Region guide

Sporting Hotels in the East Midlands

The East Midlands are a quiet sporting heartland: the Lincolnshire wolds for partridge, the wooded estates of Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire for driven pheasant, the high White Peak of Derbyshire for grouse, and Rutland's reservoirs and small estates for a polished mixed day. The country here is varied — limestone, clay vale and millstone grit — and the keepering tradition runs deep. The drive from London or the north is short enough to make a Friday-to-Sunday with a team entirely workable.

An East Midlands hotel works hardest when it sits within reach of the shoots, has a kitchen that respects an early breakfast and a late return, and treats wet tweed and muddy boots as ordinary. A proper bar and a long table for a team are a fair test.