Annual Reviews

Annual Reviews

At the end of each year since the CIC took over The Swan, we have made a point of making a short summary of what happened during the year. The events, the renovation of the buildings, and other things we think that people would be interested in. For example, did you know that The Swan has become an excellent place to celebrate hatches, matches and dispatches. And there is a lot more too!

Throughout the story for the year we have inserted links to the more detailed web pages that contain images, videos and audio snippets as required. Not only is presented here on the website, but we send it out as an email and social media post as close as to New Year's Day as possible to allow the local community to read during the holiday period.

So read on and share our experiences over the years at The Swan. We do hope that these inspire you to come to The Swan, or to volunteer or create an event of your own at your local pub. We welcome ideas and feedback: info@theswanwindsor.co.uk

2019

RE-OPENING

2020

COVID PANDEMIC

2021

COVID (AGAIN)

2022

OUT OF COVID

2023

COMMUNITY

2024

CELEBRATIONS

As 2024 draws to a close, we celebrate another great year at The Swan: not just a pub, but the heart of the community, with LOTS going on!

January began with new food offerings from the kitchen. Janny Angkana brought her popular Thai cuisine to our tables on Thursday evenings, whilst Louise bought traditional Sunday roasts back to The Swan. Later in the month, The Friends of The Swan's traditional Burns Night Supper was a roaring success. Volunteers fed and entertained over 60 people, with the Haggis piped in and Burns' ode read over a three-course meal and a wee dram. We were shortlisted for the Local CAMRA Pub of the Year and The Cowshed got lighter with all the original wall lights from the pub being installed free of charge by our friends at First Light Electrical.

In February our new community chosen charity was announced as Windsor Old Peoples' Welfare Association, who operate the popular King George VI Daycare Centre and Lunch Club. The first Coffee Morning on their behalf was attended by their trustees who provided an amazing cake and began a year of enthusiastic teamwork to raise funds for this much-loved local resource. Our kitchen takeovers continued, with ‘The Secret Chef' providing a menu of dishes representing the Six Nations and a wonderful Caribbean evening by the lovely Ren. But the month was tinged with sadness as we said a final goodbye to two Swan legends: our self-declared 'oldest regular' Rene Lowe, who finally let go of her perch at the grand age of 102; and Bill Sinclair, one of our most 'regular regulars' and avid collector of our loyalty cards (112 of them to be precise!) who left us far too soon after a battle with cancer.

In March, our food offerings continued to expand with Ian's Saturday Kitchen providing good, simple weekend pub grub. Mothering Sunday was a busy one with not only a great celebratory roast dinner, but potted primroses and bunches of tulips presented to mothers and grandmothers. Our Community Open Forum was opened up to all our customers and friends for the first time, run by the CIC Directors who presented some detail of our financial performance and plans in the pipeline, before listening to your feedback. With the home nations' rugby matches on the pub's TVs we saw lots of community sport-lovers enjoying a pint or two and at Easter we enjoyed a long-awaited Bank Holiday to celebrate the lighter evenings and another busy Sunday Roast with traditional lamb.

Our Warhammer group celebrated their first birthday in April, whilst WCH attended the Sharing Spaces event in The Great Park and Chef Peter McConkey cooked up a storm at our first fine dining weekend! Sunday roasts kept flying out of Lou's kitchen and Bingo had 40 players dabbing and singing along. Queen Elizabeth I graciously attended our St. George's Day event, along with Voci Chamber Choir and helped raise £750 for the Renovation Fund. Unfortunately, April showers impacted our spring market, but our monthly interactive movie nights launched with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, bringing out some seldom-seen Clewer residents!

In May, Mirella and the Chatty Café Gang braved the elements for a sponsored walk and raised over £500 for the Renovation Fund, whilst Star Wars characters usually seen on Tatooine were spotted in the courtyard on May the 4th (be with you)! It was trophies galore with a presentation to the winners of our first Fantasy Football League and the inaugural Swan Golf Tournament at Royal Ascot Golf Club. We also celebrated the life of Rene Lowe, Karaoke Saturdays kicked off and some dubious looking nuns attended The Sound of Music movie night!

It was time for a spruce up in June, with the Gardening Team making an impressive job of this year's courtyard flowers and gaining us a Bronze Award in the Wildlife Gardens Awards, plus the bar got a new look just in time for the Euros to start. Our Charity Coffee Morning went international as Jane from Philadelphia joined us with her lemon and whisky cake, after reading about us during her stay nearby! All of our regular quiz, bingo, movie and karaoke nights events continued at pace.

