In a hamlet just 25 minutes from Bath, 'the Carps' is a 'very nice country pub' offering 'very good' food and oodles of atmosphere in the stone-walled, beamed bar, with fire and log-burner. Part of the small Buccaneer Holdings pub group, it has been run with considerable polish since 1999 by manager Simon Pledge. Created from a row of miners' cottages, and adorned by hanging baskets and rambling roses, it has picnic tables at the front and a terrace at the side. Bedrooms are contemporary in style, with a comfy chair or two, and an eclectic selection of artworks. Like the rest of the place, they sit comfortably between the no-frills and too-frilly sector of the market. Readers had a 'small but perfectly adequate' room for a one-night stay. The menu, served in bar, dining rooms and garden, is a mix of pub classics and more inventive dishes, with day-boat fresh fish from Brixham, local beef, lamb, game in season. Our readers enjoyed prawn cocktail 'with plenty of prawns' and an 'excellent roast hake with new potatoes and a red pepper sauce'. Breakfast brings 'a decent fruit platter, nice porridge', and cooked options. (Peter Anderson)