Alma Inn at Cottonstones

At first glance the Alma Inn looks like your archetypal stone-built, slate-roofed Yorkshire boozer, & the interior is also true to type: an open fire blazes in the flag-floored, brick-walled bar, where locals stand around drinking pints amid an array of mismatched, slightly scruffy furniture. Ignore the laminated menu of safe pub grub, because there’s a surprise here – a proper wood-burning oven spitting out a decent choice of cracking pizzas ranging from a basic assemblage of garlic, olive oil & tomato sauce to a meat feast. Other Italian dishes are very good too: plates of spaghetti bolognese or stuffed chicken breast with ricotta, sage, thyme, lemon zest & white wine jus – all washed down with something appropriate from the commendable wine list. As you gaze out of the window to the moors beyond, you’ll be struck by the delicious incongruity of it all.