Where to stay

Prices are per night for a double room based on two sharing.

White Hart This Grade-II listed tea room with rooms is ideally placed for getaways to Alton Towers, Blackbrook Zoological Park, Churnet Valley Railway and the Peak District. From £80, including breakfast. 1-3 Stockwell Street, Leek, ST13 6DH, 01538 372122, whiteharttearoom.co.uk

Lazy Longhorn Refurbished carriages provide unusual and quintessentially rural getaways on this gloriously verdant farm. From £50. Lower Lea Farm, Lea Road, Lea Heath, Nr Rugeley, WS15 3N, 07816 923139, lazylonghorn.co.uk

Swinfen Hall Sumptuous rooms are available at good value rates in this comfortable 18th-century Georgian mansion, which has been lovingly restored and is the county’s top hotel. From £170, including breakfast. Swinfen, WS14 9RE, 01543 481494, swinfenhallhotel.co.uk (See also Where to eat)

Moddershall Oaks A sublime retreat with spa facilities and a top-drawer restaurant. From £70, including breakfast. Moddershall, Stone, ST15 8TG, 01782 399000, moddershalloaks.com (See also Where to eat)

Simply Staffordshire Award-winning selfcatering eco-lodges near Alton, Ashbourne and picturesque Dovedale, on the fringes of the Peak District National Park. There’s a delicious home-made eat-in menu and exceptional breakfast baskets. From £324 per week. Rowan House, Tythe Barn, Alton, ST10 4AZ, 07736 414425, simplystaffordshire.co.uk

The Swan This 18th-century former coaching inn is near Greengate Deli and the Stafford Farmers’ Market. From £105, with breakfast. 46 Greengate Street, Stafford, ST16 2JA, 01785 258142, theswanstafford.co.uk

Travel Information

Stafford is 75 minutes by train from London.

GETTING THERE

London Midland (0844 811 0133, londonmidland.com) operates services from London Euston to Stafford.
Virgin Trains (08719 774222, virgintrains.co.uk) also operates services from London Euston to Stafford.

RESOURCES

Visit Stafford (01785 619346, visitstafford.org) is a private/public sector partnership providing details on all tourist attractions, accommodation provides, restaurants and shops.
Enjoy Staffordshire (enjoystaffordshire.com) provides similar information services to visitors.
A Taste of Staffordshire (01889 880155, tasteofstaffordshire.com) is a dedicated food site, with the best of local produce and restaurants.

FURTHER READING

Erasmus Darwin: A Life Of Unequalled Achievement by Desmond King-Hele (Giles de la Mare, £25) charts the life of the grandfather of Charles Darwin, who lived at Dimble House, in Beacon Street, Lichfield. Erasmus’ mature herb garden is open to the public at Erasmus Darwin House (01543 306260, erasmusdarwin.org)

Where to eat

Prices quoted are the average cost for three courses with half a bottle of wine, unless otherwise stated

Moddershall Oaks Peppered 21-day hung steaks are served with baby spinach, new potato salad and a horseradish dressing, and there are multiple healthy options. From £32. Moddershall, Stone, ST15 8TG, 01782 399000, moddershalloaks.com(See also Where to stay)

Four Seasons Restaurant The county’s finest restaurant has fruit, vegetables and herbs from its own garden and game from its grounds. Exceptional, innovative cooking. From £57. Swinfen Hall, Swinfen, nr Lichfield, WS14 9RE, 01543 481494, swinfenhallhotel.co.uk (See also Where to stay)

Granary Grill, Bar & Restaurant Delightful views and spot-on food are on offer in this lovingly converted split-level restaurant. From </strong>£28 for three courses. Weston Park, Weston-under-Lizard, nr Shifnal, TF11 8LE, 01952 852100, www.weston-park.com (See also Where to shop)

Denstone Hall Farm Shop & Café This award-winning café captures the essence of great local food. Leek and potato soup, Welsh rarebit with beer mustard, courgette cake and plum crumble are among the favourites from Martha Naish’s hearty kitchen. From £9 for two courses. Denstone, nr Uttoxeter, ST14 5HF, 01889 590050, denstonehall.co.uk

The Holly Bush Excellent suppliers and good cooking skills make this a favourite county pub. The trio of duck is a winner. From £25. Stanley Road, Stockton Brook, Stoke-On-Trent, 01782 502116, thehollybush.info

