Posh country pubs 'aren't catering for walkers in muddy boots' I think often there's too much choice on the menu. Just a few basic things is much better. She suggested that the same thing was happening to pubs in other prosperous rural areas, such as the Cotswolds, home to the famous "Chipping Norton set," which includes Mr Cameron, Rebekah Brooks and Jeremy Clarkson. Ms Ashbrook, who lives in Turville, Buckinghamshire, said she had sympathy with pub landlords struggling to balance the books but questioned why they could not serve both simple fare and fine dining. She said: "Pubs are closing, sadly, but those that remain are getting too focused on the top end of the market. Where's the lovely basic hostelry? They actually bring you too much food. You get a great big plateful, which you eat because you feel you ought to. You don't really want to go out walking afterwards. I'm not saying pubs shouldn't do fine dining, but let's have a place where walkers can go and you don't have to take your boots off. The landlord of one of the top food pubs in the Chilterns agreed about the need for a variety of pubs catering for different needs. The Crooked Billet in the hamlet of Stoke Row, near Henley-on-Thames, hosted Kate Winslet's wedding reception in 1998 and has also attracted other celebrities including Kylie Minogue, Kenneth Branagh, Rowan Atkinson and Joanna Lumley. Paul Clerehugh, the pub's owner, said: "I think the beauty of the area is that there are some great walks and some great pubs. I think we've got a good mixture of different styles of pubs. If I was out for a walk and I wanted a sandwich and a bowl of soup, there are pubs that do that. If I wanted something a bit more full-on, there are pubs like that. We get walkers who come to the Crooked Billet with their welly boots on - the Crooked Billet isn't poshed up. It's part of the joy of the walk - you have a nice lunch and then walk it off. I'm quite sure there will be some Michelin-starred pubs in the area that would be happy to serve them, but they might have to take their wellies off. But I think our customers would be a little bit miffed if the food offering was just sandwiches. The Open Spaces Society, based in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, is Britain's oldest national conservation body. It campaigns to protect common land, village greens, open spaces and public paths.