The King William Inn, Scaftworth: The award-winning historic pub in an idyllic spot in a tiny Yorkshire hamlet

That River Idle, by the way, belies its name, and while it looks placid on the surface, there are strong currents beneath.

It’s the river that regularly floods many acres around Bawtry during wintertime and early Spring – many will have sped past on the East Coast mainline, and seen the waters, stretching for miles.

The pub itself was built in Georgian times, at around the time of the reign of Queen Victoria’s Uncle, her predecessor, and there’s still an amiable feel of times gone by.

But it has all been sympathetically modernised, and converted with imagination – one of the outhouses is now a hugely popular pizza bar.

There are paved terraces around the main building, and then another by this year’s new attraction, a state-of-the-art galleon, custom-built to fire the imaginations of the younger and more energetic visitors.

The pub has a justifiable reputation for its food, and therefore it is wise to book tables, especially at weekends.

There’s a daytime menu, and another for the evening. Midweeks are a lot more quiet.

CAMRA love the place, and well they should, because at the bar there are always a trio of hand-pulled ales.

The other afternoon they were Welbeck Abbey’s fine New Rise, Abbeydale’s Absolution, and our old mate, Taylor’s Landlord.

The wine list is rather good, but a tad on the up-market side when it comes to prices.

Out on one of the terraces, through the week, the only noise is the songs of the birds, and the occasional distant woosh of a rail service, but at the weekend, there’s live entertainment – singers and solo instrumentalists, that sort of thing, nothing brash.

If you wanted a genuinely friendly greeting then this was it. The pub has won numerous awards, and justly so.

Welcome 5/5

Atmosphere 5/5

Drinks selection 5/5

Prices 5/5

The King William Inn, near Bawtry, Doncaster. DN10 6BL