The Mill Race gastro pub at Walford

Located just outside Ross at Walford, The Mill Race pub is well worth the short journey, not least for the extremely impressive range of fresh, locally sourced produce available on its menus – something that has put it on the shortlist for the Publican magazine’s ‘pub food of the year’ award. The Mill Race goes a step further than most, however, in that it even has its own farm, owned by parent company MF Freeman.

The farm breeds cattle, pigs – including many rare breeds – turkeys, pheasants, geese and ducks, all free range, alongside some fruit and vegetables, while on the farm’s woodland areas there are deer, wild boar, wild garlic, mushrooms and blackberries.

So what’s the best thing on the menu – what should people really try? ‘The venison, absolutely,’ says general manager Jane Freeman. ‘It’s superb. Some of it comes from the farm but because of the level of demand we need to use other local suppliers as well.’

The main farm produce on the menu is game and duck, but there are also local sausages, bacon, chicken and Wye Valley pork – the Mill Race prides itself on sourcing local food as much as it possibly can. ‘We try to as much as possible,’ she says. ‘As you can imagine there are certain things that you can’t get, but we do try and keep as much seasonal and local produce as possible, even including things like raspberries and strawberries.’

The pub is also strongly committed to an eco agenda, recycling all its bottles, cardboard and plastic and is now in the process of establishing a compost area. It also uses low energy bulbs throughout. ‘We do as much we possibly can,’ she says. ‘You constantly think of more changes you could be making as you go along, but we’re slowly getting there.’

The present owners bough the premises four years ago and refurbished it, bringing in an award winning chef in the process. A varied line up of events includes themed food nights on the first Monday of every month – such as Hungarian night, Swedish night, Spanish night and game night – offering a three-course meal at a set price.

‘We make sure we’re open – a lot of pubs can close on Mondays or Sundays which I think is a bit crazy,’ she says. ‘When you buy a pub it’s a ‘public house’ – it should be open. Some people buy a pub without understanding the amount of work that goes into running one – running your own pub can be around 90 or 100 hours a week.’

The Mill Race has now been granted planning permission to open a deli attached to the pub, which will sell a lot of food from the farm, adding to the wide range of fresh local produce on sale in the area. ‘Ross is a lovely town – there are a lot of good food places, and within minutes of the main motorways,’ she says. ‘It’s a very central place to be and the quality of life is just better – you’ve got a bit of everything.’

www.millrace.info