Address: Denton House, Hesket Newmarket, Calbeck, Cumbria.
Tel: 016974 78415

First impressions
Classic Cumbrian B&B - a converted 17th-century house in the heart of tiny Hesket Newmarket - complete with archetypal landlady and guest-house smell.

What are the rooms like?
Spacious and pretty, if a little over-floral, looking out on fields of sheep and a rather Blair Witch set of straw sculptures on a grassy bank outside.

The bed test
A smallish, comfortable double - though our room contained two singles as well.

The bathroom test
Clean and modern, with a big bath. Some ensuite.

The food
A generous cooked breakfast featuring memorable sausages, and Sunday roast. For dinner, a hike of, ooh, three seconds to the Old Crown's restaurant, serving mostly curries (many vegetarian) with several fantastic beers including the lipsmackingly rich Blencathra bitter.

What is there to see within walking distance?
For the ambler, the picturesque village and surrounding fields. For the rambler, the wilds of Caldbeck Commons and the peaks of Skiddaw and Blencathra.

What is there to see within a 10-minute drive?
Nearby villages of equal charm - Caldbeck with its craft shops, Mosedale and Mungrisdale - and numerous parking points for exhilarating walks in middle- of-nowhere, cloud-shrouded remoteness.

How much a night?
£18 - £20 per person, singles and doubles.

Would you go back?
Indeed, though great B&Bs are so numerous in this part of the world it would be hard to resist trying others, too.