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General Tarleton Inn, North Yorkshire

Chef Tommy Banks, a celebrated Yorkshire chef, is best known for his award-winning restaurant the Black Swan at Oldstead, and he also has deep pub roots. In fact, the Black Swan started out as one, with Banks serving drinks at his family’s establishment before graduating to the kitchen. In 2023, he opened Abbey Inn in Byland, and he has just started a hospitality arm focused on reviving other pubs across the UK. First up is General Tarleton with eight rooms in the village of Ferrensby, near Harrogate. The cuisine is exceptional, with refined versions of traditional pub dishes made with regional ingredients – ideal sustenance for walks along the river and into the Nidd Gorge, a local beauty spot.

The Bat and Ball, Oxfordshire

It’s dogs by the fire and dog collars at the bar at this quaint inn in the village of Cuddesdon, famous for its theological college. It was opened at the start of the year by the proprietors of the Lamb Inn in nearby Little Milton, and the chefs at both locations cut their teeth at two-Michelin-star Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons down the road. This pub is the more relaxed option – there’s even a dart board – and dishes take typical pub fare and dial them up with premium local produce. The five bedrooms have walls painted in rich autumnal shades to match the nearby landscape, which is sandwiched between the Cotswolds and Chilterns.

King’s Arms, Lakeland

This independently run inn, which reopened at the end of August, is at the heart of the Lakeland village of Hawkshead, just a short walk from Beatrix Potter Gallery and Hawkshead Grammar School Museum, where the poet Wordsworth carved his name into his desk. It’s rich in history in the oak beams and stone floors at the King’s Arms too, which originates in the 1600s. Behind the dark-wood panelled bar is a selection of regional ales including Coniston Old Man Ale and Cumbrian Ales Loweswater Gold, while the menu focuses on classics with Cumberland scotch eggs and beef wellington. Just the thing to be enjoying after a stomp up nearby Latterbarrow fell.

The Wellington at Boscastle, Cornish Coast

Known affectionately as The Welly, this centuries-old coaching inn overlooks Boscastle Harbor on Cornwall’s dramatic north coast. A local brewery recently invested heavily doing it up, and it shows in the cosy dining rooms, intimate corners and stained glass panelling. The pick of the bedrooms are the two in the pub’s turret with freestanding baths, but every room come with local art on the walls and ordnance survey maps and a South West Coast Path national trail book for walks. The path runs right outside: west to Tintagel Castle, legendary birthplace of King Arthur as per myth, or east towards Pentargon waterfall. Post-hike, there’s pints of Proper Job by the fire and servings of fish and chips to look forward to, made with local catch in ale batter.

The Woolpack Inn, Hampshire

Recently renovated by influential interior designer Nina Campbell, this rural inn is the centre of life in the small village of Totford in peaceful Candover Valley. Set amid fields and forests, so chef Luke Stradling has abundant regional ingredients to draw on – supplemented by the pub’s large kitchen garden, right now filled with pumpkin, celeriac and winter leaves. In addition to providing almost all the vegetables on the menu, the team also donates 20% of the harvest to community charities and homeless shelters. Upstairs, eight guest rooms are named after game birds, but fly fishing is the local main attraction – angling for trout in the famous chalk stream of the River Itchen.

Fleur de Lys Inn, Dorset Countryside

Hospitality group Chickpea has nailed the modern country pubs with rooms formula – excellent cuisine, welcoming bar and competitive rates for overnighters. The latest addition to the fold is the Fleur de Lys, a historic inn in the village of Cranbourne. Author Thomas Hardy was a frequent visitor here and makes reference to it in his novel Tess. The revamp reflects its period charm: hops drape over the large open fireplace, candles flicker on tables and, upstairs, the nine bedrooms are decorated in muted colours. Trails loop around Cranborne Manor, with dishes such as Brixham bass, venison chop and toffee pudding to look forward to back at the pub afterwards.

Penny Bun Inn, Yorkshire Dales

Named after a mushroom found in local woods, Penny Bun is a break from conventional pubs. With its earthen walls and palette of earthy browns, the look is more wabi-sabi minimalism than brass beer pumps. Between Ilkley and Otley in the Yorkshire Dales, the new inn is part of the Denton Reserve, a 2,500-acre estate undergoing a sustainably led transformation, shifting to carbon sequestering and sustainable agriculture. It provides many of the ingredients found on the menu at the Penny Bun, such as pork croquette salad or gnocchi with roasted garden beetroots. The serene decor particularly suits the five bedrooms (the best room comes with a standalone tub), with deep beds to sink into after hikes on Ilkley Moor, just steps away.

Ship Inn, Norfolk Coast

Recently, Sisters Siobhan and Caitriona Peyton rebooted this seaside inn with nine rustic rooms in the village of Brancaster. The cuisine has a light Mediterranean touch, and while menus have one eye on the sea (less than a mile’s walk away), game from local estates is the highlight in autumn. For Sunday lunch, expect whole pot-roasted venison shoulders served with local wild mushrooms instead of the usual chicken or beef, while in the front bar settle in by the fire and tuck into a mangalitza pork sausage roll or monkfish with a pint of Moon Gazer Ale. Outside, Norfolk’s big skies look especially arresting at this time of year – watch for flocks of pink-footed geese – and walks cut through dunes and marshes.

The Leicester Arms, Kent Countryside

Across the road from the entrance to Penshurst Place, this historic pub is more attractive than ever after a £1.2m revamp last year. No wonder it scooped Kent’s county prize at the national awards: there are deep leather armchairs by the fire in the bar, real Kentish ales from a local brewery, and superior cuisine in the dining room. The menu highlights local produce, with lamb scotch egg and oysters from Whitstable, while the 11 botanically named bedrooms are decorated in a classic style. Four rooms come with rolltop baths for soaking after walks after a stroll around the Penshurst Estate past River Medway, lakes and giant oak trees.

Swan Inn, West Sussex

The lengthy renovation of this historic inn in Fittleworth on the edge of the South Downs was well worth it. Period details from its medieval origins mix with stylish comfort in the bar, restaurant and 12 elegant rooms – though it remains traditional, says owner Angus Davies. Meals served in the wood-panelled, painting-lined dining room draw on seasonal local produce (wild mushrooms and plum pudding on our visit) and generous breakfasts are served in a barn in the pretty gardens. The old visitor books are interesting: notable guests include JMW Turner, John Constable and Rudyard Kipling. There’s plenty to do nearby, from antique shopping in local villages to walks on the downs, Petworth House and Arundel castle.

The Nevill Arms, Leicestershire Countryside

With its honeyed hamlets, pretty market towns and undulating landscape, the Welland valley is in a region sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (like the Cotswolds but more affordable). The Nevill Arms in the village of Medbourne was refurbished in 2023, with 10 rooms (some with four-poster beds) spread between the inn and its converted stables – and next year they’ll add a stone cottage next door too. On the food front, beef, pork and lamb are sourced from the owner’s farm, while in the inky blue-painted bar there’s a changing selection of Langton Brewery beers on tap – the favorite of which is an amber bitter, Inclined Plane, named after the canal lift at nearby Foxton Locks.

New Inn, Lancashire Countryside

New owners Ben and Lauren Sandiford assumed the running of this seven-bedroom village inn in April. Ben brought his chef experience to the kitchen, which now turns out elevated comfort dishes (shepherd’s pie with mash and ewe’s cheese crumb or beef and ale suet pudding) to be eaten in the beamed dining room beside the log burner. The bar is filled with locals sipping on