IT’S been a difficult year for Whitworth Hall Hotel, the minor stately pile near Spennymoor. In administration last October, it traded in limbo for three months before a buyer was found.

Refreshingly, it wasn’t gobbled up by one of the big groups.

The Parnaby family came to the rescue. Owners of a local engineering business, what they may lack in knowledge of the hospitality trade they make up for with close connections to and longstanding interest in the hall; Derek Parnaby, who founded the engineering business which bears his name, lived in the hall as a private residence before it was converted to its present use in 1997.

Perhaps not surprisingly the new regime at the hall has not brought about wholesale changes. Indeed, we struggled to spot the differences from our last visit (which was, admittedly, six years ago) and which may not be a good thing given that the business went, to all intents and purposes, bust. But the Parnabys should be given credit for saving the place and the benefit of the doubt in fixing what may well have been problems behind the scenes rather than front of house.

Which is where our problems began. Arriving for Sunday lunch, we couldn’t recall exactly where the Library restaurant was. The reception team showed absolutely no interest in our presence and had to be interrupted from their conversation to elicit the required information. And we experienced exactly the same bored indifference on our way out. OK, Whitworth Hall’s not Downton Abbey but one should expect a greater degree of civility from staff than, say, a branch of MacDonald’s (actually I have come across more warmth and personality when ordering a Big Mac).

Service otherwise was perfectly friendly and mostly efficient. There are clearly some young and inexperienced team members but they just need whipping into shape by a crusty but avuncular Carson, if you will forgive the Downton analogy again. Mind, I’m not sure how old the barman was who drowned my Campari with the soda – but then again, I suspect there’s not much call for Campari in Spennymoor, or Brancepeth as the hotel’s website likes to describe it being near. I wonder why.

The Library restaurant is a pleasant formal dining environment. High ceilinged and with grand views to the parkland outside (lots of deer a-roaming) there’s a literary theme going on with book-lined shelves and period promotional posters for best-selling novelists like Agatha Christie, one or two of them slightly risqué (the Ancient Sin by Michael Arlen looked decidedly fruity, we thought). The Sunday lunch menu (one course £11.95, two courses £14.95, three £17.95) offers a choice of five starters, three roasts (beef, pork and turkey), a fish dish, a chicken dish and a vegetarian option (vegetable tagliatelle).

Sylvia kicked off with a perfectly acceptable vegetable soup but she was confused by the fresh butter provided on the table but the absence of any bread to go with it.

My black pudding with bacon, Cumberland sauce and dressed leaves was a combination of what I thought rather bland black pudding (Sylvia thought otherwise), a slab of less than crispy bacon and a super sweet Cumberland sauce. By no means disastrous but nothing to get all literary about.

The main course fare was better. Sylvia thought her roast loin of pork deliciously flavoursome and tender and heaped praised on the roast potatoes, the light and fluffy Yorkshire pudding, the pigs in blankets, the selection of vegetables (all nicely cooked with a bit of al dente bite to them) and the gravy.

I was less impressed (it was one of those days I think when we were on different culinary wavelengths). Perversely perhaps, given that it was only 109 shopping days until Christmas, I had opted for the turkey. Now given that it is almost impossible to get turkey really moist even with tender, loving care at home, I’ve never enjoyed it in a restaurant environment and sure enough this was dry as dust and salvaged only by the liberal amounts of gravy provided. I wasn’t as impressed as Sylvia was with the Yorkshire pudding – maybe I got a duff, doughy one – but did appreciate the golden-topped cauliflower cheese and red cabbage.

We finished with a shared fresh fruit salad served in a brandy snap basket with a Chantilly cream which more than passed muster.

The total bill for this mixed bag, which included a small glass of house Merlot and a soft drink, plus the drowned Campari, was just over £40 – pricey in the ultra-competitive Sunday lunch market but a premium has to be paid for the special surroundings. The Parnabys need some return for their rescue act.

Spennymoor, County Durham, DL16 7QX
Tel: 01388-811772 Web: bw-whitworthhall.co.uk
Sunday lunch served: noon-2pm
Disabled access no problem. Limited vegetarian options.

Ratings (out of ten):
Food quality: 7
Service: 5
Surroundings: 8
Value: 7