Drinkers in good spirits as pubs reopen
■ Publicans across Ashbourne reported a steady return to business at the weekend after pubs were allowed to open their doors again following three months of lockdown - and there were no reports of trouble
PUBS in the Ashbourne area have said there was a steady start to trading as many of them reopened on Saturday for the first time since March.
No public order problems were reported and the less-than-summery weather probably kept some people at home and unwilling to take advantage of reopened beer gardens.
But those that did open, including the George and Dragon in the Market Place, reported steady trade.
The Bridge in Dig Street opened for drinks only on Saturday, lunch on Sunday and a full reopening on Monday from 6pm.
A pub spokesman said: “It was quite busy on Saturday and we are really pleased to be open again.
Mark Grist of Smiths Tavern, St John Street, decided to delay reopening until Monday evening. He said he was concerned with most other pubs opening it could have been too busy in the town.
Mark said: “We are a relatively small operation compared to some of the pubs and we only have so much space to enable social distancing to take place. We didn’t want to be swamped.
“Currently, we have about 40% of our normal capacity – in other words we can seat up to 40 people because no-one is allowed to stand.
“But the reopening for us has been steady and I would say we had about the same number of people through the doors that we would have on a Monday evening before the lockdown.”
Mark said he had taken the opportunity to be out and about in the town on Saturday to see for himself how things were going.
He said: “Generally, I felt that most landlords were quite pleased and some pubs were quite packed.
“This inevitably led to some social distancing problems in various pubs but I think that was more to do with everyone getting used to the new way of going out.
“People forget that all of the changes are really hard work for staff as it is all new to them as well, so it’s one big learning curve for everyone.
“There are some places still to open and I think they were sensibly waiting to see how things went this week and are probably looking to reopen this coming weekend when people will be more used to the new way of visiting the pub.”
Derbyshire police said there had been no major incidents reported around the reopening of pubs in Ashbourne at the weekend.
Sgt Mat Winterbottom, of the north division licensing team, said: “There were no major issues of antisocial behaviour around the licensed premises of Ashbourne during the weekend.
“Licensed premises which opened had put in place measures to help keep people safe and we would urge people to support them and to stick to the government guidance to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.”
The latest place to reopen in town was the Ashbourne Travelodge, which opened its doors on Tuesday – one of the group’s first to reopen across the country.
To ensure health and safety for customers and staff, the company has developed a programme of cleaning and social distancing measures, which includes enhanced cleaning, monitoring of customers in areas such as reception and lifts, and contactless payment and check-out.
Housekeeping team members will not enter customers’ rooms during their stay. But the company is not able to operate its restaurant or serve a hot breakfast buffet currently and is instead offering a breakfast box to purchase.
Travelodge spokeswoman Shakila Ahmed said: “We are delighted to be reopening the Ashbourne Travelodge and rest assured, our safety programme is designed to keep our customers and staff safe.”
I felt that most landlords were quite pleased and some pubs were quite packed.
Mark Grist