In July Micky was interviewed by BBC local radio – the first of 5 times this year! – and Richard Allan appeared on the BBC TV Breakfast show! Datchet Border Morris came for a dance out and as it was the fifth birthday of re-opening The Swan and we took the opportunity to celebrate with a great community party in the sunshine! Our annual Christmas in July is unique within Windsor, and we were privileged to have Santa to pop in to the pub during his holidays.

August is the time of our annual Swanfest, and we had another super weekend filled with unforgettable moments, laughter and indulgence! With great company, delicious food and drink, Guinness World Record attempts and an exciting raffle, Swanfest 2024 was truly epic and raised £1,400 for the Renovation Fund. Two new clubs started: Conversational French and the Windsor Town Funrunners, who now base themselves at The Swan each week. We also had an unannounced visit of the Great British Pub Awards head judge, who spent 2 hours asking questions and touring the site. Mirella found time on Bank Holiday Monday to organise a sponsored walk in aid of our 2024 charity, the King George VI Day Centre.

The highlight in September was The Swan being chosen as Best Community Pub at the Great British Pub Awards 2024, broadcast live into The Swan from the gala ceremony in Manchester. Heralded as the Oscars of the industry, pubs from across Britain compete for one of the industry's most sought-after accolades. The trophy was presented live on stage to Micky and now sits proudly in the bar. The month ended with Oktoberfest, our now annual celebration of German bier & food.

Early in October we were able to announce that, for the fifth consecutive year, The Swan was included in The Good Beer Guide 2025, CAMRA'S most prestigious publication. Barman Harry took over the kitchen, with his delicious homemade burgers going down a treat! The GRC students got to handle a real-life Oscar statuette when Swan Elder Nina Hartstone visited to talk about her career in Film and TV. As winter started to draw in, Quiz and Bingo nights became even more popular, and the Windsor Town Funrunners got into the spirit of Halloween by dressing up for their weekly run.

November started with our annual Community Bonfire Night, with mulled wine, sparklers and chilli, accompanied by the fabulous BackTrak. Accompanied by our very own Windsor Ukulele Band, a packed pub sang their hearts out at our first ever Uke-Oke: a brilliant and unique evening which will be bound to be repeated. And to kick off the festive season we held Santa's Jolly Jaunt – a collaborative walk, run and ride involving members of Chatty Café, Windsor Town Funrunners and Windsor Cycle Hub respectively. Everyone had a ball, and our intrepid Santas raised over £450 for the Renovation Fund.

And finally, in December we have packed in: GRC's Winter Fayre, with a Windsor and Eton Living Advent Calendar performance from students and staff; The Friend's German inspired Christmas Market, with bratwurst, gluhwein and lots of festive gift stalls; a fabulous community Carol Singing evening; and busy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day sessions where you, the special Swan Community, gathered to share the most wonderful time of the year together at Britain's Best Community Pub! And there's still tomorrow night's New Year's Eve Party to go…!! Stay tuned for a full report in the first of 2025's regular newsletters on Friday 3rd Jan!

Phew...! That was a lot crammed in to a fun packed year at The Swan! And there's a lot more besides - to read more about all our events, regular clubs and community news over the year in our website's comprehensive Events Diary with many more great photos. All of us at The Swan thank you for your custom and for being part of our amazing community during the year, and send our very best wishes for a happy and healthy 2025!

It'll come as no surprise to hear that 2023 has been a difficult year for the hospitality industry; still recovering from the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis to boot, pubs all over the country have struggled to stay afloat. But here at The Swan, with the help of all our fabulous volunteers and patrons we have seen no end to the fun and laughter at our great Community Pub! It seems fitting to reflect back on a great year ... see more detail and many more photos in the extensive Events Diary on our website by clicking the buttons below each monthly below.

After seeing in the New Year with a bang, January got off to a great start with the first Pub Quiz of the year bursting at the seams. The Desperados were the worthy winners of the £25 bar tab and, two weeks later in a run of good luck, they did it once again! And newcomers We're only here for the Raffle” actually won the raffle! How's that for a self-fulfilling prophecy?

At the end of the month, we hosted the final Charity Coffee Morning for our 2022 charity, Family Friends, for whom we raised an amazing £1,453.43 over the year, and the community began nominating and voting for a new charity for 2023.

RBWM held two public consultation meetings in the Coach House during January, about the proposed Cyclops Roundabout at the top of Mill Lane. Things got a little heated at times, but it was a great example of using The Swan's facilities for public good.

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In February, two of our most popular regular events got up and running again after the festive break. At our monthly Board Games Night, local games inventor Simon hosted a great turnout of gamers who came to play a range of games new and old.

And we saw the welcome return of our popular Bingo Night! A packed Coach House were poised with their dabbers and Bill generously donated his Golden Card jackpot prize to the Renovation Fund - thanks Bill!

