The Drovers Rest Inn, Carlisle

This traditional roadside village local was one of the finalists in Camra's national pub of the year for 2015. It's run by four partners, who started here in August 2013, and is an old-fashioned, well-presented, comfortable and friendly pub. There are six hand pumps on the bar, with three ales on the four facing on entering, and one cider on the two round the corner to the left. All beers, ciders and craft kegs are listed on a blackboard to the right, which also keeps count of the number of different real ales since the present owners took over. I received a friendly greeting on arrival in the early evening, and they promised to stay open for my celebratory (or consolatory) pint after Luton Town's game at Brunton Park. (We won 2-1.) Being an isolated village pub, there's not a lot of evening trade on weekdays, so they don't always stay open until the advertised 11pm. The two beers I tried were in good condition - in fact the Loch Lomond Bonnie & CLyde was a brilliant beer, with a subtle but distinctive flavour of mature orange marmalade.There's a beer festival in early May, and the flyer they have produced mentions the camp site with lodges for hire just around the corner - which happened to be where I had arranged to stay the night. Both businesses depend to some extent on visitors to and walkers along Hadrian's Wall, which runs nearby. Maybe I'll make that my excuse for a return visit.