The Forest of Dean is spoilt for choice with country pubs.
But if you venture off the beaten track and take the small country lanes into Blaisdon, you can find a gem of a traditional English pub which is drawing loyal customers from across the county and beyond.
The Red Hart Inn has stood since the 16th Century and has established itself at the heart of the village with its annual community events, popularity with ramblers and cyclists and a good reputation with nearby bed and breakfasts.
It is a small rustic country hostelry which is being warmed in these winter months by its stove fire, and it has a growing reputation for real ales and food.
The menu has eye-catching additions including pheasant and grilled cod, and a solid fan base for its Sunday lunches.
Foreign visitors from nearby bed and breakfasts and camp sites are using The Red Hart as an introduction to a traditional English pub, and it has also drawn a loyal following from Quedgeley and Cheltenham.
It is for these reasons that the Campaign for Real Ale made The Red Hart its pub of the year for 2014 in the Forest of Dean district.
Co-landlord Sharon Hookings said it is a place where there's no such thing as a stranger.
She said: "Mostly people come for food because we have a good reputation for it, but it's important that we remain a drinkers' pub as well because that's the way we get the atmosphere.
"It's somewhere everybody knows everybody. It's like social networking but without the internet, which is the way it should be.
"We're friendly and welcoming. We get to know them and make them feel comfortable."
In the summer, The Red Hart brings Blaisdon together with its Saturday night barbecues and helping to organise the Blaisdon Village Fete.
Throughout the year it also hosts funerals, christenings, and annual celebrations such as St Valentine's Day.
Sharon began working in pubs when she was 19 after growing up around the British Legion in Hardwicke, which her mum used to run.
The pub is also breeding pigs and will serve its own homemade ham in October.
After travelling the world, working on a cruise ship, Sharon ended up at The Red Hart helm almost by accident.
Sharon came to the former Whitbread cider pub only for an initial six months while she and her husband looked to realise their dreams of opening a coffee shop.
But nine years later she has made The Red Hart her own, introducing charity events such as quizzes and a bonfire later in the year for the young farmers and the Dean Forest Hospice in Coleford.
Despite her globetrotter past, Sharon is now firmly at home at The Red Hart Inn.
She said: "I felt the vibe and the atmosphere of the place and being a local girl it felt just like home.
"There's no place like home. I think it's the best place in the world."
