In a Knights Templar village with a backdrop of imposing Cross Fell mountain, a Georgian mansion and converted coach house are home to a personable small hotel.

Far from the hurrying world, this former coaching Iinn stands amid Wordsworth’s northern Lakes.

‘This continues to be a very dependable oasis,’ writes a trusted reader and regular visitor to this country house hotel (Relais & Châteaux), between the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage site.

Warm hospitality, centuries-old architecture and ‘beautiful countryside’ again delighted loyal fans of this ‘exceptionally good-value oasis of peace and tranquillity.’

For almost 120 years, the Baldry family have welcomed guests to their ancient farmhouse overlooking Lake Ullswater. ‘Wonderfully old-fashioned’ or ‘lost in time’, it’s a Marmite sort of hotel

A babbling brook etches a course past Louise Dinnes’s ‘good-value, thoroughly dependable’ Victorian pub-with-rooms, where visitors find ‘outstanding food’ and ‘welcoming, efficient service’.

A ‘wonderful hot tub in the grounds’ is one of the unexpected delights of Hazel Thompson’s B&B in the Vale of Lorton, close to Loweswater, Buttermere and Crummock Water.

Cumbrian comforts abound at this ‘well-kept’ Edwardian country house hotel, in three-acre grounds in a ‘beautiful setting’ in the Borrowdale valley.

An unpretentious, gabled Arts and Crafts country house has ‘tantalising’ views of Lake Windermere and Coniston Fells.

We hear a perennial chorus of approval from fans of Wendy and Simon Bennett’s family-friendly Victorian fantasy castle in the Eden valley, between Lake District and Yorkshire Dales.

‘Always a favourite’ of Guide friends in the north, Richard Rose’s 300-year-old pub-with-rooms is in ‘one of the prettiest villages in south Lakeland’. It is promoted to a full entry this year.

‘Such a comfortable place.’ ‘Peaceful and restful.’ ‘Great hotel.’ Several of our readers are regulars at Glynis and Simon Wood’s family-run Lakeland village hotel in the Wordsworth heartlands.

Homely character, tumbling views and relaxed efficiency – the key elements of Sue and Peter Robinson’s Arts and Crafts house.

‘An ideal base to explore Wainwright’s favourite fells or absorb the poetic delights of Wordsworth’, Kevin and Nicki Winsland’s small country hotel has reaching views across to the river Rothay.

In the Lyth valley, Becky and Ash Dewar’s 16th-century hostelry is a village pub ‘with a modern twist’.

Gerald and Margo Smith have created a gourmet destination in a lonely pub at a crossroads just to the south of the Scottish moors,’ write Guide inspectors this year.

Right at the water’s edge, Robert Lyons and Lesley Wheeler’s pub-with-rooms is ‘an amiable, comfortable place’ that draws regular returnees year after year.

Fell walkers, climbers – including some of Britain's greatest mountaineers – and sleepy travellers have sought this unpretentious, dog-friendly inn, in a ‘glorious setting’, for more than 300 years.

‘Wonderfully old-fashioned’, the Read family’s traditional hotel ‘continues to tick all the right boxes’.

‘Glorious fell views’, ‘excellent food’ and ‘capable, obliging staff’ are found at this family-friendly spot at the foot of Skiddaw.

The sun and moon make their haste, but this 400-year-old inn near the river Lune remains a dependably restful spot for travellers, walkers and their dogs.

Protected from the border's lawless raiders by a 16th-century ‘bastle’, Elaine Packer’s ‘superb’ Georgian farmhouse overlooking Hadrian’s Wall is full of ‘every comfort’.

The views are ‘stunning’ from this privately owned, ivy-clad Victorian hunting lodge standing in large grounds above Lake Windermere, the panorama of fells stretching wide.

There are open fires here, and views of Skiddaw; the traditional chintz and prints are ‘part of the charm’, says a devotee in 2017.