Guide stalwarts received ‘a most genial welcome from Chris the barman’ on arrival at Graham and Rachel Bucknall’s pub-with-rooms beside a bridge over the Union Canal.

A gateway to the north for 300 years, Debby McGregor and Brian Horsburgh’s unassuming inn – one of the oldest in Scotland – stands in a village on the edge of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park.

At the end of an 11-mile stretch of winding single-track road, visitors might breathe a sign of relief on reaching Judith Fish’s white-painted hostelry.

Guide inspectors in 2019 were bowled over by this village pub overlooking the Firth of Forth, with, uniquely, its own beach cricket team.

At every turn, contemporary artwork, artefacts, taxidermy specimens and striking features catch the eye in this imposing 19th-century coaching inn.

Michelin-starred and Bibbed Edinburgh chef Tom Kitchin and wife, Michaela, have transformed the old Golf Inn in this coastal village into a cutting-edge gastropub-with-rooms.