Good Food Guide 2015 reveals country's top 50 pubs

The guide, produced by Waitrose and based on ratings by secret diners, put the Freemasons in Wiswell, Lancashire, run by Steven Smith, at the top of the list. Tom Kerridge’s Hand & Flowers, in Buckinghamshire, took second place. Both pubs also made it onto the top 50 restaurants list at number 41 and 43 respectively.

The Red Lion in East Chisenbury, Wiltshire; the Royal Oak, Paley Street, Berkshire and the Sportsman in Whitstable, Kent filled the remaining top five pub places.

Elizabeth Carter, consultant editor of guide, said: “In 2008, the Good Food Guide started listing the top restaurants in the UK in order of merit. Now firmly established, a placing in the top 50 is greatly coveted by chefs and restaurateurs. Building on this, for the 2015 edition we have listed our top 50 pubs in order of merit, in recognition of the importance pubs play in the current dining-out scene. And to my delight, the list coincides with the award of a Score 7 (out of ten) to a pub for the very first time.

“The Freemasons at Wiswell is a role model of its kind, a consistent and likeable country pub with no pretensions or gimmicks, just first-class food and knowledgeable, welcoming service. That it has an army of loyal fans comes as no surprise, for Steven Smith’s skilled cooking extracts the best from top-drawer ingredients.”

Smith said he was delighted by the accolade, adding: “We may only be a little authentic village pub in the Lancashire hills but we have big plans and to see them coming to fruition is fantastic. Our food is always our main focus and we firmly believe the quality offering we've created, packaged up in a true pub environment is the reason people return time and again.”

Waitrose Good Food Guide 2015, Top 50 UK pubs:​

1. Freemasons at Wiswell, Lancashire

2. The Hand & Flowers, Buckinghamshire

3. The Red Lion, East Chisenbury, Wiltshire

4. The Royal Oak, Paley Street, Berkshire

5. The Sportsman, Kent

6. The Pipe and Glass Inn, Yorkshire

7. The Gunton Arms, Norfolk

8. The White Oak, Cookham, Berkshire

9. The Butchers Arms,Eldersfield, Gloucestershire

10. The Treby Arms, Devon

11. The Hardwick, Abergavenny

12. The Nut Tree Inn, Oxfordshire

13. The Stagg Inn, Titley, Herefordshire

14. The Star Inn, Harome, Yorkshire

15. The Harwood Arms, Fulham, London

16. The Plough, Bolnhurst, Bedfordshire

17. The Plough Inn,Longparish, Hampshire

18. The Hinds Head, Berkshire

19. The Masons Arms, Knowstone, Devon

20. The Broad Chare, Tyne & Wear

21. The Springer Spaniel, Cornwall

22. The Wellington Arms,Baughurst, Hampshire

23. The British Larder, Suffolk

24. The Sir Charles Napier, Oxfordshire

25. The Pony & Trap, Chew Magna, Somerset

26. The Star Inn, Sparsholt, Oxfordshire

27. The Felin Fach Griffin, Powys

28. The Duke of Cumberland Arms, West Sussex

29. The Richmond Arms, West Ashling, West Sussex

30. The Foxhunter, Gwent

31. The White Hart, Lydgate, Greater Manchester

32. The General Tarleton, Yorkshire

33. The Kinmel Arms, Conway

34. The Wheatsheaf, Combe Hay, Somerset

35. The Five Alls, Oxfordshire

36. The Bay Horse, Hurworth-on-Tees, Durham

37. The Bildeston Crown, Suffolk

38. The Malt House, Fulham, London

39. The Earl of March, West Sussex

40. The Kingham Plough, Oxfordshire

41. The Star @ Sancton, Yorkshire

42. The Black Swan, Oldstead, Yorkshire.

43. Beckford Arms, Wiltshire

44. The Wheatsheaf Inn, Northleach, Gloucestershire

45. The Duke of York Inn, Grindleton, Lancashire

46. The Rummer, Bristol

47. Camberwell Arms, Camberwell, London

48. The Crown, Old Basing, Hampshire

49. Smokehouse, Islington, London

50. The White Horse,Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk