Glossopdale pubs gear up for reopening

Hairdressers and pubs are looking forward to ending their 100 day-plus lockdown on Saturday and welcoming customers both old and new.

Stocking up on hand sanitisers and making sure safe distancing rules are observed - everyone is ready for a rush and expecting almost anything as the Covid-19 pandemic shut-down is allowed to ease

Some of our pubs, especially those who serve food, have been preparing for the big unlocking for weeks.

Some have fixed perspex screens between staff working behind the bars and their customers.

Staff will wear face masks, tables have been removed to allow safe distancing and lines on the floor have been drawn to make sure no one gets too close.

We chose three pubs at random - JD Wetherspoon’s Smithy Fold in Glossop town centre, The Peels on Temple Street, Padfield and the Pear Tree, Hadfield Road - to find all about their preparations. 

At Smithy Fold social distancing measures have resulted in the employment of two full-time staff to regularly clean surfaces and touch points throughout the pub.

There will be screens to create seating areas where it is not possible to separate the tables to meet the social distancing requirement.

While staff will be provided with gloves, masks and protective eyewear.

Employees can elect whether to wear them or not, subject to government guidelines.

One of the screens which will be in place at The Smithy Fold Wetherspoons in Glossop

There will be an average ten hand sanitiser dispensers around the pub, including at the entrance for customers and staff to use.

Dedicated staff will monitor the pub at all times in order to maintain social distancing standards and there will be a member of staff on the door at peak times.

Customer entry and exit will be marked out by floor stickers and/or barriers and there will be clear printed information providing guidance to customers as they enter the pub.

Smithy Fold manager Leon Harris said: “We have spent a number of weeks consulting with staff who work in our pubs, as well as area managers in order to draw up our plans.

“The safety of staff and customers is paramount.”

The Peels Arms is also preparing for its grand re-opening, following months spent shut due to coronavirus. 

Owners Phil and Helen Flanagan were hailed as ‘local heroes’ thanks to their unrelenting hard work during the height of the pandemic, after cooking huge portions of food to be distributed to vulnerable, isolating people in the village. 

The pub has put up a number of screens at the bar and at every table to ensure customer safety.

Some of the screens at the bar at The Peels Arms 

There will also be hand sanitisers available at entrances, exits and around the pub – and the owners will implement a one-way system and social distancing throughout the building. 

They are also advising that customers should book tables in advance, as standing around the bar area is not permitted. In addition, if the pub is at capacity, patrons will have to wait outside weather and space depending – but the team has been very hard at work expanding the beer garden.

Meanwhile Tina McGuinness, licensee of the Pear Tree, is all set for Saturday, saying: “It will be one way in and one way out. People will order their drinks at the bar and either sit down at a table or go outside, we have a large beer garden. The play area can’t be used but any children can sit on the grass.”

Tina is following Government advice when it comes to safe distancing and there will be restrictions on the number of people sitting at the tables.

Like most pubs, the Pear Tree will be screening Manchester United's match against Bournemouth at Old Trafford, but there will be a ‘no hugging and no loud cheering’ order to the fans before the kick-off.

Main image:

SET FOR SATURDAY: Owners of The Pear Tree pub.