Bristol Live readers - including locals and regulars - have backed a South Bristol pub after the landlord issued a new 'family policy' which requires parents to make sure their children stay in their seats while they are in the pub.
The Victoria Park pub in the Windmill Hill area of Bedminster said it was politely requesting the new rules after several 'minor injuries' of children who were running around the pub and its garden prompted a health and safety evaluation.
The new rules echoed a similar set of conditions imposed pre-pandemic by the Hen & Chicken on North Street on the other side of Bedminster, which told parents they had to keep their children at the tables, and also banned children after 7pm. While that prompted quite the debate among parents, pub-goers and parents who are pub-goers, the stance taken by the Victoria Park in 2023 was almost universally backed by Bristol Live readers.
Read more: Bristol pub orders children to stay seated after 'number of minor injuries'
One parent told Bristol Live that while they kept their own children under control while visiting the Victoria Park, they felt the sign announcing the new policy, and the message itself felt unwelcoming to parents, who form the majority of the pub's clientele, especially during the weekend.
But almost everyone commenting in local social media communities, and on the Bristol Live Facebook page, backed the pub's new stance.
Many who know the pub said it was very popular with families with children on Saturdays and Sundays, and it was 'about time' something was done. "I was in there a month or so ago was just full of rude privileged middle class (people) quaffing wine, kids running everywhere," said one local resident on social media. "They just use it as a creche, so they can get p***ed under the guise of lunch," they added.
Another welcomed the move, saying the pub resembled 'a creche' at times. "I disagree with many who say children shouldn't be in pubs at all, because it's where children learn how to behave in an adult environment. But a huge demographic in Windmill Hill at the moment is parents with young children, and at the weekend it can get very busy and it resembles a creche at times. The parents need to realise they have to be parents all the time, so hopefully this will be the right message to the people who need to hear it."
Commenting on the Bristol Live Facebook page, Bryn Harding said the issue wasn't just affecting the Victoria Park pub. "A worrying amount of parents seem to just forget they have children as soon as they walk into a pub/restaurant, they're just left to run amok and it seems to be down to the staff present to manage their little cherubs while the Mummies work through their second bottle of rosé," he said.
Anna Brown added: "I take my kids to this pub fairly often and I say 'thank god for that!' My kids sit at the table and behave. Due to the layout, outside and in, it's really not a suitable place to bring kids and let them run around. Kim Brimble was also in agreement that it was the parents' responsibility. "Children do get bored easily in a pub or restaurant and I think it’s difficult for parents to distract them for any length of time but if children get fidgety that’s the time to leave, it’s not safe for them to leave the table and run around," she said.
One of the main reasons the pub said it was bringing in the new family policy was because of a number of what it described as 'minor injuries'. Kevin Woodgate said that pubs could not be too careful with health and safety. "It's all too common for parents to bring their kids to pubs and treat it like a creche, parents go off and get sloshed whilst the kids run riot. Then it's the landlord that gets sued and threatened with negligence claims when the little darlings injure themselves," he said. "Poor parenting is the problem not the publicans."
Vince MIner Adi agreed, pointing out the inherent dangers of mixing waiting staff carrying hot food, people carrying glass pints of alcohol and children running around. "Its a pub, not a playground," he commented on the Bristol Live Facebook page. "If the kids get bored, then it's up to the parents to keep them occupied, and not to allow them to run around disturbing other customers, just because it means they don't have to do any parenting.
"Those same parents would be the first to complain if their child got injured with burns from running into a staff member carrying hot food. Kids should sit down and behave, and if they are too young to understand that concept and/or parents can't control them, then take them to McDonalds or a play area," he added.
Patrick Mahoney said he and his wife ran the Rising Sun in Ashton for eight years and had something of an unwritten policy not too dissimilar. "Our policy was 'bring your children in by all means; but we are not here to look after them - you are, so unless you can control them you'll have to leave'. It worked most of the time and when it didn't the family had to leave. Simple," he said.
Ian Jessop said he's almost lost a pint of Guinness in the Victoria Park because of children running around. "This is my local and the little ones are always close to tripping me up, almost wasting five quid I spent on the black stuff," he said.
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