Hello followers.

Well. It has been 101 days since the COVID-19 Lockdown closure was imposed on the hospitality trade at the end of March 2020.  Since then we have been busy behind the scenes preparing to re-open from this weekend, we have been working to provide a safe & healthy, socially distanced environment for all our staff, guests & visitors.

Today we invited a representative from Lancaster City Council to look at all the measures we have put in place & we are delighted to announce that we received a clean bill of health and have been given the go-ahead to re-open from 12pm tomorrow, (Saturday-04-07-2020).  

To allow for social distancing we have removed 6 tables and 14 chairs which means we can seat a maximum of 32 customers over the remaining 10 tables, 6 in the dining room, 2 in the snug and 2 in the bar area.  This can be a single person or a group of up to 6 from within a household or bubble.  Please be aware there are only a few tables which can take the larger single groups.

On arrival you will be greeted by a host at the door who will firstly advise if there is any availability. * Please do not be offended if you are told that we are either full or operating at the maximum we can * as our staff learn a whole new way of working.  These first few days are very much a training exercise for us. We wish we could let everybody in; however, our new capacity is a fraction of what it was back in March.

You will be required to provide your name & contact number before entering the pub which can be done either electronically via a smartphone with a QR Code reader or with pen and paper.  We understand some people may not wish to do this but the legislation in place makes this a condition of entry. All details will be held safely under the Data Protection Act 2018 & destroyed after 21 days. Please be prepared to have a proof of identity if asked.

We have sanitisation points throughout the pub & you will also be required to sanitise on entry. Hand cleanliness is vital!

The host will explain the way we are going to operate within the pub which includes table service only, restricted movement around the pub, 1 out 1 in toilet system with special measures on the doors & smoking is only permitted in designated areas.

You will need to arrive with all the people in your group to ensure you are able to be seated together if that is possible. Low volume background music is all that we are allowed at this time.

The car park has been re-arranged into additional seating with some covered tables in our 4m*8m marquee, but should anyone want to sit outside, bring a brolly and raincoat!  The restrictions still only allow groups of 6, though you can be from separate households.

You will be handed a copy of our 10 new ‘House Rules’ which, hopefully, clarifies how you are expected to conduct yourselves, (respectfully and responsibly).

We understand that for some of you this will not be what you are looking for in a pub.  But rest assured as time passes and regulations ease we will look to return to relaxing some of the more restrictive rules.  For those of you who are venturing out in these early days please bear with us, as it is as new to us as it is to you.  Please accept that service may be slow. We are well known for having good, friendly and convivial staff so let us get back into it with as little bother as possible!

To help ease things a little we have reduced our menu slightly and whilst we will be accepting cash we will be encouraging contactless payments. You may also take advantage of our online ordering/payment system at https://daltonarms.uk with secure Apple and Google Pay and Credit Card payments for your convenience but we are happy to take your order at your table for you.

Finally, we are trialling different methods as we find our own feet again, this includes time limits to allow us to welcome more of you into the venue and table reservations to avoid any disappointment amongst other things but as before if we change anything we will let you know.
We are certainly not coming back in the circumstances we would have hoped to but only by throwing the doors open again will we really find out how this initial phase is going to be. For pubs such as ours it is going to be a very different experience.

We can’t wait to see you all, it’s been a long few months so hopefully you won’t to repeat them!

Geoff, Debbie, Ash, Joyce, Nic, Donna & Franck. 💜

Please download and read our new 10 House Rules