A PUB owner has described her shock at being recommended by National Geographic as having one of the best country pubs in the area.

The Wheatsheaf at Beetham was selected as being one of the best places to eat in an article about Arnside and Silverdale being one of the smallest Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the UK.

Sally Schrieber, who has run the Tudor-style Inn for the last five years with her husband Dan, said she found out via a Google alert.

She said: “It was a bit of a surprise to me. I was having a look through my alerts and it was there.

“I’m so pleased. The recommendation gives us a greater depth of audience at more of a national and international level. It’s also a bit of recognition for the area too."

The pub owner, who was originally born in Carnforth but now lives in Heysham, previously managed the Cook and Brow Inn at Far Sawrey for seven years.

Together with her and her husband’s experience, they have managed to accumulate 652 google reviews - giving the pub an overall rating of 4.7/5. The pub also boasts a high overall rating of 4.5 on TripAdvisor.

“We’re so proud of our reviews,” Sally admitted.

“It’s a big team effort. When we get a five-star review, it’s a big pat on the back to us all.

“We’ve been finalists for pub of the year at the Cumbria Tourism Awards twice, and once for being small business of the year. We also have really good booking.com awards and certificates of excellence, so we’re on track.

“You can’t run a pub on your own. It takes a full team of people to put in a lot of long hours. We have a really lovely team and the majority of them are local as well, which is great.

“We plan to just keep doing what we’re doing.”

The seventeenth century pub first opened in 1609 and serves people from far and wide who come to enjoy homemade meals prepared with locally sourced ingredients.

The menu offers everything from Cumbrian venison steaks to Morecambe Bay potted shrimps and cider-battered fish delivered daily from Fleetwood, plus seasonal daily specials.