Greenhouses cultivating pub custom
ACOUNTRY pub has found a brilliant way to safely serve customers - by moving its tables into miniature greenhouses in the gardens.
The Harrington Arms in Gawsworth has decorated each greenhouse with a different theme, as well as erecting a large festivalstyle stretch tent.
It’s allowed the pub to welcome a viable number of customers, after social distancing measures reduced its indoor capacity to only three tables.
The old farmhouse building, first constructed in 1664, is Grade-II listed and a CAMRA Heritage site.
While packed with cosy charm, its owners have found its layout to be challenging in the post-lockdown era.
The pub’s customer spaces are split between four small rooms - there are normally 11 tables inside plus standing room at the bar, but landlady Caroline Wightman said she would only safely be able to use three tables now.
With her business partner Andy, the Robinsons pub has transformed its beer garden into an allweather dining room.
The pretty greenhouses that have appeared in the grounds have been decorated with plants, fairy lights and even wallpaper to create new dining spaces for customers.
The five glass buildings are themed on a potting shed, a beach hut, a vintage lounge, a Moroccan riad, and a botanical garden.
Caroline, who took over the running of the pub in 2006, added: “It’s proved to be incredibly popular. The phone’s not stopped ringing, Facebook messages haven’t stopped - it’s been a tremendous response!
“It’s funny what a crisis makes you do. Not in a million years would we have done something like this otherwise.
“The last few months have been stressful at best. Obviously we’ve never experienced anything like this before.
“We spent weeks getting ready to reopen, obviously not even knowing when that was going to be. There’s only so much we could do without knowing what the rules and regulations were going to be.
“Social distancing gave us quite a lot of problems inside, but we’re very lucky to have a fabulous outside space.”
You can book a table at the Harrington Arms through their website or follow them on Facebook.