The Three Horseshoes Inn This family-run country inn offers stylishly presented gastropub classics. From £25. There is also a brasserie serving modern English and Thai dishes. Blackshaw Moor, near Leek, ST13 8TW, 01538 300296, 3shoesinn.co.uk

Food Glossary

Food and Travel Review

Weston Park’s head chef Guy Day and sous chef Dan Smith emerge from the kitchen of the estate’s Granary Grill, Bar & Restaurant. Sniffing individual cheeses and pressing them between forefinger and thumb, checking for texture, they murmur their approval. ‘Delicious,’ says Guy, as he inhales. Dan nods his agreement.

A fresh goat’s cheese from Brock Hall Farm, an unpasteurised blue and a smoked cheddar are just some of the fine artisan cheeses being tested today. The latter are produced by Martin Moyden, a local cheesemaker from Newport, whose creations have tickled the tastebuds of connoisseurs such as Princess Anne and Raymond Blanc. Monsieur Blanc was so impressed that he added one of them to his menu at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons.

Guy and Dan lead a team devoted to the edible attractions of one of England’s most creative culinary counties. Their menus are filled with ingredients that were grown or reared within a few miles of the restaurant. They specialise in local produce served with high-end flair – this is the sort of cooking that you’re more likely to find in a restaurant tucked away down some fashionable West End street in London, with the associated hefty price tag. The beauty, of course, is that it isn’t in the capital, it’s in Staffordshire.

Weston Park epitomises the county’s rabbit-out-of-a-hat trick of being home to some of the nation’s finest producers, while boasting an impressive collection of places to eat that don’t charge the earth. ‘We have some great producers here who sell to London restaurants, where the prices then go through the roof,’ explains Andrea Webster of Weston Park. ‘But Staffordshire has a lower wage economy than the south, so people here are able to experience the same ingredients for a fraction of the price. We are fortunate, we’re a bit of a well-kept secret.’ Perhaps not for much longer.

The building itself is a Grade-I listed stately home built in 1671 that stands proudly on the Staffordshire horizon. Around it lies 1,000 acres of graceful, rolling parkland fashioned by English landscape architect Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. The estate was the ancestral seat of the Earls of Bradford from the time it was built until it was gifted to the nation by Richard, the seventh and current Earl, in 1986. The house delights hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and was once described by former prime minister Benjamin Disraeli as ‘beautiful and pleasing’. He even pondered: ‘I marvel whether I shall ever see the like of it again!’ More recently, Weston welcomed world leaders when it hosted the 1998 G8 Summit.

Food is integral to the Weston story. The land was first mentioned in the Domesday Book and the principal survivor of that time is the park, which forms part of a medieval deer forest. Later, the Earls of Bradford hunted game, tended livestock and kept a walled garden for fruit and vegetables. A vast team of gardeners, footmen and cooks ensured aristocratic courtiers were kept well-fed with banquets that lasted for up to five hours and included as many as eight courses.
Although such extravagant times have passed, the house and park remain synonymous with epicurean delights. The Weston Park Granary, built in 1767, has been sympathetically restored, at a cost of £1.1m, into a temple to all things gastronomic. It consists of a farm shop as well as the restaurant. As Andrea reiterates: ‘Our focus is always on high quality produce and good provenance.’

As well as running the Granary Grill, Guy also cooks for guests from the house. His menu is packed with deep, rich, sensuous flavours that always reflect the season. His dishes might include Wenlock Edge Farm prosciutto served with Whitmore ewe’s milk cheese, roasted figs, rocket salad and a honey and balsamic dressing. Local producer Sarah Hampton’s Brock Hall Farm Goat’s Cheese, made with milk from her pedigree pure Saanen goats, is served with oven-dried tomatoes, beetroot relish and walnuts, while a classic confit duck with crispy pork belly and bean cassoulet features Robert Mercer’s award-winning Packington Free Range Pork from nearby Burton-on-Trent.

In the farm shop, there are pickles, preserves, marmalades and chutneys from producers such as Mike’s Homemade, a small family business in Woodseaves run by former AA rosette-holding chef Mike Dentith. Cherry and chocolate flapjacks from Lynne Morgan’s Baked For You vie for space on shelves with her lemon drizzle cakes and fruit tarts. Local fruit and vegetable farms supply asparagus, blackcurrants, strawberries, cherries, gooseberries, tomatoes, lettuce, fennel and broad beans.

