For staff and customer safety please find below the latest physical and operational changes which we have implemented to help reduce the chance of catching or spreading Covid 19.
Our aim is to provide a safe environment for our staff and customers that remains comfortable, attractive and conducive to spending time with friends and family. Mostly this focuses on strong sanitising routines, asking people to take personal responsibility, to wear face masks when entering and moving around the pub and to use your common sense to avoid spreading or catching this horrid virus.
We have carried out a whole range of risk assessments and all of our staff have been through a thorough period of re-training on how we need to operate during this new, hopefully temporary, norm. We ask that you respect their requests, our changes to service, and the extra rules, regs and bureaucracy that we have, for all the right reasons, been forced to implement.
Given the linear shape of our building, with a warren of rooms and dead ends, it isn’t practicable to have a one-way system or full social distancing, so the following sets out what we are doing to minimise the chance of spreading COVID and reduce the time people spend close up and face to face.
Our staff won’t be coming to work at the pub if under-the-weather and we ask that any customers feeling poorly or showing any signs of having COVID do the same and save their visit for another occasion. Likewise, if you fall into a high-risk category, just to be extra safe, we suggest that for your own good that you stay away until social distancing is no longer deemed necessary.
Allocated tables only. Everyone will need to be allocated a table to sit at whether you are eating or just drinking. Naturally, you won’t be chained to the table, but we do ask that when inside you minimise moving around and in particular don’t socialise standing up. We know this will be hard and is not really in the spirit of a good country pub but it’s important right now.
Track and Trace Information. We would like a “Table Captain” to write down the names and contact numbers of every member of their party on a form that we will provide. This will then be put in a daily file and kept for 21 days for “Track and Trace” purposes. We assure you that this information will be kept secure and destroyed as soon as the 21 days have passed.
Table Service Only. I’m afraid that right now we are only permitted to serve customers at their tables, so please do not approach the bar to order. We hope this is just a very temporary situation as we like being a proper pub!
Children and Pushchairs. When inside, to maximise space and for everyone’s safety, we do require all children to remain seated with their parents. For the same reason please leave pushchairs outside.
Pinch points. When passing another person at the odd pinch point, please resist the normal urge to look at them and instead, half turn your back and look the other way as you pass.
Toilets. Please sanitise your hands at the station on the way in and on the way out of the access corridor. This should be done on top of your normal hand washing in the toilets as an extra measure to keep door handles and push plates as clean as possible in between the new regular sanitising routines.
Payments. Although cards are preferred, cash payments will be permitted and there will be
Party size rules – Inside and Outside.
In a nutshell, as of the 26th December 2021, there's a base “rule of 6”; inside and outside.
This means that up to 6 people from different households can meet and sit at the same table. Unlike the previous rule of 6 children are included in this. For those that we don’t already know, and in effort to avoid Mickey Mouse or Scooby Doo visiting us, we may need to check verify your name for track and trace purposes. With this in mind please ensure that you bring something like a credit card or driving license.
Reservations Inside. For inside tables, we encourage you to book online in advance, as this is the best way to make sure that you have a table and reduce the chance of people gathering in the pub waiting for tables to come free. That said we shall still keep some pub spirit alive by keeping a few tables free for those that do want to turn up spontaneously just for a drink or a bite to eat.
No Reservations Outside. We will not be taking any reservations for outside tables but will be actively managing them so you won’t be able to just grab any table on arrival but will need to wait to be allocated one.
Please be on time. We will be spacing out our reservations a little more to allow more time for tables to be sanitised between different parties. Please try to be on time, not too early and not too late, so that we keep things running smoothly and avoid build-ups, backlogs and queues.
Wear a mask. Before entering the pub and when moving around inside to get to your table or pop to the toilets, by law, you must wear a mask or visor unless you are exempt.
Sanitise your hands. Please would everyone use one of the sanitising stations before entering the pub or sitting down, be it inside or out.
Check-in. Whether you have booked or not please would just one of your party check-in at the bar when you arrive, so that we can tell you where you are sitting or allocate you a table. If others are ahead of you, please be mindful of social distancing. On nice days this will be outside, otherwise, it will be in the new main bar area.
What have we actually done?