The Inn at Whitewell

There is an outdoorsy, tally-ho vibe about Charles Bowman’s rural inn on the banks of the River Hodder, with views to the Forest of Bowland. With its stone-flagged flooring, mullioned windows, hunting prints, stags’ heads, stuffed game birds and ‘copious supply of umbrellas’, it brings forth colourful reports from readers. Bedrooms are furnished with antiques, perhaps a four-poster or Savoir bed, an open fire or longcase clock. They are spacious, though one had a bathroom ‘designed for a very thin giant’. A coach house room, up a steep slope, had a ground-floor bathroom and ‘effectively a suite’ above, with a Victorian canopy bath, ‘an extraordinary museum piece’. ‘The food is outstanding, both in the bar and the restaurant. Especially good were the queen scallops in garlic, to say nothing of lobster bisque and lamb with white beans and parsley mash.’ ‘Grouse was available, this being a grouse-shooting area, and we soon got the hang of waiting in the bar for the specials board to appear.’ ‘One rings down for complimentary tea when one wakes in the morning – what a luxury!’ (John Saul, Rodney and Mary Milne-Day, and others)