St Albans pub landlord defends viral ‘child free’ sign
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2rp4dmxv2o
by Firm-Distance
St Albans pub landlord defends viral ‘child free’ sign
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2rp4dmxv2o
by Firm-Distance
34 comments
***A pub that went viral after it displayed a sign banning children, said it stood by its message.***
*Landlord David Worcester, who runs the Lower Red Lion in Fishpool Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, put out a chalkboard with the words: “Dog Friendly, Child free”.*
*A photo of the sign was* [*shared on X, external*](https://twitter.com/hifromkyle/status/1779548610528415809) *where it has been seen by about 75 million people. Mr Worcester* [*told BBC Three Counties Radio*](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0hrvn2d)*: “I was surprised it went quite as far as it did.”*
*He said he had “no objection to children in any other pub, ever, I just don’t want them in mine”.*
*Replies to Mr Worcester’s post divided opinion on the social media platform, with one person stating that “dog people are making me hate dogs”.*
*Another wrote: “Why has it become socially acceptable to literally hate children?”.*
*Mr Worcester said: “The majority of it [the comments] has come from the States to be fair.”*
*The landlord told presenter Jonathan Vernon-Smith he has had the policy “for about 11 years” and had the same rule at a previous venue he managed.*
*He explained that the sign was put outside after parents had complained it was not clear children were not allowed in the pub until they got inside.*
*Mr Worcester added: “I just want to create an environment where my customers can sit and relax, it only takes one child to kick off and that spoils it for absolutely everybody.*
*”We’ve got upwards of 40 pubs in St Albans, all of which are child friendly, most are dog friendly, I believe I’m the only one in the area that isn’t.”*
*Since a photo of the pub went viral earlier this week, Mr Worcester said he received messages which accused him of hating children.*
*He added: “I have no objection to children in any other pub, ever, I just don’t want them in mine.*
*”I enjoy a game of pool but I don’t want a pool table in here either.”*
*The Hertfordshire landlord admitted it had been good publicity, and one customer travelled from Worcester on a train to visit the pub.*
*He also praised members of the local community and his regular customers as their support had been “overwhelming”.*
It’s a pub. It’s a place for adults to socialise and drink. Children don’t have to be accepted everywhere. As the bloke points out, the vast majority of pubs will allow kids in (before 8/9pm anyway), take them there.
Seems like a bit of a storm in a ~~tea cup~~ pint pot.
Presumably it’s up to the landlord what kind of atmosphere he wants in his pub.
>The majority of it [the comments] has come from the States
That tends to be the case with these Internet storms tbf
As a parent I’m not bothered at all. It’s fine to have some child free spaces.
Fair enough. If someone wants to go to the pub with their kids, then they can just go to one of the dozens of other pubs in the town.
Not every single place in existence has to be child friendly.
As a parent I have zero issue with this. There’s a million other places to take kids. And on the very rare occasions we manage to get someone to take care of our kids, I like to be able to go somewhere child free too!
But why not just kick out families when the kids are actually misbehaving or being a nuisance? I don’t really think it’s fair to exclude kids as a whole. Especially when I’m sure the owner would be the first one to turn around and start bitching about how pubs are struggling and people don’t spend enough.
Edit: for the “but think of the bar staff”, I used to work as bar staff. Come evening time and half of the adults were on the bag, fighting each other, drinking far too much and harassing people. I can promise you kids screaming is a million times easier to deal with than a solid amount of adults are.
There’s nothing worse than going into a pub to watch football with your mates and a family of 5 decide to take over a prime table and the kids just play on their iPads.
Like I get it you want to relax but so do we and it’s not like the actual family pubs are a suitable place for pissed up men to swear at a TV which means you get a choice of both yet we only get a choice of one.
Just selfish IMO.
Great! Less children seeing their parents drink alcohol and socialise at the same time. Less drinkers in the future.
Children are most influenced by their parents behaviour.
