COTHERSTONE is the quintessential English village.

It boasts a school, community hall, shop, churches and some would argue the most important feature of all, a fine country inn.

The Fox & Hounds sits proudly atop the West Green. A former coaching inn, the original building dates back to 1760.

Husband and wife team Ian and Nichola Swinburn have been hosts for the past seven years, during which time they have made their mark serving an excellent variety of seasonal food, much of it locally sourced.

Beef and lamb is from the dale, fish fresh from Hartlepool, vegetables and eggs from dad's allotment out back. A mouth-watering fruit cake made by mum Jenny is served as a dessert with cheese from the local creamery.

Local girl Nichola first worked at the Fox & Hounds at the age of 14, while Ian is from nearby Barnard Castle. The couple cut their teeth at the popular Chatterbox restaurant up the road at Middleton-in- Teesdale before moving back to Cotherstone.

Sitting on the Teesdale Way, alongside the River Tees, the inn is an oasis for ramblers as well as couples and families. It's also a popular eaterie for local organisations and is already gearing up for the usual Christmas party bookings.

There are four chefs, including Nichola, who work on a rota basis.

Striving for consistency, she defies diners to differentiate between them.

The inn is all cosy nooks and crannies with tables spread across intimate rooms, in one of which is still visible the arch where 18th century coaches pulled up.

Open each lunchtime and evening, seven days a week, there ranges everything from an excellent wine list and a good pint to top notch cooking or a tasty sandwich.

The menu changes frequently, taking advantage of seasonal foods.

Pitching up for Sunday lunch we were pleasantly surprised by a choice of five starters, with the same number of mains, including vegetarian options, and puddings.

I went for creamy garlic mushrooms and initially thought them a tad pricey at £4.60. However, they came in a large ramekin, the chunkily-cut mushrooms dark and delicious, suspended in a coating sauce and browned under the grill.

Good crusty bread mopped up the small amount of sauce that found its way to the bottom.

On my recommendation Peter picked warm bacon, Wensleydale and cranberry cheese with red apple salad at £4.80. I had sampled it recently during a girlie lunch, when my request for a larger portion as a main course was willingly complied with. He too now recommends it, having left not a crumb of the crispy bacon strips, crunchy apples, crumbly cheese and choicest grapes.

Mains for me had to be the leg of Teesdale lamb. At £8.90 it needed to be good value for money, and so it proved. The slices of lamb had the just the right amount of fat, and were served up with two homemade Yorkshire puddings. Peter chose breast of chicken with a leek and tarragon sauce. He pronounced the plump, moist chicken worth every penny of the £9.20 cost, raving too over the rich and fragrant sauce.

We shared two dishes of vegetables which included braised red cabbage, carrots, cauliflower and buttered mashed potatoes. My only disappointment came when what I thought were roast potatoes turned out to be deep fried.

After a decent interval, during which Peter sampled a pint of Black Sheep and I had a couple of glasses of the house red - a superb French Grenache - we tackled puddings.

Although Peter gets uppity about autumn not starting until after Eggleston Show day, he nevertheless devoured an autumn fruit crumble, the brambles picked from the allotment that morning, topped with creamy custard. My chocolate brownie sundae was a good concoction of gooey brownie, vanilla and chocolate ice cream, and fresh cream, dusted with cocoa powder. Taylor's coffee came with mints and the offer of refills.

At £45.90 for two, including drinks, it was not the cheapest Sunday lunch we've ever enjoyed, but we did tuck into three excellent courses, which is not compulsory.