The topographical and climatic variations between Staffordshire’s various regions lead to an interesting culinary landscape. In the north and south the county is hilly, with rich moorland supporting rarebreed cattle and sheep as well as the unique Tamworth pigs – an indigenous breed which produces lean, tasty meat that is almost like wild boar. Undulating lowlands dominate the interior and the soil is chiefly clay, ideal for agriculture. There, rich pasture lends itself to the dairy industry, while plentiful supplies of soft, mineral-rich water have always underpinned the rise of Burton’s breweries.

At the 100-acre Swinfen Hall, near Lichfield, modern-day Staffordshire gastronomy finds its apotheosis in the kitchens of Adam Thompson’s Four Seasons restaurant. ‘We are blessed,’ says Adam. ‘We have a highly productive walled garden with red chard, black cherry tomatoes, summer and autumn fruits, abundant herbs and more. Then there is the venison, of course.’ An 80-strong herd of inquisitive Sika deer grazes the grasses of Swinfen. Proprietor Helen Wiser explains: ‘We started with two stags and 12 hinds, now we’re up to 80. We cull in autumn, when the stags reach their fighting weight and the meat is the most flavoursome. Preventing overpopulation reduces stress among the animals.’

Sika venison goes to Adam’s kitchens, where he conjures up immaculate dishes such as loin and haunch with savoy cabbage and beetroot tarte tatin. His mains are complemented by salad of smoked wood pigeon with blackberry and celeriac or textures of walled-garden parsnips. Adam, a former Roux Scholarship runner-up, adds: ‘We are always looking to innovate. We’ve been working on a venison bresaola, which has a very rich, intense and treacly taste. We add juniper to the cure.’

The Four Seasons’ menu benefits from crops grown by Swinfen’s grounds team – former teacher Anne-Marie Cahill and head groundsman Paul Woolley. ‘We supply the kitchens throughout the seasons,’ says Anne-Marie. ‘We have rhubarb, peas, beans, cabbages, leeks and other crops,’ Paul adds: ‘it’s a labour of love. We are in God’s country.’

On the day we visit Swinfen Hall, it is hosting a celebratory autumn dinner. The guest of honour is James Knappett, the fast-rising British chef who worked with Marcus Wareing at Pétrus for many years and at Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York, before becoming sous chef at Noma. ‘People underestimate the restaurant scene here,’ he says. ‘We’ve been served some very interesting and exciting food; the quality is incredible.’

Local producers also supply the Swinfen kitchens; these include the Froggatt family’s Just Oil. The Froggatts have been at Wade Lane Farm in Hill Ridware, near Rugeley, since 1928, and produce rapeseed, sunflower and flaxseed oils. Intriguingly, they are also reintroducing local species to their farm – one success has been grey partridge. The farm has passed through successive Froggatts, from William, to Billy, to Richard, to present owner Anthony. ‘The rapeseed is grown, harvested, cold pressed, filtered and bottled on our farm,’ he explains. They supply the Michelin starred Simpsons Restaurant in Birmingham as well as The Ivy in London. The oil has a light, nutty taste; it is also a key ingredient in salad dressings, mayonnaise and a zingy hollandaise.

The county has plenty more to offer besides the stately-home dining experience. The George, at Alstonefield, is an unpretentious rural bistro with a winning vegetarian selection and assorted gastropub classics; 99 Station Street, at Burton-upon-Trent, serves Bromley Hurst rib-eye steak, or double-cooked belly pork slow braised in cider, or Stockley Park lamb with sautéed spinach and fondant potato. Restaurant Gilmore, at Beamhurst, does a winning Staffordshire blade of beef.

Another restaurant embracing new styles is Moddershall Oaks, which offers unfussy food under the tutelage of Scottish chef Bruce Mackie. He too favours local produce – in dishes such as venison, slow-cooked in red wine with button mushrooms and thyme and served with pickled red cabbage slaw and a warm baby potato and watercress salad. He works closely with local producers, including Bev Cardon from Lazy Longhorn at Lea Heath near Rugeley.

