The bar

The first part of the Black Bull to greet each and every visitor is the bar, and walking through the front door into this comfortable space is like walking into another world, with a welcome warm enough to guarantee you leave your troubles outside. This genuinely traditional English pub is where it all started: it’s the oldest part of The Black Bull, before all those successful years saw it expand into the neighbouring terrace of cottages.

With weathered timber beams, whitewashed walls and antiques and curios adorning the walls and shelves, this lovely room acts as a very relaxing ante-chamber for guests to have a drink, peruse the menu or check the day’s special’s board before heading off for their tables, although the combination of cosy atmosphere and the drinks selection could well mean you find it hard to move on…

Behind the bar, veteran barman Jim Daly and the team have a large range of drinks that demand to be sampled, whether that’s a glass of wine (from the very impressive and carefully put-together wine list) as an appetiser, a hearty pint like Theakstons, or perhaps an after-dinner drink, where the selection of ports, cognacs, whiskys and other spirits really comes into its own.