Update #30 - Year In Review 2020
Happy New Year!
There’s a feeling of relief knowing this will be the last update post of 2020 after the year we’ve all had! This is aided even more by the brilliant news coming out earlier this week regarding the Oxford Vaccine. More so than ever it feels that the new year will really represent a fresh and exciting clean slate for us all.
We’re just coming out of our Christmas Break and will be open New Year’s Eve from 5-7pm for those who want to grab some drinks in for NYE celebrations at home. We will be closed New Year’s Day but after that we’ll be back to normal (Tier 4) hours.
Also just in case you needed any more temptation to welcome in 2021 we’ve decided to kick the new year off with a SALE! You can go straight to the sale page HERE
The closing of 2020 gives us an opportunity to reflect over the past year;
This time last year we were waiting to hear back from the local council with regards to our sound design document to sign off on our Change of Use - the final hurdle before we could get started on the building work. This was after more than a year of working on various stages of planning and organising.
By February this was finally received and work began - at this time a massive relief was felt, as it meant that there was nothing else left to overcome and we were on track to open by early April. Little did we know what was still to come…
I can’t remember off the top of my head exactly the date of when the first Covid Lockdown occurred, but I remember by mid-March it seemed inevitable. Building work was in full swing and it was expected that if we did have a lockdown it would last only a month or two max and it’d be over.
Of course that wasn’t to be the case. Along with the UK stopping in its tracks so did our building work. After a few weeks of no movement work slowly began to get going again. It was becoming apparent that this was going to last quite a bit longer and we needed to start getting some money in.
At the end of April we launched our local delivery service. To help keep the logistics as simple as possible, we only delivered to the E4 area at first and were absolutely blown away by the amount of orders we received along with the general support from our brilliant local community.
As the lockdown rules began to relax, we were able to add a click & collect option and more importantly to the micropub concept - offer real ale to takeaway.
It wasn’t until the end of July we finally opened our doors and allowed people to have a drink on premises. Whilst excitement was tempered by all the restrictions and it not entirely being the bonanza of a launch we had envisaged, it was still a momentous occasion.
Throughout the following few months we enjoyed a slither of normality as we were able to welcome patrons in and make plenty of new friends. During this time we adapted with the constant changing of rules - table service only, rule of 6, single household indoors etc. and I’m proud of the work the team put in to accommodate these.
November rolled around and along with it came Lockdown 2.0. The optimistic hope was that after a month of hard closures we’d be able to open back up again - alas, this was not to be the case. Since then we’ve continued to operate at a highly limited capacity offering delivery and take away only.
It’s not all been doom and gloom though, as during this closure period we’ve been able to complete a few projects. Including -
Installing a draught beer system
Getting some wall decorations up
Installing some much needed shelving behind the bar
Acquiring side covers for the outdoor awning
Now we’re just going to keep chugging along in this ‘standby’ mode, hoping for an end to this.
We are so grateful for the amazing support from you all this year. We can’t wait to open up again properly - or really for the first time, and start welcoming everyone back.
Until then, we wish you a Happy New Year filled with good health and fortune!
Rob, John & Mel.
Festive Opening Times
New Years Eve: 5-7pm
New Years Day: CLOSED
Saturday 2nd January Onwards - Back to normal hours