Well, if it's good enough for royalty... Intrigued by tales of Prince Charles's Mutton Renaissance campaign, we set off for the upper reaches of Teesdale, peripatetic chef Debra Bainbridge and a taste of something that apparently had feared to raise its ageing head since our childhood.

The normally quiet little town of Middleton in Teesdale had got itself into a stew, not so much over HRH's recent visit to switch on the splendid Christmas lights, but over what he'd had to eat.

Ever the champion of the farming community, Prince Charles had come up with the idea of dressing up mutton when he visited the dale in 2002 and farmers told him of the difficulties they were having in selling older sheep. And, in a speech to restaurateurs and chefs last month, he said: "I remembered that when I was growing up, mutton was one of my favourite dishes, but that it had all but disappeared over the last 30 or 40 years."

Now he is campaigning to get the meat back on the supermarket shelves.

But, in Middleton, they're ahead of the game. Former primary school cook Ms Bainbridge already makes her own mutton stew, which is a regular favourite with the darts team at The Bridge Inn where she is the chef. And she didn't take much persuading to make it for Prince Charles when he opened a new building, Kirk Caryn, at the Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services (Utass), where she also works. Using the same name for the stew did, however, cause some amusement with Debra's boss, George Hallimond, landlord of The Bridge.

"Kirk Caryn means corpse way," says George. "It's the name of the hill out the back there. I said to Debra, 'I hope it's not an omen'."

On the night we visited The Bridge, the famed mutton stew was off the menu - will it now only be made by royal appointment, we wondered? - but there was a good choice of locally-sourced alternatives.

George, who took over The Bridge with his son Alan, 25, only a year ago and is in the process of restoring the typical dales pub, is proud of his support of local suppliers, even to using a Middleton graphics firm to design his Christmas menu brochure. His beef and steaks come from Peat's, in Barnard Castle, the lamb from McFarlane's, in Middleton. "We all have to support each other in such a small community," he says. "It's the only way to survive".

George is equally proud of the pub's recent Fine Cuisine Foods award, and of the message on the pub's large noticeboard which declares: "Good food at realistic prices". And, in parenthesis, Real Chips.

From a fairly concise starters selection I chose the goujons of plaice (£2.95), simply served with wedges of lemon. In view of what was to come it was perhaps fortuitous that the portion was, to say the least, small. Peter's king prawns in garlic butter (£3.95) were a success; again the portion was small but the prawns so enormous that he was prompted to ask if they weren't juvenile crayfish.

Other starters (all priced at around £2.95) included home-made soup, pat and strips of garlic chicken.

Having been usurped over the mutton, Peter decided on what we decreed must therefore be the heir apparent - roasted Teesdale lamb in a mint gravy (£8.95). The description on the blackboard said "a large joint" and it wasn't kidding. This wasn't any of your fancy cuisine two tiny pink chops in an eggcupful of jus: this was real food, in man-size dimensions, the meat well done but wonderfully tender, the gravy dark and strong (or, as Peter put it, "proper, old-fashioned gravy).

I chose the beef shank, slow roasted in red wine and served on a bed of root vegetables (£9.95). Again, this was not for the faint-hearted - both in quantity and quality. The meat, served on the bone, was tender but with substance, the flavour deep and rich, offset well by the freshness of the vegetables. With a dish of more vegetables and a veritable mountain of "real chips" this was a meal to reckon with.

Other mains included: "whale" of cod (12-16oz) (£7); "small whale" of cod (6-8oz) (£4.25); Scottish wild salmon grilled in butter (£7.95); chicken with leek and Stilton (£6.95); home-made steak pie (£4.95) and a selection of steaks and sauces at £9.95.

Vegetarian options, which George candidly admitted were mainly bought in from specialist suppliers, did include a home-made "Welsh dragon" tart with Caerphilly cream sauce, leeks, cauliflower and Cheddar cheese in short crust pastry (£5.50).

After doing justice to our main courses and our table having been cleared, there was then something of a long interval. Wondering about pudding, we eventually inquired, to be disarmingly told by the charming young girl who doubled as barmaid and waitress: "Oh, not many people manage puddings". But we did, if only to try Debra's treacle sponge pudding and custard (for Peter, who by then was waxing lyrical about his mum's cooking) and, as a bit of an afterthought for me, some ice cream. Puddings, when requested, around £2.50.

By this time there were just a few regulars left in the bar, the fire and the television were both still glowing and Debra was last seen crossing the road to her home opposite the pub - presumably to get on with one of her other jobs - and it was time to venture into the invigorating Teesdale night.

With a couple of drinks from the bar, our bill came to a modest £33.50. Not bad for a meal fit for any king.