An unexpected lunchtime liaison opportunity presented itself this week – and it led to a very lovely hour.

With my husband at home in Ireleth and me working in Millom, we arranged a midway meet-up at the Black Cock in Broughton.

After a truly stunning drive to Millom and back (this has been a most spectacular year for hawthorn blossom), I was ready, nay gagging, for a glass of ice cold wine and some classic pub grub; and the Black Cock didn’t disappoint.

Outside it was blazingly glorious, inside it was cool and soothing, with neutral colours, traditional furnishings and that essential classic British pub atmosphere which says “I’ve been here for centuries and I ain’t changing for anyone”.

Broughton is a lovely town and the Black Cock is a lovely pub. With probably the best snug ever.

Tucked at the side of the bar, it’s a cosy nookery of drinker’s delight – and in a previous life I’ve spent many a happy hour squashed on a banquette in there.

If Carlsberg did pub snugs, they’d use the Black Cock’s as their benchmark.

The menu is – praise the lord – traditional pub fare, mercifully un-messed-with. Classics galore, including sausages, duck, pork belly, fish and chips, steak and ale pie – and burgers. And when I say that most things on the menu are locally sourced, that’s an understatement.

The meat (and no doubt much else) comes from Melville Tyson’s butchers and general store, which is directly across the road. I have an image of Melville standing at his shop door lobbing bangers and burgers over to the Black Cock chef. Carbon footprint: zero. Great stuff.

To start, Gordon and I shared gin cured salmon with mustard dressing and leaves (£6.95): a generous portion of juniper and dill-infused smoked salmon, which was sweet and soft. Gordon wasn’t keen on the deep bowl it came in (he’s a straight-down-the-road, no-messing, white plate type of bloke) but I didn’t mind. Some thinly-sliced brown bread and butter would have been a welcome addition to the dish, but other than that, a sure hit.

The pub is bigger than it looks from the outside, with different areas on different levels, bags of places to eat and a pretty beer garden at the rear. Interesting prints adorn the walls and I was diverted to read an old lithograph which details the articles needed for a cock fight – and which, to my surprise, involved considerably more than just two cocks. One lives and learns.

One jarring note on the surroundings: a stack of four large plastic children’s high chairs for some reason is stored prominently in the main bar, to my mind spoiling the look of the place. Given the numbers of rooms in the pub, I would move them somewhere far less obtrusive but still accessible. But maybe that’s just my inner Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Childcatcher coming to the fore.

For mains Gordon had chosen slow-braised belly pork in leeks and cider with black pudding mash (£11.95), while I went for the “famous” Scafell Pike burger which, in its £14.95 double-burger incarnation claims to be the biggest in England. Knowing there was no way I would ever reach the summit of such a mountain of food, I opted for the smaller portion – the Scafell Pike base camp version, if you will – of one burger for £11.95.

Delivered by the very friendly Bex, our food was excellent. The belly pork was fatty (which is a good thing, apparently) and succulent, while my burger was dense, juicy, meaty and delicious, with a great rasher of bacon and melting cheese. Yum. It was accompanied by a red cabbage slaw, fries (chips are also available, of course) and salad. My only gripe is that the ketchup wasn’t the best. I’m something of a tomato sauce aficionado – and this was too sharp for my taste.

But if that was my only beef, well, clearly the Black Cock is getting pretty much everything right. Great food and service, lovely surroundings (but please hide those high chairs) and local produce. As the archetypal northern pub landlady Bet Lynch might say: you’re doing great, Cock.

Food 5

Service 5

Atmosphere 4.5

Value 4.5

Pros

A classic English pub serving classic food

Local produce

Friendly service

Cons

You’ll need to drive to get there. We entirely negated the pub’s admirably low carbon footprint by turning up in two cars.