Bev and her family purchased 97 acres of clay and loam grassland in 2007 and her son, Charlie, tends her 100-strong herd of longhorn cattle. ‘Longhorn have very docile personalities,’ explains Bev, ‘so they are easy to farm, and the meat is highly marbled – it’s similar to wagyu.’ The premium cattle are kept for 30 months before slaughter; the meat is hung for 21 days. ‘It is a traditional, native breed that’s been voted Britain’s best steak,’ says Bev.

A few miles north of Moddershall Oaks is Quartz Brewing, a microbrewery where visitors can gaze at the copper mash tubs while enjoying a pint. Quartz was founded by husband-and-wife team Scott and Julia Barnett six years ago. ‘Staffordshire has always been inextricably linked to brewing,’ says Julia. ‘In its heyday, Burton was home to more than a dozen breweries. The water is soft and contains a high proportion of gypsum, which makes it better at absorbing other ingredients, like hops.’ Quartz is an impressive operation with a reputation that extends beyond the county borders.

Making great beer is of course part of Staffordshire’s cultural heritage. For generations, local breweries catered for the county’s large working-class population – as did the traditional cheese makers, a skill that is still going strong today.

At Bertelin Farmhouse Cheese, near Ellenhall, John and Lucy Heath and their son Tom make award-winning cheeses with the milk from their herd of pedigree Friesian cows. Bertelin is a PDO product – Protected Designation of Origin – which means it ranks alongside such geographically unique foods as gorgonzola, parmiagiano-reggiano and champagne. The cheese, named after the founder of Stafford town, is made to an old monastic recipe and is mild and creamy. Bertelin Blue is delicate and subtle, a White Derby is matured for seven months while Ranton Smokey has a sweet flavour derived from the smoke of oak chips.

The Heaths use traditional manufacturing methods, separating the curds and whey before binding their cheeses in cloth to mature. John proudly elaborates: ‘If you are serious about dogs, you win at Crufts. If you are serious about gardening, you win at Chelsea. Well, we’re serious about cheese, and we won gold at Nantwich.’ Artisan ales and cheeses; it’s little wonder that other county producers made concordant foods such as oatcakes and pickles. Branston Pickle was created in a village south of Burton-on-Trent in 1922, while the origins of oatcakes stretch back even further. Many farmers in Staffordshire grew oats, which had been brought to Britain by the Romans as a crop that suited the cool, wet climate. A cottage oatcake industry developed during the 19th century, and by the early 20th century, bakers were selling oatcakes directly from the open windows of their front rooms.

Another traditional food that’s harder to find these days is Staffordshire Lobby, a stew made from leftover meat boiled with animal bones, diced onion, vegetables and pearl barley. It was a staple among the county’s potters, though it is now seldom made outside private homes.

One outlet that has witnessed the ebb and flow of food trends is artisan bakery Hindley & Sons in Rugeley. Established four generations ago, it is now run by Duncan Hindley and Jackie Beaumont. These days the bakery is thriving, as people turn away from mass-produced supermarket loaves.

‘We make a Staffordshire spelt bread and a rye sourdough,’ says Duncan. ‘One of our most popular breads is a malted country, which is a hand-moulded granary-style loaf made with flour from Driffield. We’ll use local ingredients whenever we can; for instance, in our best-selling cheese and onion bread.’

Another husband-and-wife team, Rupert and Emma Evans, are relative newcomers on the Staffordshire food scene. ‘We had farming backgrounds, but we left to work in London, where we met,’ explains Emma. ‘Eventually, however, we wanted to come back.’ So they did, moving back to Emma’s family farm where they transformed some old dairy buildings into the thriving Denstone Hall Farm Shop.

It has a spectacularly good café run by the accomplished young chef Martha Naish, who creates daily specials for appreciative customers including an exceptionally light and fluffy courgette cake with sultanas, lemon-and-lime curd and cream cheese icing. ‘My grandma gave me my love for cooking,’ says Martha with a smile. ‘She used to make a fatless sponge, which was fabulous.’ Martha also thrills her customers with bangers and mash, carrot and ginger soup and other transcendent staples.

Like so many others in Staffordshire, Martha instinctively understands the bond between terroir and food. In this county of rolling plains, green pastures and artisan crops, chefs and producers are not only respecting the past, but also setting new standards. These will stand the county in good stead as future generations breathe new life into Staffordshire’s rich culinary traditions.