Dacre House, Gilsland

Dacre House is a small guest house in Gilsland, right on the line of Hadrian's Wall, and it offers one of the more convincing dog welcomes in a part of the country that gets a lot of walkers. Dogs are not simply permitted: guests arriving with them regularly find beds, bowls and chews already waiting, which is unusual in a property this carefully furnished. Parties with two large dogs have been accommodated without fuss.

Dogs stay for a £10 charge per room rather than per dog, all rooms are dog friendly, and dogs are allowed throughout the house rather than being confined to the bedrooms. Everything else about the house points to a relaxed approach. The host is repeatedly described as welcoming and entirely unbothered by dogs, and there is a guest lounge as well as the bedrooms, so a wet afternoon does not have to be spent sitting on a bed.

Breakfast is included and evening meals are available, which is worth knowing in a village this small: it means no drive out at seven o'clock to find somewhere that will take the dog. The food is rated highly and the kitchen makes a point of using local producers.

The location is the other reason to come. Gilsland sits on the Cumbria and Northumberland border with the Hadrian's Wall Path running through it, and Birdoswald Roman Fort is a couple of miles down the road, so there is a long, obvious walk from the doorstep in either direction. The house suits walkers with dogs who want a proper bed and a cooked breakfast at the end of the day rather than a bunkhouse. It earns a 4.7/5 paw rating.