IN the mid-1800s, George Borrow, author of Wild Wales, stayed at the Radnorshire Arms Hotel in Presteigne and asked one of the maids whether the town was in England or Wales.

"Neither," she replied. "Simply in Radnorshire."

Herefordshire author Tony Hobbs recounts this tale as he sets off across the border from his Dilwyn home to find out more about the quirky and independent-minded buffer state', and trace the story of Radnorshire's pubs and hotels. Thus began one of the longest pub crawls in history, taking more than three years to complete.

A long time real-ale enthusiast, he drank at every pub and got chatting to landlords and regulars about present-day inns and those that are now only a memory.

The result is The Pubs of Radnorshire, a real treasure of a book. Along the way, Tony's quest turned up tales of wife-selling, duelling, civil war skirmishes, visiting royalty and celebrities, cock fighting, bear and bull-baiting and ghosts.

Almost every inn had a distinctive character - one was said to be the scruffiest in Britain. At the Horse & Jockey in Knighton, a bonesetter and healer held his surgeries' in the bar until the 1950s.

Elsewhere there are songs around the piano, sumptuous feasts with as many as 20 toasts and a great tug-of-war between pub teams in the streets of Presteigne.

Tony Hobbs has provided a fascinating glimpse of a lost world in which the pub was truly the hub.

The Pubs of Radnorshire by Tony Hobbs is published by Logaston Press at £12.95.