Eats

Northern brewery bans children from taproom after ‘a number of incidents at recent events’

It has sparked another debate online about children being allowed inside pubs.

Georgina Pellant - 11th May 2023

A northern brewery has banned children from its waterside taproom amid fears for their safety.

Torrside Brewery in New Mills, Derbyshire, has caused a stir online after being the latest boozer to tell parents to leave their offspring at home when heading out for a drink.

Writing that ‘the brewery is not a safe environment for children to move around unsupervised’, owners published a statement explaining their decision to ban children from the venue after ‘a number of incidents at recent events.’

The team stressed that they had ‘very reluctantly’ made the decision to ban under 18s as the result of ‘some parents’ allowing their children to ‘wander around the brewery and the marina unsupervised.’

Explaining that ‘the Marina is private property with a large body of water’, the team continued to say that ‘there is too great a risk of accident, injury or damage’ – adding that they ‘don’t have the staff or capacity to manage these risks.’

The full statement, posted on Twitter, reads: “Following a number of incidents at recent events, we have very reluctantly decided to adopt an ‘over-18s only’ entry policy at the brewery.

“As we have often repeated, the brewery is not a safe environment for children to move around unsupervised, the Marina is private property with a large body of water. In particular, now that our events are getting increasingly busy, there is too great a risk of accident, injury or damage. On a practical level, we don’t have the staff or capacity to manage these risks. 

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“We feel we have exhausted other options: we’ve asked nicely in person, posted regular reminders on social media, put posters all around the brewery, and attached details to every table. Every time we open however, we have some parents allowing their children to wander around the brewery and the marina unsupervised. 

“We are truly sorry to those of you who have visited the brewery with your children and behaved impeccably. We know this is a minority who are unwilling or unable to follow our very clear requests, but this constantly causes a disproportionate amount of work and stress. 

“Simply put, we are not comfortable having responsibility for these risks placed over our heads. We want our events to be safe and enjoyable for everyone, including the brewery team, and we don’t feel we can achieve that without making this change.

“Thank you for your understanding.”

Users were quick to comment, with one person saying: “It’s a shame that you have to do this. But unreasonable people are always going to be unreasonable… Shame you can’t weed them out and stop them returning…”

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A pub owner in Sheffield wrote: “IMO, a small amount of parents will allow their children to freely express themselves with little consequence to their actions. ‘He’s just being himself’ was quoted back to me after one cherub had ripped every flower head off in the beer garden. You’ve made the right decision.”

A third person commented: “It must always be frustrating for the brewery staff that an irresponsible minority spoils it. Respect your decision in this matter.”

Featured image – Torrside Brewery