It was award-winning organic farmer Helen Browning’s overwhelming desire to improve the welfare of livestock and maintain a landscape that supported and encouraged wildlife to flourish, that led her to farm organically.

Animals have always been given central stage at Eastbrook, her 1,300-acre farm ten miles west of Wantage, which stretches from the western-most parts of the Lambourn Downs. Helen is a remarkable woman who is not just a farmer, but a publican too, running The Royal Oak pub which can be found halfway along a single-track lane in the charming little village of Bishopstone. The pub stands close to Helen’s organically-farmed land and there is, therefore, an abundance of birds in this area, particularly skylarks.

She boasts that visitors are welcomed into the pub with such warmth they believe it’s theirs and when dog owners phone to enquire if their dog would be welcome, the answer is: “Of course – the more the merrier” which is why Barnaby my border collie was bundled into my car as we headed towards the Vale of the White Horse one sunny day last week. The delightful thing about this country pub, with its eclectic assortment of tables and chairs and boldly painted walls adorned with large pictures of livestock, is that most of the items on the menu come from the farm. As Helen says, there is absolutely nothing plastic about this place. The meat comes from contented animals reared by gainfully employed farmhands who respect that the animals in their care have a right to a good and natural life. Yes, organic food does cost more to produce and is, therefore, more expensive to purchase – but what price happy animals and a countryside filled with birdsong?

Helen uses nearby Coleshill organics for her eggs, fruit and vegetables, though some produce comes from village residents who are happy to swap some of their harvest for a pub meal or a pint or two when they have a glut. The milk they use began life at Eastbrook and is then processed at Berkely Farm just down the road, and sold back to the pub as pasteurised milk and cream. It is also converted into superb yellow butter which tastes out of this world. As 950,000 litres of milk are produced on the farm every year, a great deal also goes to the Organic Milk Supply Co-op as well.

When Helen’s beef is in short supply butcher Paul Wicks provides Wiltshire grass-fed beef. But all the pork used in the pub comes from Eastbrook. Actually the pork sausages that feature on the menu, also the hot dogs, both won gold awards in this year’s Soil Association Organic Food Awards and the sirloin of beef produced from Helen’s own Aberdeen Angus cattle that graze on the Wiltshire Downs just up the hill from the pub was announced the Best of the Best in the award’s meat category. This cut of beef, which is hung for a month to enhance the flavour, frequently features on the pub’s menu, especially for Sunday lunch.

The pub is also a member of the Soil Association’s Food For Life Catering Mark Supplier Scheme, that provides assurance to caterers on food and drink issues such as health, animal welfare and the environment.

Before making the trip, I’d been warned that sometimes there are so many children eating there and so many dogs with their paws under the table, that service is not as speedy as one would wish, but that the jolly atmosphere and friendly nature of the staff more than compensated for that. And the roaring wood fire, which is lit whenever it is cold regardless of the month, adds its own warmth.

Ninety per cent of all that is cooked at The Royal Oak is organic and approximately 90 per cent can be described as local. During these autumnal days, when a pub lunch is combined with a short walk along the Ridgeway which cuts through Eastbrook Farm and a visit to the White Horse Hill, it ticks all the boxes.

Helen was awarded an OBE for her contribution to organic farming in 1996 and is the chief executive of the Soil Association. She chairs The Food Ethics Council and certainly runs a great pub.