John keen to get back behind bar
A PUB landlord says he is looking forward to reopening after a difficult 12 months which began when he caught Covid at the start of the pandemic.
John McLaughlin, owner of The Dog in Burton, says he got the virus around the time of the first lockdown announcement in March 2020.
The 36-year-old has described the last year as being “really tough”, having spent several months with his Lichfield Street pub closed during three lockdowns. He said: “It has been really tough the past 12 months, we were so worried about the virus. There were mixed messages from across the board at the time so we didn’t know what was going to happen.
“Things got worse when I contracted Covid-19 at some point during the week of the announcement.
“Luckily, it wasn’t as bad for me as it was for other people, but I still had a really bad flu and cold for about five to seven days, plus headaches and body aches as well as all the usual symptoms.”
When pubs were able to reopen last summer, John
said business recovered but not to the same level as usual.
While The Dog cannot open on April 12 because it does not have an outdoor area, John is looking forward to the day he can reopen on May 17.
The pub was named Burton and South Derbyshire’s Pub of the Year in 2019 by the Campaign for Real Ale. It marked the third consecutive year the Black County Ales pub had been given the coveted real ale accolade.
John added: “I did manage to reopen in July but we saw nowhere near the trade we would usually do. We don’t have an outdoor section so we were at a disadvantage and we will be at a disadvantage later this year as we will only be able to reopen from May 17.
“I think that Covid will be part of all of our lives moving forward, and we will have to learn to deal with it. Luckily, here at The Dog, all I need to do is connect up the beer to the pipes and I will be set up and raring to go.
“We’re a very simple wet pub, we don’t do bookings, we offer great beer on a first come first serve basis, and I cannot wait to throw my doors open for punters again.
“The week of May 17 will be our sixth birthday so we will have some top-notch beers ready to go. Our celebrations will be scaled back as we would usually be hosting a beer festival but we cannot wait to see the smiling faces.”
Another person looking forward to reopening is Sam Rice, 55, the owner of the Loaf and Cheese pub, in Waterloo Street, Burton, which does have a beer garden.
She said: “I wasn’t sure when I would be able to reopen my business. I thought it was only going to be 12 weeks before things went back to normal. However, that turned out to not be the case.
“I cannot wait to reopen on April 12 and we’re fully booked up for that opening day. We’ll have to see how things go and I am hoping that it is all going to be OK from then onwards.
“Since the announcement was made I have been busy preparing the outdoor area and I have already got bookings for six tables.”