Colnebridge was once a thriving mill village with three shops, two places of worship and a pub – but it is now best known as a road junction.

Stephen and Libby Holroyd, new managers at the pub, the Royal and Ancient, took over last October following an extensive refurbishment.

Having gone on an 11-mile walk earlier in the day I was more than ready for a good feed while my brother-in-law, Mindy, was similarly ravenous.

There’s a lot of choice on the menu with traditional pub fare, including scampi and chips, to various curry dishes.

We tucked into a couple of pints of Jennings Snecklifter and I ordered a vegetable soup with bread and butter while Mindy went for the Cajun King Prawns.

As it was Sunday I fancied a classic roast beef dinner with all the trimmings while Mindy plumped for a succulent sirloin steak.

My original choice of red wine was unavailable so I ended up buying a British red, an aromatic, medium-bodied pinot noir from the Bolney Wine Estate, Sussex.

It was okay but at £22.95 was expensive for a fairly ordinary wine.

Mindy quickly demolished his steak and I enjoyed my late Sunday lunch after what had been a long and tiring day traipsing through the mud around Cannon Hall.

I was glad the horseradish sauce was placed in a little bowl as I hate being given a sachet to open and a nice touch was a little white boat of extra gravy which went down well. The Yorkshire pudding was too dry though.

There weren’t many other diners but Stephen said they had been busy earlier in the day which is a good sign.

I normally have a dessert, treacle sponge pudding with custard would have been a perfect end to the meal, but there wasn’t anything that tempted me so we decided to finish with liqueur coffees which were unfortunately served stone cold.

Mindy and I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry but at least the waiter apologised and scrubbed them off the bill.

We had an enjoyable evening but as a dining experience it felt very much like a work in progress and the management need to up their game if they are to prosper.

Royal & Ancient, Dalton Bank Road, Colnebridge
Royal & Ancient, Dalton Bank Road, Colnebridge

Mindy said: “I hadn’t been here for some time but the refurbishment looked good and the décor was nice. We were greeted warmly and there was a selection of hand-pulled bitters which is always a good sign.

“There was plenty to choose from on the menu and it appeared that the food was all fresh.

“I had a battered prawn starter which was quite nice and it was well presented. My main dish was a steak, which came with chips. Although I have had better steaks this was fine although the chips could have been hotter. The peppercorn sauce tasted good.

“The liqueur coffees were a disappointment though as we had been looking forward to them. Maybe a little education in this quarter is required.

“Overall the food was decent and the building is certainly imposing with a decent-sized car park.

Live music events are planned in which case it would tick another box and a good reason for coming again.”