‘A great place for foodies,' the little village of Woolsery is home to an 'amazingly unusual gastropub', a gourmet fish and chippie, a traditional village shop and 'beautifully designed' bedrooms and cottages. It's all the vision of tech billionaire Michael Birch, who also bought a 150-acre farm to supply the pub, and who has 'spared no expense in making everything look stylish', says our inspector. All rooms have a minibar, Land & Water bath products. ‘Four-bedroom Hillside Cottage had a beamed master bedroom with an enormous fabric headboard, peacock wallpaper and a roof terrace as well as a garden,’ our inspector relates. It's not far from the pretty village of Clovelly, but the 'real reason people come is the incredible food', which is, 'farm-to-fork at its finest, with foraged and fermented products – I still dream of the sea buckthorn tart with hibiscus, pink peppercorn and sweet cicely.’ The more conservative may prefer hogget shepherd’s pie with smoked-garlic mash, while vegetarians lower their eyes beneath the stuffed cows' heads and tuck into smoked beetroot tart, goat’s cheese, nasturtium, pickled walnut. ‘Breakfast arrives in a hamper and is just as unusual and delicious’ – maybe potato cake with thyme butter and smoked dulse.