Shibden Mill Inn

One of Yorkshire’s hidden secrets reveals its pleasures slowly – a drink on the charming patio, a wander through the oak-beam-open-fire interior, and a leisurely gastro-pub meal. All right, it’s not really a secret any more, but there is something special about discovering the Shibden Mill Inn for the first time, tucked away in a valley by a stream that used to power the 17th-century mill. Turned into a pub in the 1890s, it’s kept its vintage look and backdrop but the ambience and experience is definitely contemporary boutique. Take the lunchtime sandwiches – trout pastrami with mustard creme fraiche, anyone? – or the up-to-the-minute mains such as miso-glazed hake. They are a beer, wine, gin and whiskey kind of place, with a seriously cosy bar or the sunny, shrub-filled patio to enjoy your drinks. The rooms are absolutely lovely, modelled around the quirky corners and exposed brickwork of the original building, and why wouldn’t you want to stay a night or two? At first glance this might not be the most obvious weekend-away territory, but this is ‘Gentleman Jack’ country, with Shibden Hall and the beautiful Calderdale valley on the doorstep and Halifax just a ten-minute drive away.