Pop historians may beg to differ, but as anyone who has visited will tell you, there can only be one inspiration for Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven is a Place on Earth – Lancashire’s Ribble Valley.
I have no evidence that the ex-Go Go has ever visited Clitheroe, but just look at that gently undulating countryside lapping against brooding Pendle Hill. Marvel at the topographical variety of the Forest of Bowland, with its apocalyptic moor tops, tangled woodlands and lush valleys. Gape enviously at such gorgeous villages as Ribchester or Downham, then try to tell me I am wrong. Perhaps the difficulty of rhyming Waddington or Sawley stopped Carlisle from making it explicit, but clearly her anthem was a celebration of this nirvana beyond junction 31 on the M6. That is the only logical explanation.
Tolkien based Middle-earth on the Ribble Valley, and there is diverting history (Clitheroe Castle, Whalley Abbey) and plenty of good food, from Michelin-star Northcote to many artisan producers. Despite this, the area’s profile remains low, and it is dotted with good value overnight options, such as The Red Pump Inn.
Reopened last year by Fran and Jonathan Gledhill, this characterful 18th-century property always had epic views, but it now encompasses three natty glamping yurts in its garden and five new bedrooms decked out in Farrow & Ball tones, vintage French furniture (check out the grand bed in the Coach House) and slate-tiled wet rooms. There is still some work to do: I visited prior to the peeling exterior being repainted, and the three (perfectly acceptable) older bedrooms are yet to be fully overhauled. But the Pump is clearly on the up.
Set around a beautiful open fireplace, the snug is the inn’s best public space. It has been restyled, but feels authentically rustic, whereas the dining room bears the scars (painted wooden beams, textured ceiling), of misguided 1980s redecoration. Sat there, drinking the inn’s eponymous ale, a trad bitter (three real ales from £3.25), it is easy to relax into the Pump’s winning, friendly vibe.
Local produce is loyally championed in the Valley, and the Gledhills focus on steaks, with grass-fed, rare-breed beef from the revered Ginger Pig, who supply Hawksmoor. My 40-day aged ribeye (£21) was an A1 piece of protein, the rosy flesh sweet and grassy, the fat ripe, buttery and mineral. It could have borne a slightly more robust char, but this was complex, high-grade steak.
Grilling aside, chef Thomas Drinkall can cook a bit, too. His Bowland lamb pasty (£6.95) had good flavour, – although the accompanying brown sauce was overly fiery – and Drinkall’s chips soar where so many bore. Glassy without and fluffy within, they are deeply savoury and far too easy to scarf. Dessert, an almond tart (£5.50) was also on point.
This standard continues at breakfast. Using excellent ingredients from local butcher, Alpes, Jonathan (also a chef) produced the best full breakfast I have eaten in years. The plate was greaseless, the scrambled eggs thick curds, and the detail such that even the normally superfluous tomatoes had been patiently slow-roasted to sweet, tart perfection. The white pudding is a novel addition, too.
Of course, there are minor tweaks that would improve the Red Pump – say, homemade biscuits and local toiletries in the bedrooms. But, overall, it offers stylish rooms and impressive pub food at fair prices. Belinda Carlisle should definitely give it a try.
• Accommodation was provided by The Red Pump Inn (1254 826 227, , theredpumpinn.co.uk, double rooms from £90 B&B). Travel between Manchester and Clitheroe was provided by Northern. For further information on the Ribble Valley, see visitlancashire.com
Ask a local
Simon Entwistle, guide, Top Hat Tours
• Visit
Built in 1507, Browsholme Hall, the ancestral home of the Parker family, has a huge collection of artefacts, including the remains of a zeppelin shot down over Potters Bar in the first world war.
• Food and drink
The Ribble Valley has some outstanding village pubs, such as the Assheton Arms in Downham (setting for the 1961 classic, Whistle Down the Wind), with its fabulous beer garden. The Sun Inn in Chipping, winner of the 2009 Britain in Bloom village award, is reputedly the most haunted inn in Lancashire. I’ve never seen resident ghost Lizzie Dean, a barmaid here in the mid-1800s, but she has done so much for tourism in the area.
• Family fun
Samlesbury Hall – where I lead some tours – is a black and white, timbered mansion house that dates back to 1322. Every room has a story of witches, ghosts, murder or romance attached. It also has a family-friendly garden, with animals and a woodland-trail.
