Welcome to Recommends

I FOUND myself, unexpectedly, at my parents' home in Derbyshire yesterday. Whenever I tell people I am from Derbyshire, the general response is "Ooh, the Peak District is gorgeous – and the Derbyshire Dales are fantastic."

This is indeed true – unfortunately, I grew up in what I call the sh***y bit in the middle, a succession of dreary former pit villages with fading miners' welfare clubs, bleak cricket pitches and the blandest new estates imaginable.

Sometimes I refer to this area as "deepest, darkest Derbyshire". On other occasions, I feel this is maybe a harsh judgment on an area where my parents have lived for their entire 80-plus years. To them, it is home – the place where they were born, grew up, went to school – and ultimately, yes, the place they will die.

And in the place we call home, there is always beauty. Coming back here after so long away (I haven't lived here for well over 20 years), makes it harder for me to see this, and it may come in all kinds of unusual forms, but it is there.

And yes, there are places to recommend – in the unlikely event that you ever find yourself on the Derbyshire-Notts border, the Woodend Inn in Huthwaite does a mean carvery for £3.50 a head Monday to Saturday. A great credit crunch night out if ever there was one.

Talking of the credit crunch (how long before someone names a breakfast cereal credit crunch and sells it for 19p a box?), there are plans for a thrifty Recommends special in a couple of weeks.

The persistently parsimonious Robert Ritchie is already planning his top tips, but let us know all your best cheap (or free) place to eat/visit, etc. Send them in and I promise next week's intro will be more relevant!

I hope you enjoy this week's Seafood Special.