Travel: Brown Horse Inn, Lake District

Without question, everybody connected with the Brown Horse Inn works like demons to make it the special place it is, but the beauty is that everything seems so effortless.

It is quality, but with a light and laid-back touch, everything a perfect inn ought to be.

You walk in the main door and into a bar with roaring fires and welcoming faces. The restaurant is away to the side. You're at ease in an instant.

You go upstairs, look out at the valley from your bedroom, tell the kids to stop jumping on the bed, tell the four-year-old that you'll call the police if he doesn't behave himself (never works) then head downstairs for dinner. And this is when it gets really interesting.

Wining and dining? Quite honestly, I've been to starred restaurants run by celebrity chefs and the food they delivered was good, but not this good. It helps, for sure, to know that so much of the menu comes directly from the Brown Horse Estate about a quarter of a mile away. They try to be as self-sufficient as possible and it shows.

We took a trip up to the farm in the company of owner, Steve Edmondson, whose chilled personality is very much in keeping with his creation. He bought the Brown Horse three or four years ago. Back then, it was a little tired, a beautiful 1850s coaching inn that had lost its way.

Edmondson and his family have injected heart and soul into it.

The best places to stay and eat are those that don't appear to try too hard to impress, but still do.

Things just roll along nicely here. The fare they produce is magnificent, pure and simple. I had some of the Aylsbury duck, some roast Winster pheasant, divine lamb from the nearby Low Moor Howe Farm and, well, it's quite embarrassing to reveal how much I ate.

Room service? Some new rooms, some old, nine in total and all with character and space. Exposed beams, vistas of the Winster valley. There are also two cottages available for short-term rent.

Worth getting out of bed for? Winster is a few miles from Lake Windermere where, for our gang anyway, the highlight was the Beatrix Potter Centre.

This is Potter country. She wrote of Squirrel Nutkin, Benjamin Bunny, Jemima Puddle-Duck and all the others in the Peter Rabbit series from her home in the close-by village of Sawrey. The centre is a delight. All of her characters are here. You can even go and sit with Mrs Tiggy-Winkle in her house of laundry.

Well, you can if you're a child – and nobody is looking. Everybody becomes a bit of a child in this place. The villages of the Lake District are pretty special and there are some scenic spots to visit. Grasmere is a lovely place to spend some time.

Budget or boutique? Take your pick. Midweek rates come in at 40 per person bed and breakfast. Weekend rates from 45 B&B. Family room rates: four people, 130 per night. Two-night special: dinner, bed & breakfast, 57.50 per person, per night.

Little extras? The Winster Valley Brewery opened at the Brown Horse in January of this year. Now ale is not my cup of tea but apparently it's a fair old success story. Brewer Gerard Lyon launched Old School and Best Bitter and the pair are now available at a number of restaurants and pubs within the Lake District. If you're a devotee, you can enjoy, in front of the fire, hand-pulled ales such as Pride of Pendle, York Brewery, Hardknott Brewery, Foxfield Brewery and Potbellied Brewery. I stuck to the wine list.

Guestbook comments? Why not take the scenic route into Windermere by heading through the wilds of Kirkstone Pass. It's a stunning drive, well worth the various gulps as you creep around some hair-raising corners. Do it in daylight.

The Brown Horse Inn, (015394 43443, www.thebrownhorseinn.co.uk)

This article was first published in Scotland On Sunday, 9 January, 2011