It's late afternoon in Woodford, a leafy village situated to the south of Stockport on the Cheshire border, where beautiful open countryside surrounds it.
Once a hamlet in the parish of Prestbury, it was later incorporated into the Urban District of Hazel Grove and Bramhall in 1939, and then the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in 1974.
It was once known as the home of airfield and aircraft factory, Woodford Aerodrome. Opened by Avro after the First World War, it became an important production centre for military aircraft in the Second World War including the famous Lancaster and Vulcan bombers.
After almost 80 years it closed and was sold off by BAE Systems. Demolished in 2015 a new housing development was built on the site, which overlooks the village's popular garden centre, Notcutts.
The village also features a small selection of shops, but opposite Christ Church on Chester Road, where the bells periodically ring out, sits a proper local pub with an intriguing history.
The Davenport Arms was acquired by brewer Robinsons in the 1920s and for years the license was held by several generations of the Hallworth family.
In the family for 91 years, its former landlady Yvonne Hallworth worked on and off at the pub for 58 years, worked there for 42 years, and was a licensee for 32 years, before handing over the reins to another family of publicans, the Bromleys, who also own The Church Inn pub in Cheadle Hulme, in 2023.
The pub is a also a former holder of CAMRA’s Greater Manchester Pub of the Year title and in 2021 celebrated thirty five consecutive years in CAMRA’s national Good Beer Guide.
Situated next to a farm, you can sometimes see Robinsons' shire houses out back, while the red-brick pub is in the style of a old-fashioned Cheshire farmhouse and features a number of outbuildings used for events.
It is better known to many though by its previous name the Thief’s Neck, with the sign hanging outside the front of the pub an indicator of a villain's fate.
Part of the Capesthorne Estate dates to the 18th Century, in which the Davenport family were the game wardens to the King's hunting preserves. As hereditary foresters of the King, they had the power to put poachers to death without trial.
This explains why the crest of the Davenport coat of arms originally was a serf's head with a rope around its neck, signifying that the Davenports had the power to hang without appeal to the King. This same crest can still be seen today from the pub's pictorial outside the front of the main building.
Despite that slightly gruesome backstory, this pub has managed to become a venue for all seasons. Cosy corners and little snug rooms make it ideal for a roast and glass and wine in the colder autumnal and winter months, especially with the roaring fires.
A collection of rooms are dotted around the pub and lead onto the bar area where there's a few nods to the village's manufacturing past with a wooden aircraft propeller suspended from one of the archways.
But as the good weather arrives, many flock to its two beer gardens. At the entrance which is lit with festoon lighting the a spacious forecourt with benches dotted with flowers, while around the corner there is more seating - a perfect spot to make the most of the late-afternoon sunshine.
If you walk through the pub to the back door, there's an outdoor seating area that's partially covered which is good for those days when the weather can't quite make its mind up. And from here it leads out onto a large beer garden overlooking the adjacent fields, a cricket pitch and livestock.
It's a rather idyllic spot and in the run up to the Easter holidays, there's hardly been a table free. Fortunately, they're in the process of extending the back beer garden to include more space for pub-goers in the coming months.
As well as a range of Robinsons beers, wines and prosecco that can be enjoyed outside the pub also has an extensive food menu, much of which has been expanded and developed in the last few years.
Though I've sat inside and had a roast by the fires before, I had never been blessed by the weather gods enough to grab a table outside - that was until this week.
Making the most of the sun and balmy temperature, I headed to the pub to try out the lunch menu and plant myself firmly in the sun for a dose of vitamin D.
Served 12pm until 9pm Monday through to Saturday the main menu features a range of nibble like honey and mustard chipolatas (£6) and crispy whitebait (£6), alongside sharing boards like the Davenport Platter (£25) with crispy pork belly bites, chicken liver pate, homemade Manchester egg, cheddar cheese and pickled silver skin onions, red onion jam, apple sauce, and piccalilli.
There's also a range of starters including king prawns (£11), soup with bread (£7) and a warm beetroot and goats cheese salad (£7), plus classic mains such as steak and ale pie (£17), burgers with baby gem, red onion, pickled gherkin, tomato,toasted brioche bun, triple cooked chips (£16).
When its warm though too much food can be a bit over facing, so on my recent trip I perused the lunch menu which has a range of sandwiches available from 12pm until 5pm Monday through to Saturday.
Sat amongst retirees and people who may have taken the day off work, or work shifts, I did think to myself, 'this is why people are happier abroad', and wondered if I too could retire early.
Some quick sums undertaken clumsily on my fingers and it appeared not, so I turned my attention back to my lunch break.
It was too warm for a cheese toastie (£7.95), but they did sound rather appealing, served on either farmhouse white or wholemeal bread and stuffed with chicken or gammon for an extra £1.96, or onion, tomato or mushroom for a quid. Triple cooked chips are included too.
Instead, I found myself torn between the Chicken schnitzel, baby gem, tomato, mustard mayo,melted cheese, sourdough (£11.95), the Potato and onion bhaji, pickled slaw, tomato relish, ciabatta (vg) (£10.95) and the Fish finger sandwich, tartar slaw, mushy peas, ciabatta (£11.95).
The latter won and felt appropriate for a fish and chip lover like myself. Stuffed between uneven but golden pockets of ciabatta, the three chunky bits of battered fish glistened in the afternoon sun.
Bookended by a generous slathering of of mushy peas on one end and tartars slaw and crispy lettuce at the other end, it was delightful first bite with the fish and bread staying in tact. The chips though were the real of hero of the story, perhaps even the best pub chips I've had for some time.
Crispy and well-seasoned on the outside, there was a perfect crunch sound as a I bit in. Dunked into the steadfast combination of Ketchup and mayonnaise, I could have happily grazed on these for hours.
If you have a little longer than I did, make sure to check out the dessert selection (from £7) too - the apple and pear crumble and Nutella baked cheesecake with Chantilly cream and hazelnut brittle are not to be missed.
