In the bar of the handsome 18th-century coaching inn are stone floors, open fires, beams and traditional oak chairs; in the dining room, monumental candelabra shed dramatic light on quirky painted furniture and contemporary art.

On your plate are vegetables from the back garden, poultry and eggs from Steve’s smallholding, and meat from Karen’s family farm. (There’s a farm shop, too.) So tuck into homemade black pudding with quails’ egg and mustard sauce as a starter, duck breast with sweet layered potatoes, duck spring roll and plum and damson sauce to follow, and candied lemon cheesecake with honeycomb ice cream to finish (best plan a walk round the lake before you start!).

Four boutique bedrooms have been added to the rest, each with a wall of tinted glass to make the most of the views across the hills - gorgeous. Huge French beds, glamourous textiles, rococo lights and slate bathrooms complete the snazzy picture.

The Royal Oak
Bishopstone, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN6 8PP. Main courses £8-£20; bar snacks £3.95-£6.50

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Passionately organic, delightfully unpreachy. In 2005 the simple pub in the idyllic village was taken on by farmer Helen Browning and has been flying the flag ever since.

There’s food bartering with locals, a wild garden with barbecues (they provide the ingredients, you do the rest) and open days with hay bales for kids to romp on: all part of the commitment to be a full-on local.

The planked open-plan bar has a lovely feel with roaring fire and beams, and the staff are friendly but best of all is the menu that changes twice daily: crayfish from the Thames served with Bishopstone watercress, home-cured bacon from home-reared pigs, asparagus from Lotmead down the road, fish from day boats out of Newlyn, gooseberries from the garden.

Perfect ingredients, perfect food, beer from Arkells and six wines by the glass. And amazing Sunday brunch.

Authentic pub award:

The Bell Inn
Aldworth, Reading, Berkshire, RG8 9SE. Bar meals £2.50-£6

The Bell has the style of village pubs long gone and has been in the Macaulay family for 200 years. Plain benches, venerable dark-wood panelling, settles and an outside gents: it’s an unspoilt place that visitors love.

There’s an old wood-burning stove in one room, a more impressive hearth in the public bar, and early evening drinkers cluster around the unique glass hatched bar. Fifty years ago the regulars were agricultural workers; today piped music and mobile phones are fervently opposed.

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