Bridge Inn

Sitting beside the River Irt in the pretty hamlet of Santon Bridge, on the quiet western fringe of the Lake District, this traditional country inn is a genuine community hub. Alongside its eat-in dining it runs a proper takeaway service, with home-cooked food you can phone ahead for and collect — including a classic battered Fish and Chips that locals and visiting walkers swear by. The kitchen is well known for looking after coeliacs too, with a dedicated gluten-free fryer and clued-up staff who really know the menu.

The wider area is wonderfully remote, wrapped in the fells and forests of Wasdale and Eskdale, and the inn makes a welcoming refuge for ramblers, anglers and families touring the coast-to-mountains scenery. Expect honest, hearty Cumbrian cooking, a relaxed pubby atmosphere and a friendly welcome whether you are dining in or taking food back to your campsite or cottage. It is exactly the kind of dependable village kitchen that keeps a rural community fed in a corner of the county where dedicated takeaways are very thin on the ground.