At the end of the month, the new 2023 Community Charity was announced as Swan Support, a great local group who work tirelessly for the swan population in Windsor and beyond. Friends of The Swan volunteers met with them to explore ideas on how we could work together during the year ahead and the first Coffee Morning was a huge success, raising the amazing total of £400!

March saw a new event at The Swan – Yoga in the Coach House! What could be more relaxing than an hour unwinding and escaping the stresses of everyday life with a little relaxation ... and a wee drink afterwards!

Students at GRC began their programme of talks from Swan Elders, with Joe Donnelly, bass player from The Silencers. Joe talked about his career and his life growing up in Glasgow with music as the thread that kept him on track, teaching students how music can play a huge part in your life.

April started with Easter Weekend marking the end of the long dark post-Christmas period. We were blessed with good weather at the first opportunity of the year for a long weekend of fun for all the family at The Swan. There was an Easter Egg Hunt throughout the pub and volunteers helped the small people craft their Easter Bonnets. Adults enjoyed James Brown's music and admired the new outside bar in the Cowshed, sustainably fashioned from an old staircase from the pub.

As Spring well and truly arrived, more and more turned out on a Saturday morning to join Windsor Cycle Hub's fantastic local guided rides, aimed at a different level of experience and ability each week. At the end of the month, there

May brought the national celebration of the Coronation of HM King Charles III and Queen Camila, and The Swan put on a busy weekend of events to celebrate with our VIP neighbours! We really got into the spirit of the occasion, watching the ceremony on the TVs in the pub as well as a fancy dress competition, games and crafts for the kids and a delicious commonwealth-inspired buffet. On the Monday, volunteers turned out in numbers to do a litter pick alongside our friends at Swan Support, learning all about the dangers of litter to our wildlife.

Two new regular events also got underway in May. We saw our first ever Warhammer club, where local enthusiasts turned out in numbers to support a new home for their gaming, and we hosted our first Chatter and Natter Table under the UK Chatty Café Scheme. Our table has become a great success, welcoming new people almost every week.

Toward the end of the month we began preparing for the local Pubs in Bloom competition. Volunteers cleared up the Courtyard and donated their time and lovingly nurtured plants to arrange and maintain our floral decorations ready for the competition. In the end, we didn't win but the judges commented on how lovely the courtyard looked and we all enjoyed the fruits of the team's labours for the rest of the summer so a huge thanks to all involved.

GRC finished the half term with a very special Epic Thursday - their Big-Hearted BBQ Brunch. The courtyard was packed and the students raised over £70 for Fight Bladder Cancer. All the students mucked in and had a great time and the vibe was joyous!

In June, our monthly Mini Markets got going in earnest, with Friends of The Swan Ian and Louise producing another of their delicious BBQs, accompanied by refreshing Pimms on special from the bar. WCH started to venture further afield on their weekly rides, and the Pub Quiz jackpot continued to build!

On a sad note, it was time to say a fond farewell to Connor, our friend and assistant bar manager. Connor started at The Swan when we re-opened and was key in getting to where we are now. We miss him terribly put are delighted he has gone on to be a great success in his new role at Patch on the Plaza in town and still visits us regularly.

With start of summer in July came the season of family events at The Swan! On 20th July we celebrated our 4th birthday! Who would believe it is four years ago since we re-opened our wee community pub? There was cake on offer so a some of the locals came together to raise a glass. Thanks go to Friends Ian & Louise Birch for arranging the cake and our oldest regular – Rene Lowe (aged 101 and a half) - for doing the honours cutting it.

The following weekend, Santa and the Grinch came to The Swan during their Summer Holidays for Christmas in July! We had laid on some music for them and also a BBQ. Kids young and old came along despite the torrential rain that we had that weekend. There was music from Mojo and Jessica Foden on the Saturday, and on Sunday Mark & Sherridan returned. The BBQ was a special with delicious Christmas Dinner wraps.

In August, our landmark summer event, Swanfest, was back! Both beer festival and family fun, with live music, entertainment for the small people, lots of guest beers, food and even world record attempts! SwanFest is our annual bit of fun for the local community and 2023 was no exception. Jessica Foden did some amazing face-painting for the kids, whilst False Bypass, Sharks in the Water, BackTrack, Riot Monkeys and The Windsor Ukulele Group all played alongside Swan regulars James Lainey and Mark & Sherridan. There was dancing. There was singing. And one or two beers and burgers consumed - the German Keller Bier proving very popular indeed. And we raised £1,500 from the raffle!

