One of the region’s finest gastro-pubs might be threatened by an opencast coal site, and that would be a travesty, as Gavin Havery reports

REPORTS in local newspapers are supposed to be unbiased and not take sides on contentious issues within a community. The reporter is expected to present the facts as part of a well-balanced impartial portrayal of both sides of any given argument.

And so this paper’s news pages have been concerned with an application to opencast for coal just over the county border near Whitonstall, in Northumberland. UK Coal wants to extract 2.2m tonnes of coal for coking and power station burning.

Included in those stories have been comments from Richard Cradock, the owner of the Feathers Inn, at Hedley-on-the-Hill: “The dust, noise, blasting, and visual impact, during the construction and working of the site, will lead to loss of business, could result in closure and the loss of 25 jobs.

“The earth mounds surrounding the site will obliterate the sweeping country views, will lead to loss of tranquillity and enjoyment of the local countryside.”

The Feathers is more than just any old pub.

In January, in the North-East England Tourism Awards it won Tourist Pub of the Year. It’s a recent winner of the Good Pub Guide’s County Dining Pub of the Year, and last year’s runner-up in the Observer Food Monthly Awards.

So let’s put facts to one side and turn to opinions: is the threat to the North-East’s culinary landscape as great as the threat to its environment?

Local farming and food go hand in hand at the Feathers and the interior is bedecked with black and white photographs, showing you where what you are about to receive has come from.

As well as its focus on fine dining – a good selection of cook books adorns the shelves, alongside the wood burning stoves – the Feathers also boasts a good selection of real local ales, ideal for whiling away an afternoon, if you can secure transport from this, (currently unspoilt) rural location.

The lunch menu offers a good range of locally produced food, with a map of the region overleaf helpfully, amid the ongoing horsemeat scandal, listing who the suppliers are and where they are based.

To start, I had the charcuterie board, which included a rich and creamy chicken liver parfait, ham hock terrine, pheasant venison and rabbit loose game terrine and a pheasant and turkey rillettes served with charred bioche, celeriac coleslaw and pickle. What a selection.

Each dish was delicious and of generous portions for £8.

Sadly, Lis, my partner, is a vegetarian and that prevented her from helping me finish, but I bravely soldiered through.

She was equally smitten with her beetroot and fresh Cumbrian goats’ cheese salad (£6.50).

The mains menu offers wonderful choice of the region’s finest meat and after much deliberation I went for the pot roast Haydon Bridge mutton shoulder, with braised red cabbage with roast potatoes and mint sauce (£14).

The meat was melt-in-the-mouth marvellous and the cabbage, although great tasting, was slightly soggy and the potatoes the tiniest bit overcooked.

However, it was a little late in the day and I am really splitting hairs, looking for fault, trying to inject a little balance because all told, this was an incredible course.

The same is true of Lis’s Northumbrian leek pudding with carrot puree, creamed savoy cabbage and mushroom gravy (£12).

She had complained that vegetarians are often an afterthought when pubs are cooking roast-style meals, but in this case it all worked, especially the rich and moreish gravy.

For desserts, I went for the marmalade Bakewell tart, very different, more spongy than the Peak District pudding, it shares it name with, but superb all the same, served with clotted cream (£5.50).

Lis, expecting a creme brulee, went for the Northumbrian burnt cream, (£4.50) and was served with a saucer-sized dish, about three times the size – not that it stopped her finishing it, gorgeous as it was.

Washed down with a good glass of red wine for Lis and a couple of real ale shandies for me, we headed home from Hedley-on-the-Hill very happy.

Which, at the risk of breaking the golden rule of the reporter’s impartiality, brings me back to the owners’ fear of an opencast coalmine on the doorstep of one of the region’s finest gastro-pubs.

It would be an utter travesty if The Feathers Inn was to close as a result of planning approval is given next month, but I cannot help feeling these fears are groundless.

With food this good, and service this friendly, people will come here if they build a nuclear power station next door, especially if it means locally farmed chickens come with extra drumsticks.

Food facts

The Feathers Inn Hedley-on-the-Hill, Stocksfield, Northumberland NE4 7SW Tel: 01661-843-607

Open: Sun noon to 2.30pm, Mon 6pm to 11pm, Tues to Sat noon to 2pm and 6pm to 8.30pm

Food: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Surroundings: 4/5

Value: 4/5