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The Red Lion Inn

“Country pub, restaurant and B&B with super garden”

LOCATION

HINXTON, CAMBRIDGESHIRE

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This 16th-century pink-washed free house and restaurant has a pretty walled garden and dovecote, and a patio overlooking the church. Four local real ales await your order in the low-ceilinged and wood-floored bar; three of them – Woodforde’s Wherry, Crafty Sauvignon Blonde and own label Red & Black – are fixtures, the fourth a local guest brew. Over 20 wines are served by the glass. It’s good to eat in the bar, but you might prefer the high-raftered, L-shaped restaurant, which is similarly furnished with high-backed settles. The menu gives a taste of the modern British approach to food,with braised pork cheeks with celeriac purée and remoulade for starters; mains such as pesto gnocchi with purple sprouting broccoli, tomato concasse and broad beans; and puddings like salted caramel tart.

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AA Pick of the Pubs

The Red Lion Inn

32 High Street, HINXTON, CB10 1QY

Phone: 01799 530601

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Discover Cambridgeshire

To the west of East Anglia is Cambridgeshire, a county best known as the home to the university that makes up the second half of ‘Oxbridge’ (the other half is Oxford). As well as its globally renowned educational credentials, it also has a rich natural history; much of its area is made up of reclaimed or untouched fens. These are low-lying areas which are marshy and prone to flooding. The lowest point in the UK is at Holme Fen, which is some 9 feet (2.75 metres) below sea level. Some of the fens had been drained before, but it was in the 19th and 20th centuries that wide-spread, successful drainage took place, expanding the amount of arable and inhabitable land available.

Ely Cathedral was built on an island among the swampy fens, but now sits among acres of productive farmland, albeit farmland criss-crossed by miles of flood-preventing watercourses. Oliver Cromwell was born in Ely, and his family home can still be visited. Cambridge itself is a beautiful and historic city, with any number of impressive old buildings, churches and colleges, and plenty of chances to mess about on the River Cam which gave the city its name.