The following weekend The Swan hosted its first full wedding when regulars Rachael and David tied the knot! The weather held out and they had a magnificent affair out in The Courtyard and in The Coach House. Micky and the team transformed the place which looked terrific and we wished the happy couple all the very best for their lives together.

New to The Swan this summer was another popular community group, 'The Stitch Gang'. The group get together for a couple of hours on a Saturday in the pub to knit, crochet, cross-stich, patch work, embroider or whatever creative needlework takes their fancy! For anyone of any age with any level of skill the group was an immediate hit and has repeated every other Saturday since.

In September, Friends of The Swan began a kitchen takeover providing light bites to feed the brain cells on Pub Quiz nights, which has proved very popular! Volunteers Lou and Ian also provided a varied menu for those who packed the pub to watch the World Cup rugby and weekend BBQs for the remaining nice weekends of the summer.

And one Saturday night, after the doors shut, a film crew descended to use the pub as a location for their latest horror short movie. A number of regulars and Friends of The Swan were roped in as extras for the overnight shoot and all had a jolly good time!

At our monthly charity event we held a Macmillan Coffee morning where together you raised an incredible £664! Sincere thanks to all the bakers, coffee drinkers and budding hairstylists who helped Micky to ‘Brave the Shave'! An even bigger thank you to all who gave so generously to this very worthy cause.

And at the end of the month Rebecca Calvert put on a special Tagine Taster event to support humanitarian aid following the Moroccan earthquake, in which she herself had been caught up whilst on holiday. An incredible £2,000 was raised, and Becca said “Thank you all so much from me and on behalf of the Moroccan people.”

As we moved into October, it was of course time for our fabulous Oktoberfest, which once again saw the community come to The Swan to enjoy German bier, food and entertainment over three days. The BBQ served up delicious bratwurst, there were plenty of draught and bottled biers and some German wine too. Mark & Sherridan played on Saturday night to a packed Courtyard, decorated beautifully and creating a really great environment.

Louise Birch hosted a special coffee morning for 'Wear It Pink' to raise money for breast cancer research and support, a charity close to her heart. David and Mike volunteered to have their chest hair rather painfully stripped in aid of the event, helping to raise £286 and making it a really memorable occasion!

As the nights began to draw in, our thoughts turned to the long winter ahead and we decided the bar was long overdue a bit of a makeover to get ready and cosy. There was lots to be done from general tidying, cleaning & organising, to painting & decorating, soft furnishing repair and more substantial DIY tasks. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who turned out to help, giving 170 hours of their time over 3 days), and to The Friends of The Swan for funding the refurb from the Renovation Fund.

And finally, over the Halloween weekend regulars came appropriately dressed up for a spooky time! On Saturday night we had a disco with DJ Micky at the deck and then on Sunday afternoon there was a brilliant performance by our very own Windsor Ukulele Group which was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

In November, as night follows day, Bonfire Night follows Halloween, and 2023 was no exception! The Courtyard was packed from early evening all the way through despite it not being one of the warmest of evenings. Early doors it was the fire pit and sparklers, later on it was dancing and singing with a live gig from BackTrack. And not forgetting Micky's One Pot Chilli to warm the cockles of your heart! The kids loved it and we were pleased to see so many smiling faces of all ages – another great night at The Swan.

Later in the month we recognised a true Community Hero in our midst. Dermot Goff has been voluntarily clearing the neighbourhood of litter and rubbish for more years than even he can remember, keeping our environment clean and tidy for all to enjoy! Dermot was presented with an engraved glass tankard by our Community Director, Hollie who declared him a Swan Community Hero. Thanks to Dawn and Richard who put on free tea and cake for all that came to recognise and congratulate Dermot.

We had a couple of great kitchen takeovers from Mark and ‘The Secret Chef' this month, and the 'Not So Secret Chef', aka Micky our Pub Manager, was also in the kitchen providing a taste of his Christmas menu to come, proving he was on the ball and ready for the December rush!

In the first of our Christmas events in December, GRC hosted their Winter Fayre in the Courtyard. With a hysterical short panto for the Windsor Living Advent Calendar, some very festive stalls, food and drink, as well as games for the kids and even Santa in his grotto, the evening was a magical start to the festive season.

Later in the month, as the Big Day loomed, the Friends of The Swan Christmas Market provided another opportunity to pick up last-minute gifts from some amazing stall holders. With mulled wine, boozy hot chocolate and Micky's infamous Turkey Dinner Wraps on offer, the night turned into a great pre-Christmas night out under the twinkling lights, with dancing to Swan favourites Sharks in the Water to round it off.

