Of all the many attractions of a good pub, sometimes the most appealing is that it just feels like home. And so it should. Before central heating, refrigeration and widescreen TVs, the only reliable place in which to find warmth, refreshments that wouldn’t poison you and news about the state of the world was the pub. Punters have long been encouraged to treat pubs as home and traditionally in the more easy-going premises shuffling around in your slippers was no problem.

Today it’s hard to find places that will countenance such liberties, and even nodding off in front of the fire is likely to earn you a correcting nudge. But, to varying degrees, all decent pubs still accept the role of outposts of your lounge, and some take it very seriously indeed.

None more so than the Sun Inn in Leintwardine, Herefordshire, which was saved last month from possible closure after the death of Florence Lane, who spent no fewer than 74 years as landlady. Her pub had become renowned for the fact that her living room was also one of the two bars, and stepping in for a jar meant, basically, sitting down with Flossie for a chat, interrupted by her occasional trips to the kitchen to get the beers.

The good news is that the Sun has been bought by locals who intend to keep it going in the same spirit, and the other good news is that there are more places that take the pub-as-home principle to its logical conclusion.

At the Star Inn in Netherton, Northumberland, you might not quite be sitting in the landlord’s parlour but it feels that way. There are no fruit machines or piped music because who’d have any of that in their living room? It’s old, it’s comfy and it’s as zeitgeisty as they come because in these recessional times, when staying at home is the new going out, you might as well go to the pub.

Star Inn, Netherton, Northumberland. 01669 630238.

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