‘Once we had found our way there via the one-way streets of Kirkby Lonsdale, we were shown up to a lovely corner room overlooking an alleyway and the church.’ Praise this year from readers, for Iain and Jenny Black’s 400-year-old inn in a market town between the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales. Bedrooms have handmade furniture, Swaledale wool carpets, Bath House toiletries, original features (one door is 5 foot high). Most have a bath and rainhead shower. ‘The bed was comfortable, with not too many cushions to remove, and the bathroom was bright and reasonably spacious.’ There are light bites and Cumbrian ales in the dog-friendly, atmospheric bar with log-burner. In the restaurant, ‘the staff were all helpful and friendly’. New chef Joe Robinson’s ‘imaginative and good’ dishes might include a ‘really tasty starter of ewe’s curd ravioli with lemon’; chalk-stream trout, broccoli, roast stem, mussels, confit potato. In the morning there is a ‘generous breakfast buffet with fresh pastries, fruit and compote. No freshly squeezed orange juice, but a berry smoothie, local eggs and bacon.’ The hotel has no garden but a walk through 
the churchyard leads to river and woodlands. (Sara Price)