Commissioning of The Friends of The Swan Christmas card proved quite challenging this year, but we made it in time to sell out of the lovely pencil drawing of our cosy fireplace before Christmas! And for the fifth year running, Friend Miranda donated her beautifully painted Swan Baubles for sale – have you got the complete set? All proceeds from both went to the Renovation Fund giving it a nice boost to start the new year.

There was another special evening of carol singing led by St Andrew's Rev Rosie and accompanied by the musicians of The Broom Farm Ensemble. Although cold, it was another warm festive evening with the community joining in with well known, traditional carols. A thoroughly enjoyable evening!

The following night we had a double dose of festive entertainment! First were treated to a performance from Voci, a local chamber choir, who came to entertain us in the bar with carols sung in beautiful harmonies. And then welcomed back our friends at Datchet Border Morris, who performed a range of traditional dances in the Cowshed before moving into the bar to perform their traditional Mummers Play. This had the pub totally enthralled as the various characters joined 'the stage' – a magnificent sight and a huge thanks to all those involved.

There was fun for the small people too, when Santa visited The Swan to have a festive breakfast with local children! The kids had a fantastic time as did Santa who promised to visit them all on Christmas Day. With a Ho Ho Ho! he went off to Lapland to finish packing his sleigh with Christmas presents. BTW, the brekkie was excellent too!

And finally, just 3 nights ago we held our fabulous Hogmanay Party to welcome in 2024! A heaving bar saw everyone dressed for ‘A Night at The Oscars', with the Directors' Chilli Cook Off producing great food and the fizz flowing liberally from the bar. All accompanied by our fabulous Mark and Sherridan playing all the golden oldies to get the assembled masses dancing all the way to Auld Lang Syne and beyond! See the many photos by clicking below!

So as one year closes, another begins and with a fantastic response to our recent Community Loan Offer we start it in a strong position. The Directors, staff, volunteers and students all thank you for your support in 2023 and wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year! We look forward to seeing you all very soon at our great little Community Pub!

Having just seen out the old year in style this is your chance to answer the question, where did 2022 go? Take a look at this brief summary highlighting just some of the many exciting and entertaining events that have made 2022 at The Swan such a special time. There are even more memories on our website - take a trip down memory lane and enjoy the journey.

The year started with all hands on deck, or at least in the Kitchen, as Weekday Warriors and Volunteers continued to prepare the walls and equipment as the deadline for opening seemed still too far away. Multiple colours of plasterboard and new window frames continued the transformation.

The Coach House hosted a Virtual Cruise for all those who had won something in the 2021 Bingo Sessions and 2022 kicked off with yet more Bingo with our resident caller Richard Allen. Continuing the party mood the Coach House hosted a very special birthday as Rene, our oldest regular, celebrated her 100th birthday.

January saw our final coffee morning on behalf of Windsor Homeless Project having raised a total of £1,200 across the year and despite Covid. Family Friends were nominated as our community charity for 2022 and with one more fundraiser on their behalf still to come we hope to have done as well.

Quizzes, bingo and cheese nights saw March and April spring into life as the days got longer and the evenings got warmer.

Tiling, painting and preparation by the dedicated team of Weekday Warriors saw the Kitchen looking better each day as the deadline for opening got ever closer.

At short notice a new covering was laid across The Courtyard. Although seen as an interim measure it is a vast improvement making a trip across the area less hazardous for all.

As well as supporting our local charity we hosted a Comic Relief coffee morning during which a plaque in recognition of the hard work of the Weekday Warriors was unveiled in The Bar.

April saw a very popular Gin Masterclass sponsored by Fever Tree. New skills were learnt and, hopefully, remembered.

After all that hard work May saw the long-awaited opening of our new kitchen. First to give it a spin were GR6 students and staff who launched their amazing EPIC Brunch menu. The following day we ran a Kitchen Test Day, serving complimentary tasters from the new menu to a packed house of regulars eager to try it out and give their feedback.

In June we celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, with a traditional afternoon tea party! Over the weekend, the sunny courtyard was packed as people came from across town to partake in sandwiches, cakes and scones, served on an eclectic mix of pre-loved retro crockery!

Building work also began on a refurbishment of the Stables, providing the School and the local community with valuable useable space on site.

In July, as temperatures began to soar, we celebrated American Independence Day with a themed BBQ and an evening of line dancing, expertly called by Jess. The pub was decorated in true US style and many arrived dressed accordingly to grapevine the night away at our first ever Hoe Down!.

Just as we all yearned to escape the extreme summer heat, snow began to fall as we celebrated Christmas in July!. At a bizarre but a fabulously unique weekend, kids delighted in visits from Santa and the Grinch, whilst mums and dads tucked into Christmas dinner, Yorkshire pudding wraps and maybe drowned a snowball or two!

