‘Conjuring up an image of a heartier England, with hunting, idiosyncratic aristocracy and solid home comforts’, this ‘great inn’ continued to delight readers this year. In ‘a stunningly beautiful location on the banks of the River Hodder’, in the care of third-generation owner Charles Bowman, it has ‘grand, eccentric decor’, blazing fires, antiques, paintings. Every bedroom has something special – a four-poster, a peat fire, a grandfather clock, a modern wet room or Victorian cabinet bath and vintage weighing scales. The views are ‘some of the best in England’, with ‘the Forest of Bowland fells folding into the distance’. A refurbished Room 7, with Savoir bed, ‘looked smarter, and its bathroom, with an epic-sized bath and cabinet shower, remained as majestically luxurious as ever’. Hearty bar meals include the ‘deservedly famous Whitewell fish pie’, while in the restaurant, Jamie Cadman’s menus bring such dishes as roast rack of salt marsh lamb, crushed minted peas, rosemary tomatoes, lemon and mint jelly. A less good breakfast (‘overcooked bacon, no freshly squeezed juice’) was not enough to take off the shine. ‘The place never fails to impress.’ (Mike Craddock, RM, ML)