A FURNESS pub has been named among the best unspoilt pubs in Britain.

The Good Pub Guide has named Blacksmiths Arms in Broughton Mills near Broughton-in-Furness as the 'cream of the crop' of unspoilt pubs.

The historic pub dates back to 1577 and was originally a farmhouse but archive records from 1748 list the property as being an inn, working farm, and blacksmith's. 

Its internal structure remains unchanged, with three small dining rooms, an oak-panelled corridor, an original farmhouse range, large slate floors from local quarries and oak beams.

Sophie and Michael Lane have been looking after the pub for 20 years and are proud that their pub was selected as one of the eight pubs on the list.

"We have been steady and haven't changed much," said Sophie.

"People like the way that our pub is more intimate and that it doesn't change. The locals are very interested. It reminds people of them when they were little - there is a nostalgic feeling to it."

"Cumbria has brilliant pubs but I'm very proud. It's hard work, long hours, balancing family and the constraints of staff. It is a huge issue finding staff - the most challenging in the last 20 years."

The Good Pub Guide said: "The simple, white-rendered frontage of this former farmhouse recalls its past as a basic beer house then a working inn, farm and smithy, and its interior is little changed since those days, with original oak beams in three of its four rooms, local slate floors and the original farmhouse range.

"It’s considered historically significant, and poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge is recorded as having supped a pint here, but the Blacksmiths wears its status lightly, with a relaxed, friendly atmosphere and warm, experienced innkeepers.

"Three real ales such as Barngates Cracker, Cross Bay Halo and a local guest on handpump, a Cumbrian pilsner from Tirril, nine wines by the glass, 11 malt whiskies and summer farm ciderThe surrounding countryside is lovely and walks are peaceful."