August heralded our flagship weekend Summer Festival – SwanFest!.The excellent range of guest ales on the pumps each day included our very own Fest Beer, Feathered Friend, brewed specially by Micky and the team at WEBrew. Fun for the family included face painting and Guinness World Records attempts, there was live music every afternoon and evening and The Friends' raffle made a fabulous amount towards our renovation fund.

Following a busy summer, September saw the start of a new school year for The Green Room and with the nights drawing in, our monthly Cheese and Wine night returned to the pub. It was warm enough for teams to sit in The Courtyard during our fortnightly Quiz Nights and the Cribbage Group continued to hone their skills in their Tuesday meetings. The Stammtisch German Speaking Group held their monthly meeting, as did The Book Club and our September Coffee Morning raised nearly £300 for Macmillan.

During September, The Swan also joined with the rest of Windsor and the Nation in paying our respects and remembering the extraordinary life of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

October started in the now traditional way with Oktoberfest, as we brought a bit of Bavaria to The Swan with German beer, bratwurst, lederhosen and live music.

Our third AGM meeting was held in The Courtyard and a weekend breakfast service began in the pub. Our very own Carly started her Stay and Play sessions for the under 5s and their parents.

October ended with CAMRA confirming that we are included in the 2023 Good Beer Guide and another opportunity for fancy dress at our Halloween Freakender. We were delighted to welcome Datchet Border Morris back for the first time since lockdown. They braved the rain to perform for us on Halloween itself, making it a very special Monday night.

Remember, Remember the 5th November with marshmallows around the fire, sparklers and live music from Back Track who had everyone up and dancing.

A week later, GR6 student and member of staff, Carly Abbott was selected as a finalist in the Plunkett Foundation's Young Person of the Year Award and attended the award ceremony at St Martin in the Fields. The Friends of The Swan nominated Carly for the award in recognition of her efforts in setting up the Stay and Play sessions, working at our coffee mornings and Jubilee celebrations and becoming a valued member of staff. Carly's certificate is now proudly displayed in the pub.

Renovations took a break for the summer but started again in November, with the first stages of work on the roof meaning that the top layer of scaffolding has finally come down! Windows to the rear have been prepped and painted and repointing has continued.

At the end of November, our final coffee morning of the year was held for our 2022 local charity, Family Friends while December saw The Swan take part in Windsor's Living Advent Calendar as part of The Green Room's Winter Fayre. The staff and student's version of A Christmas Carol went down a storm.

Prohibition Night followed the next week, where those knowing the secret knock enjoyed cocktails and jazz. A festive evening of Christmas Carols with The Broom Farm Ensemble Brass Band and St Andrew's church was held in The Courtyard and Santa's Grotto welcomed little visitors each weekend. He even joined them for a special breakfast one Saturday morning.

The Friends of The Swan Christmas Market with craft stalls and live music from the Windsor Jazz Collective was a chilly evening, warmed by plenty of mulled wine and boozy hot chocolate, with strudel and chestnuts and craft stalls to pick up that last minute present. A special festive quiz rounded off the pre-Christmas festivities with champagne and selection box prizes, as well as a Christmas jumper competition! The Big Swan Quiz of The Year was our final event of 2022 won by regular team Hettie's Heroes.

The Coach House now has a brand new, level floor and glass doors. This means that this is now a cosy space for private hire, as well as an excellent space for an evening drink with friends.

So, as 2022 – the first full year that we have been able to operate since opening, has closed with a wonderful New Year's Eve Party we look forward to more of the same in 2023.

We would like to thank you for all of your continued support of The Swan. We could not do this without each and every one of our investors, friends, customers and volunteers and we look forward to meeting you for a drink very soon.

Have A Safe and A Very Happy New Year!

2021 may be ending under a cloud of uncertainty, but we hope that this year you have been able to spend the festive season with your loved ones. As the year draws to a close, we thought we would take a look back on some of the more fun things that we have got up to and everything we have achieved at The Swan this year!

The year started as 2020 finished: in lockdown due to the Covid pandemic. So, The Swan went back online with our quiz and bingo nights. We also held a special online beer and cheese night on 6th February. A selection of fine cheeses from The Cheesemunger of Windsor paired with a selection of beers from the Rugby Six Nations were, delicious. It was also Rene's 99^th birthday - we are still apologising for our singing!

Behind the scenes the Weekday Warriors kept testing negative and masked up to make progress on The Kitchen. Unfortunately, this required significantly more work than originally planned and the guys needed to add steel supports for the ceiling, a new internal back wall was built, and barrow by barrow load the floor was taken right back to the original ground level and slowly re-made.

