Don’t miss: Estate tours taking in the rugged landscapes of Glen Lyon in the comfort of the Fortingall Land Rover or renting e-bikes to explore the local trails. High teas, whisky tastings and gourmet picnics are also on offer. Good for: Highland charm, sporting options, enviable interiors. The Fortingall Tucked…
Good for: Racing fans, shooting parties, stately home visits. In days gone by you might have found Spectator ‘Low Life’ columnist Jeffrey Bernard being propped up by the bar, and legendary Daily Express racing tipster Charles ‘The Scout’ Benson lounging on a banquette in the dining room. Next to them,…
“Oh, I think you’re going to be very happy,” confided our twinkly-eyed check in host. I was feeling fairly jolly already, having entered the hallowed Foyer from Brook Street and turned left instead of right, rather like turning the same direction when boarding a plane. Being a guest at Claridge’s…
The Painswick Good for: Luxury Stopover Fine dining On a sporting pilgrimage, whether it is towards Gloucestershire for Badminton or south for the trout, finding somewhere decent to stay on route can be a challenge. I’m a great believer in trying to make the journey as enjoyable as the destination.…
Few of us can resist the chance to go places usually out of bounds or take a peek inside institutions normally closed to the public but Newmarket offers just that. Racing’s ‘headquarters’ has heritage and famous faces (both equine and human) in spades, and The Jockey Club Rooms are no…
Good for: Nevill Holt Festival goers Picturesque market towns History buffs Carrying off the role of both boutique hotel and vibrant village boozer isn’t easy but The Nevill Arms in Medbourne, Leicestershire manages it with aplomb. Any night of the week the pub will be busy with locals and the…
Rothay Manor – good for Food Walking Dogs The Lake District has romance stitched into its reputation: those winsome trees perched atop a rocky outcrop stir even the stultified into creativity. There are the Poets, of course, although I have always found them a little more sapping than spiriting. And…
For many of those who have grown up in or near Rutland, Barnsdale Lodge will long have been a fixture. In my memory it played host to a hunt bash where I was taken with someone particularly unsuitable, but thankfully those murky days (well, they were also quite fun) are…
In John Martin Robinson’s magnificent book A Guide to the Country Houses of the North West (1991), there are many examples of the private mansions of Lancashire that no longer stand or have been ousted into commercial or municipal use. Against this backdrop of progress, the 14th-century Inn at Whitewell,…
As one gratefully breaks away from the M1 and sets sail west past Chesterfield’s crooked spire, it is when the hedges give way to stone walls that the transition to the Peak District is marked. I spent much of my childhood yomping around bits of Derbyshire as my father was…
