Pour your own beers at bar

A new bar and social club has opened at Elwick Place – and even features self-pour beer booths.

Matches Sports Bar, Grill & Social has filled an empty unit underneath the Picturehouse cinema at the £75m leisure complex.

Originally slated to open last Monday but pushed back because of decoration delays, the bar welcomed its first punters last Wednesday.

Tables are available for booking, while some are reserved to allow for walk-ins each night.

Manager Charlie Pickersgill says the team were “really excited” to welcome customers in.

“We are obviously operating at a limited capacity while restrictions are still in place, but when we get standing space we will be able to get about 250 people in at capacity,” he said.

With the Euro 2020 tournament under way, Mr Pickersgill says the team is seeing a huge amount of interest.

Founder Jon Shephard, who previously worked as marketing manager at the Ashford Designer Outlet, says he was “more than happy” with how the opening night went as it had “exactly the type of vibe I was looking for”.

And despite being a sports bar, he says the main focus of the venture will be on creating a fun place to go out with friends and share conversation.

One particularly interesting addition to the bar is the selfpour booths, which are unique to the area.

The booths are designed to allow conversation to flow without having to leave to go to the bar.

“You will need to go to the bar when you come in to show ID,” Mr Pickersgill explained.

“But then you can sit in the booth and pour yourself a pint of one of two beers.

“The best thing as well is that it only charges you for how much you pour – as opposed to a default half pint or pint, for example, if you poured yourself 200ml of beer, that’s how much you would pay for.”

A village is gearing up for its first-ever scarecrow trail next month.

The Lees in Challock will be crammed with the homemade figures from Friday, July 23 to Friday, July 30.

Residents and companies from across the borough are invited to take part, adding to the dozens already signed up.

Winners will be picked by two parish council judges – one from Molash and the other from Challock.

Top prizes include a free MOT from Crossroads Motors and a £20 gift voucher from The Halfway House.

Food and drink will be available on-site, at the Post Office, farm shop, Methodist Church and at The Halfway House.

It costs £2 to enter a scarecrow into the trail and competition.

Entry can be secured by calling Shirley Barth on 01233 742744.

Matches Sports Bar, Grill & Social features self-pour beer booths; the business has filled one of the long-empty units at the complex, which first opened in December 2018 following a £75m development

Boughton Aluph was livened up by scarecrows last year - and now a similar event will be held in Challock next month