In early March we hosted an online Horseracing and Beer Tasting Night, sampling beers selected from breweries close to each of the race courses. Who could forget the last race – the Old MacDonald Farm stakes – with horses named Woof Woof and Oink Oink. By the end, there wasn't a dry eye on the video call due to the tears of laughter.

The good news was that we re-opened on 12^th April, though following strict government guidelines. As The Courtyard was going to be the focus of our spring pub activities, we held a volunteer day to make sure everything was ready to welcome customers again. On 22^nd April, we welcomed the return of Dr Bike's free repair and bike maintenance sessions returned to The Courtyard, that was well received by the community. We also had time to celebrate St George's Day too and who could forget the start of the famous Epic Thursdays run by our students? What a couple of months!

Work on The Kitchen continued with the addition of damp proofing and more progress was made on the floor. On 9^th April, a major milestone saw the new concrete delivered and it was all hands on deck to make sure it was laid correctly. As if all of that wasn't enough, the ventilator outlet was installed, beams in the ceiling were replaced and the stairs to The School House removed.

May was a busy month for us as the weather got better. We welcomed two packs of local Brownies for hot chocolate, biscuits and drawing, plus our first wedding reception was held in The Coach House: congratulations to James and Louise Brown. At the end of the month, we also had the first of our popular mini-markets in The Courtyard.

With the success of Dr Bike, we were pleased to welcome the brand-new Windsor Cycle Hub and host their launch event at the end of May. This charitable venture is aimed at growing cycling within Windsor and we are really excited that they have made The Swan their home. Also in May we were delighted to win the Round & About Good Cheer Award, celebrating heroes in the hospitality sector.

The Warriors continued squirreling away in the background replacing the stairs and working on the replacement of old and rotten beams in The Kitchen. The first fix for the electrics was started and new radiators were fitted in The Coach House. However, the most important piece of work that the Warriors completed was the installation of the dart board, an essential piece of equipment for any pub!

July saw the return of our monthly charity coffee mornings – this time supporting Windsor Homeless Project, our local charity for 2021. The mini-market also saw the first of this year's produce from The Green Room's allotment go on sale, which always means a busy afternoon in The Courtyard. Our summer Saturday BBQs also returned, though slightly wetter than we had anticipated!

August's big event was the first ever Swanfest! A weekend of fun for all the family, with face painting and children's crafts during the day and live music every evening, plus some excellent guest ales.

With GR6 on summer holidays, the Warriors were able to move on at pace, sound proofing, insulating and fireboarding, as well as continuing reinforcement work to the joists in the kitchen. The warm weather also allowed some crucial work to the chimneys and roof, as well as restoring power and lighting to the stables. They even found time to strengthen and support the front wall of The Courtyard and smarten up the outdoor tables.

The 2021 AGM was also held in The Courtyard during July.

Two busy months saw Cheese and Wine Nights, Charity Coffee Mornings for Macmillan and The Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal, plus mini-markets and Dr Bike sessions too. On 19th September The Swan embraced a 'holiday' that most had never heard of before – International Talk Like a Pirate Day, with much swash and buckle on show for the day!

Oktoberfest turned The Swan into a little corner of Bavaria, serving three German beers and bratwurst from the barbeque, with more live music. Sadly, the weather somewhat dampened the atmosphere on Saturday, but Friday and Sunday more than made up for that. The weather struck again for Halloween, but we still had lots of fun when the sun came out, with pumpkin carving, live music from Mark and Sherridan and a visit from our very own black cat!

Work in the kitchen continued with preparations for the second fix of electrics, more fireboarding and plastering of the old 'room of doom' – also known as The Stockroom. The cellar got a new new drop to make barrel deliveries easier and the roof of the gents toilet was repaired to prevent leaks. Meanwhile, 'Maintenance Mondays' focused on some of the smaller jobs needed to keep The Bar and Coach House looking their best. The front gates also disappeared for a short while for renovation.

Remember Remember the 5^th November – when The Courtyard was packed and the BBQ ran out of burgers?! A brilliant night of toffee apples, sparklers, burning the guy and music from new friends Back Track. This, was swiftly followed by Children in Need, when Micky got his legs waxed for the first (and probably the last) time and the staff and volunteers attempted to row down The Thames – all without getting wet and in the name of charity!

December saw Windsor's Living Advent Calendar come to The Swan as part of The Green Room's Winter Fayre. An evening of Christmas fun for everyone that included Santa's first appearance at The Swan! He must have enjoyed it, as he based his grotto in Stable 1 for the next two Saturdays to check the children had behaved themselves before giving out hot chocolate and presents. The final quiz of 2021 and several of our plans for the festive season were slightly curtailed by the appearance of the Omicron variant, but it was great to see so many familiar faces in the bar on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Working in an old building is often testing and The Warriors needed maximum patience in ensuring that batons fixed to the kitchen wall were absolutely straight before being insulated, so that the final surface will be flat for equipment to be installed. They even worked through the weekend to ensure everything was done in time for the new flooring to go down.

