Best hotels for fishing

Perfectly placed to enjoy a distillery tour or to follow the whisky trail, Sonia Marshall’s Victorian house in the heart of Speyside stands in mature grounds on the edge of a swathe of the ancient Scots pine woodland that surrounds Grantown.

‘An enchanting destination’ is how readers describe Olga Polizzi’s Regency hunting lodge, which stands by the River Tamar in an Elysian landscape designed by Humphry Repton.

Overlooking the River Hodder in the Forest of Bowland, this sprawling 18th-century manor house is joyously traditional, with stone-flagged floors, open fires and bags of atmosphere.

With breakfast served until noon, afternoon tea by the drawing room fire, shooting, fishing and communal dining, a house-party atmosphere prevails at this Georgian country house.

‘A winding drive through woodland takes you back in time’ to Henry and Lucy Hodgson’s Victorian country house on a 180-acre estate on the shores of Lough Corrib.

You could not wish for a more glorious location than you find at Lorraine Hinkins and Alex Yorke’s 18th-century farmhouse B&B, with views to Cader Idris and Tal-y-llyn lake.