But first a word of explanation.

Acute readers may recall a visit here last November when it was called the Tickled Trout, a rather chilly and noisy evening.

This page has a sense of timing. The review appeared the week after it had changed hands and was closed for refurbishment.

It was timing on a par with visits to at least two restaurants, not knowing they were closing the following week. And the one where the owner went to the Great Restaurant in the Sky before the review appeared.

Our timing seems to be out again. "Chef has a new menu coming later this week," says new landlord Mike Norie, shuttling frenetically between the tables.

Locals will tell you he has transformed the Trout (the old name had still to be removed on our visit) and its reputation.

Let's just say it used to be full of noise, rowdiness and baseball caps with a file at the local cop shop as thick as your arm. No more.

"I played Pavarotti and the classics non-stop for a fortnight," he says with a grin.

The Trout has been cleaned up and tidied up and now looks brighter and lighter. Music (but not Pavarotti) plays discreetly in the background.

But Mike is still vigilant. There's a sharp rapping on the window behind me while we're looking at the menu and he's warning off some local urchin. "Watch my plants. You'll get it!"

The pub (its Sunday best name is the wordy Trout at Barlow) holds a place in Mike's heart. It was here he came for six weeks some years ago and met his wife. He used to run the other village pub, The Pump, and has brought his head chef, James Gaunt, with him.

He knows how to run a pub, appearing here, there and everywhere in front of the bar, greeting customers, directing his young, attractive staff to their duties and, occasionally, flopping down for a rest.

The pigeon and beetroot salad (£4.75) catches my eye. The meat is extremely flavourful and, if it's a little chewy at times, that's what you get with pigeon. It comes with cubes of beetroot, faintly vinegary, and lots of salad.

My wife's fricassé of wild mushrooms (£4.95) is also creamily good with pleasing flavours although the promised brioche has become thin slices of French bread.

The menu won't change that much so you will probably find home made soup, pan-fried sardines and prawn cocktail on it.

There was trout on last time but it came from the freezer.

This time it couldn't be more local. My trout could have swum to the pub. It is simply grilled whole and served in a butter sauce with a scatter of almonds (£9.95). The flesh is pink and delicate and tastes really fresh.

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