The Daily Mail has compiled what it calls “the definitive list”’ of the top one 100 pubs in Britain and The Wainwright, in Keswick’s Lake Road, is one of six pubs chosen from Cumbria.
Over the last nine years, the pub has earned an excellent reputation for its real ales, serving up to eight lines from Cumbrian brewers, and its home-made food.
Rather than a public vote, the list was compiled by getting the views of experts in Britain’s food and drink industry, like Tom Parker-Bowles, Raymond Blanc, Michel Roux Jr, and Prue Leith to help narrow down the estimated 45,000 pubs in the UK to just 100 of the very best.
These were combined with hundreds of reviews, results from food and drink awards, and the views of experts in the hospitality industry, to give the final list.
Owners of The Wainwright, Laura O’Driscoll and Johan Pretorius, said: “We’re very proud indeed to have been included in the list. To be recognised in this way, at national level, is testament to the hard work the front of house and kitchen teams put in every day at the pub.
“We’d like to thank them, all our regulars and visitors, and the judges at the Daily Mail for this recognition.”
Elsewhere in Cumbria, pubs in Brampton, Clifton, Barngates, Sedbergh and High Newton made the list. The Kirkstyle Inn and Sportsman’s Rest between Brampton and Alston was the most northerly pub in the county to feature on the list.
The George and Dragon, in Clifton, near Penrith, is an award-winning pub beloved by both locals and visitors. In the south of the county, the Drunken Duck Inn at Barngates, Ambleside, also makes the list, along with The Black Bull Inn in Sedbergh and the Heft at High Newton, Grange-over-Sands.
