‘Wonderful location in rural Northumberland. Friendly, peaceful; superb dinners and a lovely breakfast.’ Everything hit the sweet spot for one reader this year, at this Georgian farmhouse on the fringe of an organic livestock farm on Northumberland’s River Coquet. The Nelless family has farmed here for three generations, and now Enid and daughter-in-law Zoë are welcoming hostesses, ‘creating a home-from-home’. Spacious, pretty bedrooms, traditionally styled with antiques and paintings, are supplied with fresh milk and home-made biscuits, while fires burn in cosy lounges. At breakfast – and at dinner, for those who wish – guests sit down together around a beautifully set, polished table. The day might start with local sausages, home-cured bacon, free-range eggs, kippers from Craster. If there is anything you particularly want, readers report, just ask and the Nellesses will provide it next day. The wild and remote countryside offers memorable drives to gloriously photogenic Bamburgh Castle and ruined Dunstanburgh. A glass of sherry awaits your return, before a home-cooked three-course meal, perhaps roast lamb or chicken, a fruit Pavlova. (Philip Bright)