On the main street of England’s charming official Book Town, amid the Howgill Fells, Michael Garnett’s16th-century coaching inn attracted so much praise from readers that we sent our inspector along to check it out. They found a 'ruggedly rustic atmosphere, unstuffy and comfortable' and 'a tastefully contemporary take on traditional country-style furnishings with light of touch Zoffany fabrics'. ‘Winding corridors and narrow stairs’ led to top-floor, beamed Rawthey suite, which ‘feels calm and relaxing', with a king-size bed, fox-and-foliage wallpaper, Herdwick lambswool carpet, a large bathroom with bath and walk-in shower, Sedbergh Soap Co toiletries. Public spaces are ‘typical country-inn’ with ‘sensible, mud-proof carpet, a stone fireplace, cosy corners, country bric-a-brac, hunting-dog paintings’, banquettes, settles, ‘the odd stuffed woodpecker’, cask ales. Second-generation, hands-on owner Michael sets the style for his ‘pleasant and friendly’ young staff. Walkers and cyclists will find hearty pub classics in the restaurant or on the flower-decked terrace. Grain pasta with miso-roasted mushrooms and spinach was ‘melt-in-the-mouth creamy’, the house salad ‘wonderfully imaginative’. 'The food was admirable but they could have included more vegetarian options.' At breakfast the buffet was sadly depleted (no granola), but a ‘decent scrambled eggs on sourdough toast with garlic-smothered tomatoes’ hit the spot. There is no parking at the inn. (Martin Wagner, Janet Barraclough, Henri Stakenburg, and many others).