Smash hit

“We’d wanted chickens from the moment we opened the pub,” says Jason King, the pub’s chef and, along with Simon Page, its co-owner. “Then a customer gave us six, and it took off from there. Now we have over 100 rare-breed and rescue hens.”

It’s a turn that typifies how the pair has conducted business since taking over the Wellington Arms in 2005. King, an award-winning chef from Australia, and Page, a former music teacher, opened with the idea of “getting all our food in the morning, cooking it, serving it and starting all over again the next day”, and have stirred up a rare sense of communality in the process.

“One evening, a customer asked us just how local our honey was,” says Page. “I told him it was from about 10 miles away, so he helped us set up our own beehives. Now, he supplies us with vegetables from his polytunnels just up the road.”

With a vegetable patch of their own, plus a herb garden by the kitchen, the set-up might seem twee if it weren’t founded on such strongly maintained principles of using locally sourced produce (Orkney beef and Australian salt aside). Even regulars with the odd fruit tree or fishing rod feel moved to chip in.

“One lady turned up with two suitcases of crab apples, so we made crab apple jelly. And one customer shot some geese the other week, so we turned that into a terrine,” explains King. “They never ask for any money, just maybe a beer, and they love seeing their stuff on the menu. Whenever we need something, it always seems to turn up. I’m going to talk to a guy who’s a keen fisherman about getting some trout next.”

In addition to all the hard work going on in the kitchen, the Wellington Arms still fulfils some of the traditional functions expected of a local pub. Walking clubs and bridge circles regularly meet there, and the bar is always full – though there’s a marked increase in older couples and groups of lunching ladies.

“I don’t think many old-style boozers exist any more,” says King. “This place used to be a spit’n’sawdust place where the local rugby team would drink, but now people want somewhere welcoming, to which they can bring their children. When we first opened, people would ask if it was OK for them to bring kids, and I’d always say yes. After all, they’re potential customers.”

The Wellington Arms, Baughurst, Hampshire (0118-982 0110; www.thewellingtonarms.com )

The Black Swan Hotel, Cumbria

Louise Dinnes and her husband Alan had spent two years looking everywhere from the Scottish Highlands to Cornwall for a pub to take over, when they visited Ravenstonedale in Cumbria.

“I remember my first impressions as we drove up,” Louise says. “The village was absolutely gorgeous, but, as we approached the pub, we could see window boxes hanging off the sills, and it was so dirty and unwelcoming. It desperately needed a new lease of life.”

Leaving behind their jobs in sales and marketing, the Dinnes used equity from their house to buy the Black Swan in 2006. It is a beautiful Victorian building large enough comfortably to include guest accommodation, but their plans for its redevelopment went beyond a fresh lick of paint and some new guest ales.

“We think the pub should be at the centre of village life,” Louise explains. “With village shops and post offices closing, people can feel isolated. We wanted to rekindle the community spirit.”

With backing from Pub Is the Hub, an initiative set up in 2002 by the Prince of Wales to help pubs respond to the needs of local communities, the Dinnes opened a small shop on site. Providing everything from postal services and off-sales to medicines, magazines and newspapers, as well as locally baked bread, milk and fresh produce, the Village Store has developed a booming trade among both locals and tourists.

“It has become a real social nucleus. Older villagers come in and end up chatting for 20 minutes, and we have a suggestions blackboard so customers can let us know if they’d like us to order something we don’t usually stock. And we’ve made the pub a much more homely, welcoming place, too. We’ve installed a new coffee machine, and a computer with free broadband that anyone can use, plus we have books and magazines to browse, and games for children,” Louise explains. “It seems to have hit the spot – we’ve been finalists at the Publican Awards twice and been awarded Camra Pub of the Season for our ale, and our hotel accommodation [11 rooms, two of which are dog-friendly and converted to allow full disabled access] has 4 AA stars now.”

This dramatic turnaround was recognised in April, when Prince Charles and Hilary Benn MP, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, paid the Black Swan a visit.

“We arranged for them to meet some of the shop’s suppliers, like the farmer who provides the meat and his wife who bakes the cakes, and talked about the benefits of shopping locally. The Village Store has proven to be a lot more profitable than we could have ever imagined. In less than two years, the Black Swan’s total turnover has gone from £200,000 to £600,000. It’s really buzzing now.”

Black Swan Hotel, Ravenstonedale, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria (01539-623204; www.blackswanhotel.com ). Rooms from £70

Explore Eating Out

• A A Gill

• Giles Coren

• Winner's Dinners

Times Recommends

• Top Ten most searched for recipes
• Chalet Chef 2010: the winning menus
• Gin and pomegranate jellies