A friendly country pub run by two sisters and with the family at its heart

The family-run pub prides itself on offering its guests a place to unwind and relax with a drink and a home-cooked, fresh meal.

Set in white brickwork, the pub looks unassuming on the outside, with only the pub sign on Drayton Road giving an indication of where it is, but a step inside reveals a warming and comfortable lounge and bar area, as well as a small and traditional restaurant at the back.

It's currently owned and run as a freehold by sisters Shirley and Debbie Bowdley-Smith, with Debbie saying that the pub had a lot of history, having been part of the community since 1825 and had served numerous purposes over the years.

She said: "It's coming up to 200 years open next year and one of the things I've learned about the history is that the cellar used to be where they kept a lot of the prisoners before they were hung and was called Hangman's Gate.

"Since then, it's changed over time and become a pub which has lovely traditional windows of Robin Hood and Friar Tuck and used to be right at the heart of the village, hosting village dances because of the farmland around here.

"We took it over two years ago when I got the lease of a local businessman called Barry Adams, having worked for the previous owners when they leased it and, after 12 years, they chose to stop and going touring instead, so the lease became available and I decided to run the pub with my sister."

Since taking over, Ms Bowdley-Smith said they had cleaned up the garden and car park and kept the place well maintained, re-upholstering the seats and adding things like flowers to add a more traditional touch to the pub.

The pub has become a popular setting for car meetings, due to the size of the car park and gardens, with the Aston Martin Car Club among those holding meetings there, while the garden has become a setting for music and entertainment during the summer months.

The garden was an area Ms Bowdley-Smith said was valuable for the pub, as was the children's play area, as it helped to attract families in.

She said: "We have bands on in the summer because we have this vast garden, which also comes with a children's play area, which is good as it's a safe environment.

"There's also about three acres of land at the top, so children can run wild there and there's a football pitch and there's slides, a climbing frame, swings and trees, so it's a family pub and very much a country pub."

As a freehold, the pub has been able to pick the beers it wants and Ms Bowdley-Smith said that it had stayed as local as possible with the drink selections.

She said: "We have Enville, because that brewery isn't too far away from us, and we'll have an Enville Ale and a Ginger Ale and the Gothic Stout, which is great as we're getting closer to winter.

"We also have two ales from Wye Valley, HPA and Butty Bach, and we also do all the different types of Thatcher's cider, plus Henry Weston's, which everyone seems to really like, and two lagers in Madri and ABK.

"All our ales cost £4.50 and our ciders and lagers are around £5 each, so we keep it as cheap as we can."

The pub is well known across the area for its food as well, offering a traditional pub menu with classic favourites like steak and ale pie, fresh cod fish and chips and gammon and egg, as well as a very popular Sunday roast.

Ms Bowdley-Smith said the pub was a real love affair for her and her family and meant the world to them.

She said: "We just love the Robin Hood and we love the way our locals support it, which they do a lot as they want the pub to be here.

"I love the fact that it's a destination for families and that is really important to me because you can go to pubs and they don't have families in, whereas we love them and want to put on big events to include them.

"We want to keep it for the family and offer them traditional, home-cooked food in a friendly pub where they can come and meet, have a drink and food and then come back."