Trumpy-pumpy Politics in, sex out as swingers return
AWESTON-SUPER-MARE swingers club has reopened with new rules for Covid-safety – with one regular saying they now just go to talk about glasses, Donald Trump and holidays.
Route 69 W-S&M, on High Street, is open for members to drink and socialise, but there will be no sexual activity until coronavirus restrictions ease.
The venue has reduced its capacity from 55 to 25 after advice from North Somerset Council, while the “playrooms” are now being used as social areas.
One regular, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It’s more safe than the local supermarkets, probably.
“There are no activities going on down there. People are just going down to chat and meet up with others.
“Last night one of the conversations was about varifocal glasses. I don’t know what sparked it. That was a conversation between my partner and a couple of others. We’ve been down there many times and talked about things like Donald Trump, politics, nature, animals, different costumes and where we’re going on holiday.”
Route 69’s owner, who also did not wish to give her name, says the club will continue even if coronavirus prevents sexual activity from taking place there again. She said: “Things might never be back to ‘normal’ for any business, but provided we can still do the social aspect of it, we should be fine.
“I’m gloomy about it, and I worry every day, but I still have to run my business in whatever safe way I can. We’re still a members’ club, not an open pub or bar. We do have regular customers who do come in and they have adhered to social distancing.”
She says the business is taking the threat of coronavirus very seriously.
“We have a maximum of 25 people in at once, including staff,” she said. “We have two staff members working at any one time. Customers are temperature-checked before they come in. Areas are marked off for social bubbles of six people. We have markers in place so people don’t sit too close together.
“Everything’s cleaned to probably a better standard than a restaurant. I’ve reduced numbers by the guidelines the council gave me.”
The Route 69 regular we interviewed says he has visited twice in the last couple of weeks. The 50-year-old aviation worker and his wife-to-be, who works in the NHS, discovered the establishment about five years ago.
He said: “We went on the website because we were looking for something different from mainstream pubs and clubs. We thought we’d give it a go at Route 69. The owners made us feel very at home. It’s somewhere you can get away from everything.”