The Cartford Inn

The Cartford Inn
The inn's logo in 2020
The inn in 2016
The Cartford Inn is located in Lancashire
The Cartford Inn
The Cartford Inn
Location within Lancashire
Map
Former namesCartford Hotel
Cartford Arms
Alternative namesTh'fooard[1]
General information
TypePublic house
AddressCartford Lane
Town or cityLittle Eccleston-with-Larbreck, Lancashire
CountryEngland
Coordinates53°51′38″N 2°52′50″W / 53.860531°N 2.880667°W / 53.860531; -2.880667
Elevation32.8 feet (10.0 m)
Owner2007–present: Julie and Patrick Beaumé[2]
Technical details
Floor count3 (main inn building)
Other information
Number of rooms15 (plus two cabins)
Website
www.thecartfordinn.co.uk

The Cartford Inn (formerly Cartford Hotel and Cartford Arms) is a public house and boutique hotel in Little Eccleston-with-Larbreck, Lancashire, England. It stands on the southern banks of the River Wyre, just off the Cartford Bridge, one of the few remaining toll bridges in the United Kingdom, with views to the northeast of the Forest of Bowland.[3]

The Beaumé family have owned the inn since 2007,[2][4] after they purchased it from John Smith.[5] Julie Beaumé was born in nearby Blackpool, while Patrick Beaumé was born in the Médoc, Bordeaux.[3]

History

A former coaching inn,[3] the first record of "The Cartford Inn" name was in 1839.[1] It had become the Cartford Hotel by 1853.[6]

A landlady in the 1960s was known as "Dirty Annie".[4]

The establishment changed name in the 1980s to the Cartford Arms.[6]

Accommodation

There are fifteen rooms in the main inn.[3] There are also two cabins — named Ziggy and the Robins Nest[2] — on the property.[7]

The inn is included in the Michelin Guide,[8] and has been awarded an AA five-star rating.[7] Before the AA became the licence holder of the quality assessment schemes, the inn also received five stars from VisitEngland.[7]

Food and drink

The inn's food, which is the work of head chef Chris Bury (formerly of The Fat Duck),[4][2] was reviewed by The Guardian's Jay Rayner in 2017[9] and The Caterer's Brendan Coyne in 2015.[3] Bury took over the head-chef position from Ian Manning in 2016.[3]

Also on the property is the two-storey River House,[10] which was formerly John Smith's Hart Brewery.[11][12]

The inn was named the UK's 2020 Pub of the Year by The Daily Telegraph.[4] It was named England's Inn of the Year by AA in 2024.[13]

  • The inn's sign in 2017
    The inn's sign in 2017
  • The building in 2005, when it was known as the Cartford Hotel
    The building in 2005, when it was known as the Cartford Hotel

References

  1. ^ a b History - The Cartford Inn official website
  2. ^ a b c d "Stunning new additions at the Cartford Inn in Little Eccleston" - Lancashire Life, 10 November 2017
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Better Business: The Cartford Inn" - TheCaterer.com, 16 January 2015
  4. ^ a b c d "This north west pub has just been named in the best in the UK" - Manchester Evening News, 8 September 2020
  5. ^ The Cartford Arms at Geograph.co.uk
  6. ^ a b A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre – Nick Moore (2018), p. 258
  7. ^ a b c Sleep - The Cartford Inn official website
  8. ^ Cartford Inn - Little Eccleston - Michelin Guide official website
  9. ^ "The Cartford Inn, Lancashire: ‘Long may it flourish’ – restaurant review" - The Guardian, 12 November 2017
  10. ^ Private events - Cartford Inn official website
  11. ^ "Alan's a diamond geezer" - Lancashire Evening Telegraph, 6 September 2002
  12. ^ History - HartBrewery.co.uk
  13. ^ "Lancashire's Cartford Inn named AA Inn of the Year 2024" – Lancashire Evening Post, 12 July 2024