Clog and Billycock

From the same stable as The Three Fishes at Mitton and The Highwayman at Nether Burrow, the team at Ribble Valley Inns have taken a good and popular dining inn and made it better still. In a village at the fringe of Blackburn, its hillside setting is in pleasantly wooded, countryside with the historic Hoghton Tower close by and walks from the door to Witton Country Park, Pleasington Old Hall and riverside rambles through the striking gorge of the River Darwen. Originally the Bay Horse Inn, a century ago a new landlord took the reins; his favoured attire was a billycock hat and Lancashire clogs, his personality did the rest and the 'new' name stuck! It's a Thwaites' house, with their popular Lancaster Bomber the pick of the beers, whilst the wine list stretches to over 35 bins. Marry this to the well crafted menu created by award-winning chef Nigel Haworth and you've the start of a long friendship with this mid-Victorian inn, which is an engaging mix of contemporary and traditional styles, with a surprisingly airy interior, modern art and photos of local food heroes. It's Lancashire produce that Nigel concentrates on; commence with treacle baked saddleback pork ribs or Greave's black pudding on an English muffin with poached egg. Ideal bedfellows for mains that promise heather-reared Lonk lamb Lancashire hotpot with pickled red cabbage, Goosnargh duck pie, toad-in-the-hole or fish pie. The fish and chips includes mouth-watering chips cooked in dripping. Non-meat options are weighty with Lancashire's artisan cheese producers and the bounteous vegetables of the region. For afters, try Tomlinson's rhubarb jelly and custard, pineapple upside down cake or chocolate and orange pudding.