Pubs tips

Part of the vast 22,500-acre Elveden estate, owned by the Guinness family, this charming pub with rooms is surrounded by the Brecks, one of the most wildlife-rich areas in the UK, part of Thetford Forest. Stroll the forest tracks beneath blazing autumnal canopies, and look out for stone curlews, woodlarks and nightjars, roe and red deer, hares and muntjac. The High Lodge Forest Centre has play areas, cycle trails and a tree canopy adventure course – ideal if you’re visiting with the kids, with family rooms (sleeping up to four) available at the inn. Doubles from £105 B&B; elvedeninn.com

The brief is simple. A two-day hike with a railway station at either end and a pub with rooms in the middle. No need to carry much, just a change of clothes, some lunch and water. I don’t want a circuit; I want a straight yomp across magnificent countryside with an evening in front of a log fire and a shiny array of real ale pumps.

Brockencote Hall, Chaddesley Corbett, WorcestershireYou might think you’ve rolled up at a luxury Loire valley chateau when you arrive at this Victorian manor in landscaped parkland. There’s nothing too luxe about the price, though, with B&B from £138. Spend what you save on a nine-course tasting extravaganza in the restaurant, perhaps matching it with a flight of wine. A normal two- or three-course dinner might feature local produce such as Worcestershire duck breast with confit duck hash and artisanal cheeses. There’s plenty to do during the day – fishing, tennis, or a stroll around the 29 hectares. The 21 bedrooms range from contemporary classics to feature suites.Doubles from £138 B&B, nine-course dinner £85, brockencotehall.com

Tealby. Two syllables hinting at 1,600 years of history. The name of this little Lincolnshire wolds spot is thought to mean “village of the Taifali people”. Which is odd, as the east Germanic Taifali tribe hailed from the Carpathian mountains, far from the east Midlands.

From St Ives station, there’s a view of sand, palms and, across misty blue water, a lighthouse on a rocky island. Virginia Woolf and her sister, artist Vanessa Bell, saw this view as children from the house their father rented. It later featured in Woolf’s novel To the Lighthouse, set in the Hebrides but clearly inspired by St Ives. She describes “the great plateful of blue water” and “hoary Lighthouse, distant, austere in the midst”. Images have lingered ever since I read it years ago at college, and my pub walk is something of a literary pilgrimage.

Berney Arms is one of England’s most remote railway stations. You can only get to this stretch of the Norfolk Broads by train, boat or a long walk. It’s 25 minutes’ train ride from Norwich, but only two trains stop most days, and I’ve never seen anyone else getting off. Outside the train window, a roe deer steps delicately through green marshes and an egret stands poised by the water. The strange wild beauty is what keeps me coming back. This time I’m arriving with my husband on the 7.36am train from Norwich to walk along the River Yare to Reedham. We head through into the first carriage, the only one that fits next to the tiny station.