The Millstone Hotel

Modern meets traditional in this handsome 18th-century coaching inn in a pretty village on the edge of the Ribble Valley. It’s a welcoming place, what with its oak-panelling, richly patinaed furniture & beams, an open fire, grandfather clocks & creamy walls. Eat either in the bar or the smart but relaxed dining room, with its chandeliers & white linen. Local ingredients are to the fore – poultry from Goosnargh, lamb from Pendle & shrimps from Morecambe Bay – while homemade chutney bursts with plums & apples from nearby Balderstone. Ribblesdale goats' cheese & avocado salad, toasted pine nuts & balsamic, or spiced salmon fishcakes with chilli jam & grilled lime make fine starters, with Farnsworth of Whalley sausages, Andrew Ireland’s black pudding, mash & onion gravy a satisfying follow-up. If you’ve room for cinder toffee cheesecake on ginger biscuits, it might be as well to make a night of it, & book yourself into one of the comfy rooms across the road.