One of the pleasures of being of a certain age is seasoned friendships and familiar landscapes. Since the early 1970s, when I stayed often as a schoolboy on a farm near Cirencester, one for me has been to return to South Gloucestershire to find little has changed and several of the friends I made then are still there. We can talk without embarrassment about crushed velvet ‘loon pants’ and our teenage follies, sneaking into pubs while under age, a glitter ball at parties and the innocent whiff of patchouli oil.

For those parties I sometimes stayed, thinking little of the splendour of my surroundings, at both Easton Grey and Highgrove: two of the finest mansions in the county, then under different owners. At Highgrove I would listen in the hay barn to the stories of Paddy the groom and once, on going into the drawing room, was met by Harold Macmillan, whose son’s house it was, with the words “Would you get me a whisky and soda, and one for yourself?” When Highgrove was sold to HM The King, Paddy was included in the inventory of sale.

Both are close to the pretty village of Shipton Moyne near Tetbury, home to Surteesian-themed inn the Cat & Custard Pot. Lucy Boggis-Rolfe, her husband Richard and two other local family friends have saved this timeless gem, complete now with eight en-suite bedrooms, comfortable dining areas, snug bars and a wonderful conservatory with an Alpine theme serving Italian pizzas both there and al fresco dining on the terrace.

The Cat & Custard Pot; Surtees’ Handley Cross was the inspiration behind the name

Her fellow owners are Paddy and Janie Dear and Christopher and Lucinda Rose, and all are hunt members or ‘Blue and Buffs’, as respected followers of the Duke of Beaufort’s are called. It refers to their awarded colours of a blue hunt coat with buff collar. For more than 20 years Lucinda Rose has walked puppies for the hunt. (Read more on hound puppy walking here.)

Here is a corner of Gloucestershire that will be forever England. While it may be fashionable, and close to Badminton, it also keeps an understated modesty. No doubt some who live here do not hunt. But at the Cat & Custard Pot all views are shared and tolerated in a sympathetic harmony, brought on by good food (their 100% organic beef is sourced from the Dears’ farm at Luckington), attentive staff and sensible pricing. It is as welcoming to a local as to a landowner, run by a sense of community and kindness.

But how did this ownership come about? “In 2014 the pub was up for sale and we were worried it might be turned into housing,” says Lucy Boggis-Rolfe. All partners admit it has not been a money-spinner but has kept a real sense of community within the village. Instrumental in its success has been South African-born and Savoy-trained general manager Francois Pieters. “I came as project manager in 2016 and I’m thrilled to say I have stayed,” he tells me. He oversees a rotating staff of 20, all from the area, with many coming from the highly regarded Malmesbury School.

And what about the ambience and menu? It is like chancing upon a rural Le Routier on a meandering journey, lost in France. Steak frites, superb Cotswold bangers and mash in a caramelised onion gravy, and comforting rhubarb crumble. The bedrooms have every modern comfort, from walk-in showers and deep baths to widescreen televisions and luxury coffee making facilities.

RS Surtees’ original ‘Cat and Custard-Pot Day’ appears in chapter 35 of Handley Cross. It involved Mr Jorrocks and his huntsman Pigg tossing back not one but five brandies at the pub Meet. But it gave rise to that immortal line, still used by huntsmen today: ‘Keep the tambourine a’rowlin!’ No fox was at home for quite some time until old Ravager threw his tongue, to which Mr Jorrocks uttered, both mournfully and meaningfully: ‘Now, where are all your sorrows and your cares, ye gloomy souls! Or where your pains and aches, ye complaining ones! One whimper has dispelled them all.’

During autumn hunting around Tetbury the Cat & Custard Pot becomes a regular gathering spot in the afternoon where hunters, having put their horses away, can enjoy the tranquillity of the pub garden. In the winter months the bars are a source of happy conversations and refuge, wood burners adding to the welcome ambience and warmth.

What did we listen to in those far-off teenage dancing days? Marc Bolan and Gary Glitter. On safer ground, this year’s Westonbirt Arboretum concerts in mid-June will include Sting and The Coral.

The Cat & Custard Pot

Rooms from £105 per night (B&B)

Photography by Fiona Mitchell