THE coaches no longer rattle through the arch of the White Swan. Gone are the days when the clopping of hooves echoed in the stable yard and weary travellers hurried into the warmth of the inn for supper and a bed for the night.

The smugglers have gone too. They are confined to history, along with the illicit salt trade from which they earned a living.

But the White Swan, built in the 16th Century and once an important staging inn at Pickering, on the old coach road from York to Whitby, remains as testimony to those vanished times.

The coaching inn is part of our heritage, one of the remnants of Olde England that has survived intact along with the country church and the image of John Bull.

English writers including Dickens and Hardy romanticised them; English artists captured the log-fiery, froth-beery glow of their snug interiors; highwaymen, smugglers and travelling hanging judges added the spice from which legends were made and reputations were forged.

Sit in the bar of the White Swan on a winter's night, as my wife and I did recently, and it is still possible to capture the atmosphere of those times.

The log fire roars in the hearth; the local beers flow from the taps; there is a warmth and a comfort of old wood and old leather that can be savoured only in a traditional country pub.

Winner of the Yorkshire Tourist Board Hotel of the Year last year, the White Swan is rated as one of the region's top places to stay.

Privately owned by Victor and Marion Buchanan, it offers an old-world charm with a personal and friendly service, fine wine and superb food.

The White Swan's cellar includes a selection of wines from the New World and about 40 exceptional St Emelions from the Bordeaux region of France.

The extensive menu reflects the abundance of good local produce, including freshly-caught fish from North Yorkshire's coastal resorts, local game, local cheeses and home-made pastries, breads and puddings prepared under the guidance of head chef Darren Clemmit.

For instance, starters include seared king scallops with parsley, Coverdale cheese and dry-cured bacon; pigeon breast and pea tart with light game juices; pan fried foie gras with potato pancake, glazed apples and sauternes sauce; carpaccio of beef with rocket, parmesan and lemon; and avocado with dressed crab, plum tomato and pesto mayonnaise.

Main course dishes include roast partridge wrapped in dry-cured ham with buttered cabbage and rich red wine sauce; slow-cooked lamb shank with red onions, butterbeans and olive oil mash; chargrilled beef fillet with mushrooms, parsley puree and sauted potatoes; blackened salmon with aubergine and tomato caviar, herb cous cous and warm basil oil; roast monkfish served with spinach hash and sweet red pepper sauce; risotto of wild mushrooms and fresh herbs with chestnut salad; and hot pot of root vegetables and sweet potato with horseradish dumplings.

These dishes, which vary depending on the season, are accompanied with an assortment of vegetable side-dishes - for those who need them (and most people don't, we were informed).

Puddings, too, cover a wide and imaginative range, from the tempting poached pears with mulled wine syrup to the more traditional Yorkshire cheeses (Ribblesdale, Cotherstone and Blue Yorkshire) with grapes and quince.

After dining on fare such as that, all that remains to round off the perfect evening is to retire to the bar for a pint of local ale and a malt, then snuggle down in a comfortable bed to await the bugle's call and the stagecoach to York.

The White Swan, situated in the market town of Pickering on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, is the perfect base from which to explore the moorland scenery and a number of tourist attractions. Besides being the ideal starting point for walking the moors, or mountain biking, the southern terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway is only a few hundred yards from the hotel's door, at Pickering Station.

Eden Camp, the Second World War museum at Malton, is a few minutes' drive away through rolling countryside; so too is Castle Howard, the stately home made famous in the TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited.

Another TV series, Heartbeat, is filmed in the village of Goathland, a few miles to the north of Pickering in the heart of the moors, close to the northern terminus of the steam railway at Grosmont.

The coastal resorts of Whitby, Scarborough, Filey and Bridlington are all within easy reach (the White Swan provides picnic hampers for day-trippers), and York, with its ancient city walls, Minster and National Railway Museum, is short drive along the old stagecoach route to the south.

The White Swan, it could be said, is steeped in history, surrounded by history, and still living in history with its traditional taproom, fine local food and comfortable rooms that look out over the roofs of the town. It has, though, embraced the high-tech world of the Internet with what owner Victor Buchanan says is "the best hotel website in the world".

Take a look at www.white-swan.co.uk and see what's on the menu tonight.

l To contact the White Swan, telephone (01751) 472288, fax (01751) 475554, email welcome)$>