‘Informal and friendly’, Jane Ratcliffe’s ‘utterly peaceful’ B&B stands on a hillside overlooking rolling Yorkshire countryside. Its heritage is writ large across the walls: a double-handed mining spade, hung in an alcove, marking the time when a tiny Georgian ale house was extended into a Victorian pub serving miners from local quarries. Now, the ‘comfortable, simply yet tastefully appointed’ accommodation includes an ‘eye-catching display’ of fishing rods, and framed country sports scenes that nod to present attractions. Shooting, fishing and riding can be arranged by the ‘very pleasant’ Jane, ‘whose non-intrusive sociability made it clear why she has regular returning visitors’. The ‘comfortable’ bedroom offered a ‘smart, polished wood-framed bed, bedside tables with brass lamps; a bathroom with spotless fittings, a walk-in monsoon shower’. In the beamed breakfast room with wood-burning stove, Jane’s breakfasts use what’s fresh, local and available, including ‘wonderful blackberries in a fruit salad, perfectly cooked scrambled egg and sumptuous bacon, full of flavour’. A short menu of evening meals, perhaps lamb tagine, or chicken with white wine and tarragon, is available on request. (Robert Gower, and others)