A beefy knight's tall tale is on the menu for The Famous Sirloin Pub

But The Famous Sirloin Pub and Restaurant, in Hoghton, prides itself on the great historic tale when King James VI of Scotland visited nearby Hoghton Tower and had come across the best beef he had ever tasted. In honour of his new found favourite, he knighted the beef – Sir Loin.

Four hundred years later the pub thrives on the town’s reputation, and uses home-reared Lancashire beef in order to meet expectations.

It is now in the hands of Adam Chapman and his partner Lucia Wilde, who took over the premises this year.

Adam, 27, says: “We are the home of the sirloin and like in 1617 we are using home-reared beef from Lancashire. Our butcher is one of the best in the country and represents team GB all over the world.

“Legend has it that on August 17 1617 King James VI of Scotland and 1st of England and Ireland, was travelling down from Scotland and chose to rest with his travelling party at Hoghton Tower.

“Honoured by the visit (and not wanting to disappoint such a high profile guest) the household was instructed to ensure that the most impressive banquet was prepared for the King.

“It is said that during the festivities King James ordered that the loin of beef being served was brought before him. Acknowledging its quality, he pulled out his sword and declared to all who were in that room, “I announce this Sir Loin of beef.”

“It is this story that has been told for centuries and puts the village of Hoghton on the worldwide map.

“The Famous Sirloin is a traditional pub, with a classic welcoming bar downstairs and our new 1617 steakhouse restaurant upstairs. We have traditional ales and steak on the rocks served upstairs.

“Our clients are from all the local areas.

“These are people who like good quality meals for reasonable money, ale drinkers, dog walkers and cyclists and anyone who likes a traditional pub.”

Lucia, 25, the head chef and co-director, is delighted to take the helm and use the skills she learnt when she trained in the restaurants of Marco Pierre White and Rick Stein. She says: “I trained at catering college to be a chef whilst working at a local restaurant.

“I was given the opportunity in my first year to go to Padstow and work at Rick Stein’s seafood restaurant for a period.

“I learnt a lot from this establishment, from learning how to kill crabs to learning the pastry section.

“In my second year I was given a fantastic opportunity to go to Marco Pierre White’s Yew Tree in Berkshire.

“Unfortunately, here I didn’t get to meet him. I just saw him walking through the restaurant with two dead deer he had just shot.

“This was very much different to Rick Stein’s restaurant, but equally instructive.

“After learning from these two and seeing the kitchen run to a professional standard, I decided I wanted to progress and run my own.

“After moving to The Famous Sirloin with my partner Adam, we decided the place needed a fresh take and so put in a steakhouse menu with locally sourced ingredients and meat.

“This is a passion of mine as I am very proud of coming from Lancashire. Likewise I know Adam is very proud of being a Yorkshireman.”

Ray Shorter, 35, second chef, has been at the pub for several years and is a key figure in the local community. Having moved back to England from Spain he now resides in Hoghton and is hugely popular with the locals.