White Horse Inn, Keswick

After being closed for nine months because of flooding, this pub reopened in November 2011 under new management. This is an old roadside inn, now isolated in a tiny hamlet as the realigned A66 roars by just 30 metres away. The front door opens into a long low ceilinged room with a fireplace at either end and a small bar tucked away in one corner to the left. There's a tiny room next to the bar and another at the far end, behind the larger of the two fireplaces. The floor is stone-flagged near the bar and carpeted elsewhere, and although food is a prominent feature, the tables are not set up in that reproachful way that is seen so often, suggesting that you really ought to be eating. There are three hand pumps on the bar, serving beers from local breweries such as Yates and Hesket Newmarket. When I was there two of the pump clips were turned around, but the Yates Bitter was on and in good condition too.