‘A convivial local gathering spot’, Piers Baker’s 15th-century timber-framed inn stands ‘in a prime situation’ in ‘this endearing village of variously coloured houses’ in Constable country. There have been changes since last year (new furniture in bar and dining room), but it is still the quintessential village pub, with oak beams and open fires in bar, lounge and restaurant. Access to two of the bedrooms is via the terrace, up an Elizabethan staircase. Rooms vary in size. Some overlook the garden, some the street and St Mary’s Church with its soothing chimes. Constable, at the front, has a bay window and half-tester bed. The bar menu now goes beyond sandwiches, while in the dining room, Jack Levine’s cooking is, as ever, modern English pub fare with Italian gusto, served in ‘copious portions’. Maybe artichoke risotto with confit garlic, or ‘a cucina-povera-inspired dish of Sutton Hoot chicken involtini with butter beans and chorizo’. ‘A sweet, jiggly panacotta went perfectly with stewed rhubarb.’ After an ‘exceptional breakfast (freshly squeezed orange, ‘perfect’ omelettes), it’s not two miles on foot, along and across the Stour, to Flatford Mill.