Pubs just happy to be back in business
All areas: Punters on their best behaviour as watering holes reopen
With pubs reopening across the nation, watering holes in Slough and Windsor were happy to be back in business on Saturday, with punters on their best behaviour.
The Swan in Clewer saw a steady trade, with customers ‘by and large’ abiding by the social distancing rules.
“We didn’t see the big rush of people that some people thought there would be,” said Anne Tebbatt, chair of Friends of The Swan community g roup.
“It’s a bit of a shame to see the pub so quiet, but quite a few people were letting the first weekend go by. They didn’t want to be part of any general insanity that might be there.
“People were very grateful to be back – though we’ve been selling bottles and cans [during the lockdown], there’s nothing like a proper draft pint.
“We’re all very excited to be trading again. We’re a community pub – we have bills to pay like everyone else, but it’s all about serving the community in Windsor.”
Over in Burnham, the Blackwood Arms is enjoying a steady climb back, with customers dropping by in the afternoon after taking walks in the surrounding green area.
“It’s in the middle of Burnham Beeches, so we don’t get the hoards of young ’uns,” said the owner of the Blackwood Arms, Sean Arnett.
“When people have had a couple of drinks, they forget things, like social distancing. It was a challenge, almost like doing a job we’ve never done before.
“But no one got shirty because they couldn’t sit down, or didn’t like where they were sat. “Everyone was just glad to get out, glad to get to meet friends outside and enjoyed getting back to the village pub.
“On the first weekend we ‘overkilled’ our system because we didn’t want our staff and customers to feel under pressure,” Sean said.
“Now we know we can manage, we can have more people in and relax our system a bit.”