It was surely the ‘star quality’ noted by Guide inspectors that saw John Mathers recognised in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for Service to Hospitality and Tourism. He and his wife, Louise, welcome guests to their Georgian mansion with unstinting generosity. Rooms are filled with antiques and paintings bearing witness to six generations of family life here. Bedrooms are supplied with fresh milk, shortbread, toiletries. Beaumont has a half-tester bed, and Hanna has a four-poster. The best views, through floor-to-ceiling windows, are of the grounds, with woodland, rose garden and wild-flower meadow. At night, John uses local ingredients, and produce from the garden, in such creative dishes as roast butternut squash, baby kale, walnuts, Corleggy goat’s cheese; dry-aged rib-eye beef, garlic and herb butter. Lou, the queen of puddings, might make streusel with home-grown rhubarb, Bramley apple and caramel ice cream. Cockerel Henry will give a wake-up call in time for a ‘superb’ Ulster fry, with freshly squeezed orange juice, home-made soda bread, hand-churned butter, eggs from the orchard’s hens. Verdict: ‘Absolutely first rate.’