Dog friendly, Child free.
That’s my dating profile.
No different to holidays resorts (ie Sandals) or a particular cruise being adults only. Plenty of alternatives out there.
I don’t really like kids in pubs either, but if I saw that sign in person I’d just assume that pints were going to be north of £6 and walk past
Understandable it’s a pub, but barking dogs are more annoying at pubs/restaurants.
Another “somebody said something on Twitter” article.
Which seems to be most of the “news” nowadays.
Thank fuck I deleted that platform. I would encourage everyone to do the same. Life is so much better without it.
From Northern Ireland here. The kids or families in pubs thing is unheard of here
All pubs are “adult only”. Certain pubs with an adjoining restaurant will admit families with kids on a Sunday in the early afternoon if they’re offering carveries or meals from a set menu..
Beyond that it’s considered a given pubs or bars are exclusively adult only.
Dad here.
Where is this pub and is there kennels I can leave the little man in?
Don’t worry I’m only going to have a line and soda and 15 minutes of peace and quiet.
Maybe chuck a few darts?
Edit: considered correcting “Line” to “Lime” but it’s funnier if I leave it although inaccurate.
Nothing wrong with a pub not allowing children. They’ll miss out on family trade, but the landlord should understand their own business.
But “child-free” seems like a deliberate way of provoking a reaction for free publicity. Well played, I guess.
Imagine having a job as a journalist that just boils down to paraphrasing comments on social media platforms
Wanting a child free place to socialise doesn’t mean you hate children. There are plenty of family friendly pubs, sometimes you want an adult space drink and speak freely without watching what you say/don’t swear/don’t blow smoke into a child by mistake.
Honestly cant blame the landlord for not wanting screaming kids running around.
It’s nice of them to allow the patrons to bring their wives.
What’s next they’ll complain they can’t go to Betfred?
Dependent on the situation, if I was out with a group of friends and more pubs had the option I would take it. I feel like pubs are a place to let lose a little and I know it situations in the past when kids are around you watch your language. I think over the last 10-15 years as pubs have geared more towards food and they have by default become family friendly, when I was growing up in my town there were plenty of pubs that didn’t allow children in them.
Forget the sign I’m wondering when it became acceptable to take kids into pubs. They shouldn’t be in there except on rare occasions.
There’s a pub opposite ganes work shop on maidstone that doesn’t allow children
I’m confused by the backlash – I pass a child-free pub on the walk to work. And crucially, I remember there being childfree pubs growing up.
Keep your badly behaved kids at home, the pubs for adults.
My local carvery is a fucking nightmare due to kids squealing or running around or just sitting at their tables watching Peppa Fucking Pig on a smartphone at full blast. Ignorant parents produce ignorant kids.
Why is this news? Why are pubs supposed to all be child friendly… it’s a pub? Totally fine for those that welcome families, but it’s not what everyone wants. Go to any of the other 90% of pubs that allow children and stop complaining!
As a parent I’m fine with a landlord deciding on the atmosphere in his own pub and so should everyone else be. If I was that desperate to take my daughter to a pub, I’m hardly going to struggle for choice.
Entirely the landlord’s choice, and I respect that.
From time to time I like to take my 3 kids out for a pub lunch and usually end up spending quite a bit because they all eat adult meals, plus there’s puddings, and a bottle of wine for the adults. If I’m spending that much money for a family treat, I want to give it to a business that welcomes us.
Who on earth is getting funny about a pub that doesn’t allow children?
We have 3 kids and don’t take them to pubs. We have probably been to a handful overall for meals or lunches when on holiday. It’s nothing against pubs, we went quite regularly in our 20s, but we aren’t big drinkers, our kids would be beyond bored as they are very active, don’t like sitting still and prefer being outside and my husband practically grew up in pubs where his mom had some pretty awful boyfriends and it put him off ever taking kids to pubs.
Nah worries, each landlord has the right to decide what they want that pub to be.