The Red Lion at AveburyWHEN it comes to looking after the inner man or woman in the Marlborough and Pewsey area by finding somewhere to eat out, you are spoiled for choice.

There are restaurants like the Harrow in Little Bedwyn that are rated among the best in the land.

The Goa Balti at Everleigh is regarded as one of the best Indian restaurants for many miles around.

It represents a huge and growing diversity of ethnic food available in the Marlborough and Pewsey area.

In Marlborough alone there are five pasta and pizza places.

Meanwhile the Polly Tearooms in Marlborough is famous the world over. Virtually every travel writer who visits the west of England is drawn to the Polly and sings its praises.

In fact the Polly is so popular that it has been cloned by its new owners who have opened a second tearooms under the same name in Salisbury; imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

But throughout the Marlborough and Pewsey area there are some fabulous eating out places in tucked-away villages.

Take the Seven Stars at Bottlesford, just one of many family run pubs that offer a cheery welcome and fine fare.

Largely the old and original names of the pubs prevail: the Three Tuns at Great Bedwyn; Three Horsehoes at Burbage; the Horseshoe at Mildenhall; Waggon and Horses at Beckhampton; Red Lions at Axford and Avebury; the French Horn and Royal Oak at Pewsey; Wheatsheaf at Chilton Foliat or the Oddfellows Arms at Manton. The list is endless.

Marlborough, being an old coaching stop-over town, once boasted a pub every few steps.

One history book records the names of more than 100 past pubs, not all at the same time however.