1. THE SPANIARDS INN
London, NW3
A favourite among Londoners dreaming of rural escape, the Spaniard is well sloshed in historical claims. Dick Turpin stashed himself away here, the delightful garden certainly providing ample hiding potential. Dickens also chose this patch of lawn as the setting for
Mrs Bardell’s arrest in The Pickwick Papers, while a certain loitering nightingale inspired Keats’s most famous ode. An aviary full of canaries promises to keep your children occupied and if you’re staggering in from the Heath, your dog will enjoy the washing facility, too.
A fair walk from Hampstead or Golders Green Tube stations. Bar snacks from £4.75, mains from £7.95. (020 8731 6571)
2. THE ROSE AND CROWN
Selling, Kent
All decent rambles through Perry and Conduit woods begin and end with the Rose and Crown (just ask for a leaflet). These flower-packed gardens have three national awards and new landlord Tim Robinson is now limbering up with the secateurs for future glory. He’s got a head start — this is textbook rustication with the added bonus of a handsome yew tree and surrounding woodland on all sides to frame the garden’s borders. Stitchwort and bluebells encroach from the wilds, there’s a water feature and — in case you forgot this is England — outdoor patio heaters. Try the home-made venison stew with a pint of Goacher’s mild from Maidstone. You can always ramble it off later.
M2, junction 6, head south on the A251. Starters from £3.95, mains from £6.50. (01227 752214)
3. THE THREE HORSESHOES
Elsted, West Sussex
Avoid the chicken options if you can’t stand the accusatorial stares from the free-ranging bantams. They scratch around your feet at this secluded Sussex hideaway. The manicured rose bushes open out onto widescreen views of the Downs, making quite a contrast to the snug series of Tudor rooms inside. The menu is solid English fare — steak and kidney and sausage and mash hogging the charts, despite pressure from fine crab and lobster salads. Chef Joan Dalton’s recipes date back 24 years — continuity that speaks for itself.
West of Midhurst, head left for Elsted, just off the A272. Starters from £4.50, mains from £8.50. (01730 825746)
4. THE BANKES ARMS
Studland, Dorset
You’ll forgive any lack of horticultural detailing for the views of Studland Bay (the naturist bit being modestly tucked around the corner). The Bankes’s largely flat lawns amount to a maritime viewing platform the size of six tennis courts, making it the perfect place from which to admire the Isle of Wight without paying for the ferry. This is the home of the Isle of Purbeck Brewery — choose from nine of its ales, plus four more brewed on the premises. Seeing as it could virtually flip onto your plate from here, the fish is recommended.
Take the A351 for Swanage. The B3351 for Studland is on the left; bar snacks from £6.50, mains £11.95. B&B £44. (01929 450225)
5. THE FARMER’S ARMS
Combe Florey, Somerset
Before slipping into the Farmer’s Arms, so to speak, linger outside among the lavender, roses, daisies and delphiniums. This thatched cottage is a prize rest-stop on any meander for Somerset and Devon’s north coast, a free house whose lack of TVs, music, fruit machines and pool spells a distinct edge on the charms of Taunton Deane Service Station.
The menu is simple and locally sourced, though à la carte forays include venison hot-footed from the Quantock Hills. Thatch the way I like it, you might say, after your second pint of Exmoor Gold.
Six miles from Taunton on the A358 for Minehead. Starters from £4.50, mains from £8.95. (01823 432267, www.farmersarmsatcombeflorey.co.uk)
6. THE NEW INN
Waterley Bottom, Gloucestershire
In latter years, this semi-orchard gem has needed a coiffure, but newcomers Leigh Burke and Les Smitherman enlisted two gardeners and fashioned a smart wooden veranda (complete with alfresco pool table) to blur the division between bar and blooms. Sheltered in a valley renowned for magic mushrooms, you can feast more confidently on home-made nosh while supping a pint of Weston’s draught cider as buzzards wheel overhead. And fractious kids don’t have to ruffle the flowerbeds — there’s a miniature footie pitch in the far corner.
Just off the B4060, near North Nibley. Starters from £4, mains from £8.(01453 543659)
7. THE BLACK LION
Abergorlech, Carmarthenshire
This friendly-faced coaching inn is a welcome stop in the wilds of Carmarthenshire, its gardens stretching lazily down to the edge of the bone-idle River Cothi. The medieval bridge in front of you was repaired in 1794 and is still going strong. New owners Guy and Michelle Richardson plan more landscaping, but it’s already a lovely place to linger, watching for salmon and sea trout on their way to spawn. If that gives you an appetite, try the Celtic sirloin steak with a pint of Rhymney (£2.25).
Take the A40 from Carmarthen to Nantgaredig, turn left onto the B4310. Bar snacks from £3.50, mains from £6.50. (01558 685271)
8. KING’S ARMS
Heath Wakefield, Yorkshire
By ’eck, this is the kind of windswept place you’d expect to sup in alongside Heathcliff. But the King’s Arms, by night a gaslit and electricity-free experience, covets a soft southern secret: visit before moonrise and it has three separate gardens. Angie, who’ll serve you a delicious pint of Tetley’s (and we’re not talking tea) recommends the walled garden if there’s a breeze building up, though there’s also a semi-wooded area and an open garden for sunnier days. Watch out for wild flowers such as coltsfoot and reedmace.
And stop press: Britain’s most endangered species is alive — the home-cut, real potato chip.
On the A638 between Wakefield and Crofton, take the A655, turning for Kirkthorpe. Starters from £2.95, mains from £5.25. (01924 377527)
9. THE MILECASTLE INN
Northumberland
You’ll need legionnaire’s boots to get here, but the garden’s view of Hadrian’s Wall is worth the trudge. Shared conversations major on OS maps and bunions, this being a popular refreshment halt for coast-to-coast wall-walkers. Sweet williams sway in the breeze under the sycamore and chestnut trees. Clare and Kevin Hind’s glory is a wild-boar and duckling pie, washed down with Big Lamp and Prince Bishop.
Take the A69 west of Newcastle, then the B6318 at Haltwhistle. Snacks from £3.50, mains from £8.25. (01434 321372, www.milecastle-inn.co.uk)
10. THE APPLECROSS INN
Shieldaig, Wester Ross
From a bench overlooking the Inner Sound and the Isle of Raasay, it’s hard to know which is more warming: the Gulf Stream or that frothy pint from the Isle of Skye brewery. Try to avoid your visit coinciding with the high-summer breeding cycle of the highland midge, but otherwise, the Applecross’s fuchsia-hedged garden has a vista well worth the giddy drive over Scotland’s highest road. Nominative determinism has a wonderful example in landlady Judith Fish: local nets provide squat lobster marinated in sweet pickle and prawns immersed in garlic and butter.
Follow the A896 to Lochcarron, turn right for Applecross. Starters from £4.95, mains from £7.95; B&B £40. (01520 744262, www.applecross.uk.com)
AND ABROAD?
Sample the world’s best cocktail bars: www.timesonline.co.uk/foodandtravel
