AS many pubs move away from just selling beer and into food, they can lose their original identity as focus for a community. The local is being lost in the rush for gastro riches.

But one hostelry which still remembers that it is a place for `regulars' as well as serving good, interesting, thoughtfully-sourced food is the Rigbye Arms on Wigan's border with Lancashire.

Use your sat-nav to get here - it's hard to find in the pretty country lanes between the fertile fields at the north-western edge of Greater Manchester.

As you park near the ivy-clad building, you first notice its perfectly-clipped bowling green and the flowering rhododendrons that frame it.

Inside there were drinkers at the bar and on tables around it, with diners at the rear and in rooms to the side, all enjoying a soundtrack of nothing more that jovial conversation.

The pub serves a good pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord (though its Black Sheep was a little lifeless) and there was Tetley's Cask, too. A couple of local guest ales to flesh things out would be of benefit - in line with some Camra branches' LocALE campaign, which promote stocking at least one beer from breweries within a 20-mile radius.

Choice is more evident in the menu, especially the specials. It is a menu that states: "We don't serve fast food - we serve food as fast as we can." Which is usually shorthand for: "Don't bleat if you have to wait." But service was very speedy and friendly, and attentive, especially to the kids.

Flummoxed

The children's menu had a 6oz rump steak (£6.95) and my eight-year-old son was flummoxed to be asked how he wanted it to come. "With chips," he finally chirped. "Well done, please," I added.

A starter of pork and apricot terrine with dried fruit chutney and toasted onion bread (£4.95) sounded good, but we hit the mains head on.

Little daughter went for homemade chicken and black pudding sausages and mash (£7.95) from the main menu and I also went for another meal that the kitchen obviously had fun with - a `signature dish' (a title a little posh for a pub, I thought) of pheasant and wild boar pie (£9.50).

Both were tremendous - my pie was packed with meat. I had noticed roadkill of pheasant on the way here - I told the kids to watch for boar on the way back.

There was also a good quality rump steak, marinated in garlic and herbs (£7.95) - a summer sizzler the chef calls it. Mains came with carrots and unbeatable braised red cabbage.

All were intelligently-sized - i.e. not too much that it obliterates the need for dessert. They included a restaurant-standard glazed lemon brulee (£3.95) and an almond tuille pastry basket with hazelnut and praline ice cream, fresh fruits and coulis (£3.75).

The probable reason for the good quality of the food is that there is a well-regarded restaurant - the High Moor - a stone's throw away owned by the same family.

I wouldn't be surprised if new dishes are tried out here. If so, The Rigbye Arms certainly has some very content guinea pigs.

The Rigbye Arms, 2 Whittle Lane, Wrightington, Wigan, WN6 9QB (01257 462354). Food: Mon-Sat, noon-2pm, 5.30pm-9.30pm. Sun, noon-8pm.