many of the ingredients found on the menu at the Penny Bun, such as Tamworth pork croquette salad or gnocchi with roasted garden beetroots. The calming aesthetic particularly suits the five rooms (the best room comes with a freestanding bath), with plush beds to sink into after hikes on Ilkley Moor, just steps away.

The Ship, Norfolk Coast

This summer, The Peyton sisters rebooted this seaside inn with nine beamed bedrooms in the village of Brancaster. The cooking here 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 the usual chicken or beef, while in the front bar settle in by the fire and enjoy a mangalitza pork sausage roll or monkfish scampi with a pint of local ale. Outside, Norfolk’s big skies look especially arresting at this time of year – look out for flocks of pink-footed geese – and walks cut through dunes and marshes.

The Leicester Arms, Kent Countryside

Opposite from the entrance to Penshurst Place, this historic pub is more attractive than ever after a major renovation last year. No wonder it won Kent’s county prize at the national awards: there are plush armchairs by the fire in the bar, real Kentish ales from a local brewery, and superior cuisine in the dining room. The menu focuses on local produce, with Kent lamb scotch egg and Whitstable oysters, while the 11 botanically named bedrooms are decorated in a classic style. Four rooms come with rolltop baths for soaking after walks after a ramble around the Penshurst Estate past River Medway, lakes and giant oak trees.

Swan Inn, West Sussex

The two-and-a-half year refurbishment of this Grade II-listed coaching inn in Fittleworth on the South Downs was well worth it. Original features from its medieval origins mix with stylish comfort in the bar, restaurant and 12 beautifully designed rooms – though it remains “proudly old fashioned”, says the owner. Dining in the wood-panelled, painting-lined dining room draw on seasonal local produce (wild mushrooms and fresh plum pudding on our visit) and lavish breakfasts are served in a barn in the gardens. Historic guestbooks are fascinating: notable guests include JMW Turner, John Constable and Rudyard Kipling. Nearby activities abound, 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 rolling countryside, the Welland valley is in a region sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (similar to the Cotswolds but without the price tag). Nevill Arms in the village of Medbourne was refurbished in 2023, with 10 rooms (some with four-poster beds) spread between the inn and its converted stables – and soon they’ll add a three-bedroom stone cottage next door too. On the food front, beef, pork and lamb are reared on the owner’s farm, while in the blue bar there’s a rotating line up of Langton ales on tap – the most popular of which is an amber ale, Inclined Plane, named after the lift at nearby Foxton Locks.

New Inn, Lancashire

New owners Ben and Lauren Sandiford took on the running of this seven-room 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 log burner. The bar attracts locals sipping on