Weymouth's The Nothe Tavern prepares for reopening
Landlord Kenny tells Greatest Hits Radio Dorset what customers can expect
Last updated 1st Mar 2021
Dorset's hospitality venues are preparing to reopen after the Prime Minister set out dates for when they can welcome customers back.
On Monday (22nd February) Boris Johnson announced his road map out of lockdown and confirmed that pubs and restaurants will be able to open with certain restrictions in place.
How and when are pubs and restaurants opening?
- 12th April - Pubs and restaurants can serve takeaway drinks in gardens and customers can meet in a group of up to six people from two different households.
- 17th May - Customers can sit inside hospitality venues with a group of six people from up to two different households.
- 21st June - all restrictions will hopefully be lifted, with nightclubs allowed to reopen.
The Nothe Tavern in Weymouth has recently been taken over by new owners and they told Greatest Hits Radio Dorset what they've been doing to prepare for their reopening on 12th April.
Kenny Poole is the landlord and said he can't wait to welcome everyone back. Him and his family have been making some improvements to the pub.
"We've been refreshing it, making it all safe for everybody by putting the Covid secure measures in place.
"There's a beer garden with an outside bar that we've installed overlooking the harbour and has sea views. There, we're going to be serving cocktails, Pimms, draught lagers and ciders as well.
"This will be such a benefit for people when they do come to Nothe Tavern because they will have to be outside for the first four or five weeks after the first lot of restrictions are lifted.
"For when it gets a bit chilly in the evenings there will be a covered area outside with some heating."
Kenny took the pub over after the first lockdown, friends and family questioned what he was doing.
"No one had a crystal ball and no one really saw this pandemic coming but saying that, I still feel this was the right thing to do. We started at the bottom and there is only one way to go and that's up.
"What we've done so far, we've just brought this place back up from a checkered history so we're really looking forward to what we can do when the pandemic is over, bringing this place back to a great standard."
In the first three months that the pub operated, before the November lockdown, Kenny said it was thriving,
"We've had great feedback from customers so far. People are saying they are not just a number anymore they have become part of the Nothe Tavern family.
"I want to bring back that old school feel of hospitality and make the place all about community and friendships."
Kenny is running a competition to name the Nothe Tavern's new outside bar, which you can enter on their Facebook Page.