The Carpenters Arms, Lower Boddington, Northamptonshire is a proper rural pub, where the food is fresh, the company is fun and the service is friendly. Its formula is simple – good food, good beer and good company.

It is the type of pub where someone can come in, have a glass of Hooky Bitter after work and rather than go home and cook, they can decide to try one of the freshly prepared meal and then stay for another beer. Booking is recommended for Sunday lunches.

The Carpenters has a comfortable bar, with a contemporary feel to it – there is a Welsh slate stone floor, a seating area around a wood burning stove and plenty of space for people to stand at the bar. The dining room is smart but simply decorated.

The countryside around the pub is characterised by a traditional patchwork landscape. Hedgerows are a significant feature and are made up of hawthorn and the rarer midland thorn. Other indicators of ancient hedges are also present, these include hazel dogwood and field maple.

The Carpenters is the perfect pub for walkers, workers, well-behaved dogs on leads and even people on a drive out from Banbury or Daventry. Boddington Reservoir can be found to the east. It was built some 200 years ago to feed the South Oxford Canal and it is still in use by British Waterways.

The reservoir is a popular spot for walkers and it provides a quiet and peaceful stretch of water amidst the rolling fields. It is also home to one of the best-known fisheries in the country. Widely used by anglers it is heavily stocked with carp as well as roach, perch, tench and pike and catches of more than 100lbs are not uncommon.