The Cartford Inn (formerly Cartford Hotel and Cartford Arms) is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and

boutique hotel Boutique hotels are small inventory, design driven, unique hotels with their own character, personality and storytelling at the heart of their concept. Positioning is secondary for these hotels as they focus on authenticity and personalization ...

Little Eccleston-with-Larbreck Little Eccleston-with-Larbreck is a civil parish on the southern bank of the River Wyre on the Fylde in the English county of Lancashire. The population taken at the 2011 census was 400. The river is crossed by Cartford Bridge at which, unusu ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. It stands on the southern banks of the

River Wyre The River Wyre is a river in Lancashire, England, United Kingdom, which flows into the Irish Sea at Fleetwood. It is approximately 28 miles (45 km) in length. The river is a County Biological Heritage Site and has a sheltered estuary ...

, just off the

Cartford Bridge Cartford Bridge is a single-track toll bridge in the English county of Lancashire. Built in 1831,toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or ''toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road. ...

s in the United Kingdom, with views to the northeast of the

Forest of Bowland The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...

. The Beaumé family have owned the inn since 2007, after they purchased it from John Smith. Julie Beaumé was born in nearby

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, while Patrick Beaumé was born in the

Médoc The Médoc (; oc, label= Gascon, Medòc ) is a region of France, well known as a wine growing region, located in the ''département'' of Gironde, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, north of Bordeaux. Its name comes from ''(Pagus) Medull ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

. The inn was named the UK's Pub of the Year in 2020 by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

''.

History

A former

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...

, the first record of "The Cartford Inn" name was in 1839. It had become the Cartford Hotel by 1853. A landlady in the 1960s was known as "Dirty Annie". The establishment changed name in the 1980s to the Cartford Arms.''A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre''
– Nick Moore (2018), p. 258

Accommodation

There are fifteen rooms in the main inn. There are also two cabins — named Ziggy and the Robins Nest"Stunning new additions at the Cartford Inn in Little Eccleston"
- ''

Lancashire Life ''Lancashire Life'' is a British monthly regional magazine, first published in 1947, devoted to the English county palatine of Lancashire. The magazine is part of Archant Life Ltd. It covers lifestyle topics including motoring, property, food, ar ...

'', 10 November, 2017 — on the property.Sleep
- The Cartford Inn official website The inn is included in the

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

, and has been awarded an AA five-star rating. Before the AA became the licence holder of the quality assessment schemes, the inn also received five stars from

VisitEngland VisitEngland is the official tourist board for England. Before 1999 it was known as the English Tourist Board and between 1999 and 2009 as the English Tourism Council. In 2003, it merged with the British Tourist Authority to form VisitBritain bef ...

Food and drink

The inn's food, which is the work of

head chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is ...

Chris Bury (formerly of

The Fat Duck The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England. It is run by celebrity chef proprietor Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building that had previously been the site of the Bell pub, the Fat Duck opened on 16 Aug ...

), was reviewed by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s

Jay Rayner Jason Matthew Rayner (born 14 September 1966) is an English journalist and food critic. Early life Jason Matthew Rayner was born on 14 September 1966. He is the younger son of Desmond Rayner and journalist Claire Rayner. His family is Jewish. He ...

in 2017 and ''

The Caterer ''The Caterer'' is a weekly UK business magazine for hospitality professionals. It covers all areas of the hospitality industry (including restaurants, hotels, foodservice, pubs and bars) providing news, analysis and features about senior industry ...

''s Brendan Coyne in 2015."Better Business: The Cartford Inn"
- TheCaterer.com, 16 January, 2015 Bury took over the head-chef position from Ian Manning in 2016. Also on the property is the two-storey River House, which was formerly John Smith's Hart Brewery.History
- HartBrewery.co.uk The inn was named the UK's 2020 Pub of the Year by ''

''."This north west pub has just been named in the best in the UK"
- ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...

'', 8 September 2020

Gallery

File:Cartford Inn.jpg, The inn's sign in 2017 File:The Cartford Arms - geograph.org.uk - 94120.jpg, The building in 2005, when it was known as the Cartford Hotel

References

External links

Official website of The Cartford Inn"North west pub installs greenhouse-style dining pods ahead of reopening"
- ''

'', 17 June 2020
The Cartford Inn
at Geograph.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Cartford Inn, The Pubs in Lancashire Hotels in Lancashire Coaching inns Buildings and structures in the Borough of Fylde 1839 establishments in England