Just in time for Christmas, RAS joined the warriors to fit the extraction canopy and stainless steel back wall. A huge amount of visible progress has been made in the last few weeks and it is fair to say that we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Watch our social media to see Our Kitchen starting to look more like something you would recognise.

So, in these final days of 2021, as we look forward to welcoming 2022 with more live music on New Year's Eve, we would like to thank you for all of your continued support of The Swan. We could not do this without each and every one of our investors, friends, customers and volunteers and we look forward to welcoming you in the bar – for a drink and some food (!) very soon!

Have A Safe and A Very Happy New Year!

It is fair to say that 2020 has been something of an annus horribilis for everyone and whilst it would be easy to dwell on everything that has not gone according to plan, it has not all been doom and gloom. So as we look forward to getting back to normal as soon as possible in 2021, we would also like to take a moment to look back at what The Swan community has achieved this year.

We rang in the New Year to the sounds of Astronought playing to a packed Swan. Live music continued through January and February as The Jam Factory also entertained us and Astronought returned for Valentine's Day. We were delighted to host an event for Plastic Free Windsor to help raise awareness of the dangers of single-use plastics and for children, we held a Pancake Day Party including a pancake tossing competition!

The Weekday Warriors got stuck in to the preparations for starting the kitchen renovations and if the weather allowed, they were up on the roof reducing the height of one of the chimneys and making other repairs and improvements including the removal of debris accumulated over decades behind the kitchen walls.

March started with a craft session for our younger customers to celebrate St David's Day and continued with our first ever Cheese and Wine Night. It turns out that the Swan community is rather fond of ... cheese and wine!

A group of volunteers known as The Swan Elders were pleased to help with a Careers Coffee Morning, providing guidance and life coaching to the Green Room students. Meanwhile, the Sewing Bees were busy preparing the soft furnishings for the pub and the Weekday Warriors had re-worked the stockroom.

On 20th March, The Swan closed its doors as the UK went into lockdown in a fight against the Coronavirus. Both the pub and school shut down and all volunteering work had to stop. However, as our habits and vocabulary adapted to include social distancing (of course!), lockdown and self-isolate, we all realised the importance of community - and Zoom! Up to 40 households regularly took part in weekly Bingo and Quiz Nights.

As lockdown continued through May and June, so did our online events, raising much needed funds for The Swan as well as our chosen local charity for this year, Family Friends. We had guest quiz rounds from Family Friends, Plastic Free Windsor, Datchet Border Morris and Hetties Heroes, whilst the list of bingo winners lining up for a space on our ‘Virtual Caribbean Cruise' grew quickly! Fridays saw us open as a collection point for Dublicious Take Away meals and beer. It was great to see some familiar faces returning – if only briefly.

Sunday evenings saw the introduction of live music from Mark & Sherridan and themed nights such as VE75, Motown, Disco, the 80s and 90s got us dancing as we cooked our roast dinner! Meanwhile, the Book Club had also moved online and increased their meetings to fortnightly.

In The Courtyard, amazing things were starting to happen to The Coach House, as a full restoration project commenced, including raising and replacing the roof. We were also proud to work with the Windsor Community Defibrillator Partnership and complete installation of a unit outside The Swan. This is in memory of Adrian Chojnacki, one of our investors and Weekday Warriors who passed away unexpectedly in March.

After 106 days of lockdown, we were excited to be able to open again in early July. New regulations meant big changes to how we operate, but following a deep clean inside and a spruce up of The Courtyard by volunteers, a warm welcome at The Swan was still assured.

We held our first AGM in The Courtyard and online, which was well attended. You can see the video of the day, the presentations and the notes here.

Unfortunately, our big plans to celebrate the first anniversary of our opening had to be shelved, but a few of us still managed to get together and raised a glass to everything we had achieved so far.

In August, we celebrated the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day with music from the Albert Street Gals and held our first ever mini-market. Our Saturday BBQs continued and the courtyard was packed with people making the most of a little bit of freedom and sunshine.

Most exciting of all, we learned that we had been nominated as finalists in the Great British Pub Awards and so started our campaign to win as many votes as possible.

As the weather held, so our BBQs and courtyard activities continued. Our monthly mini-markets proved very popular and our Charity Coffee Mornings raised a fantastic £600 for Macmillan and over £700 for the Poppy Appeal.

Work on the Coach House was also completed with an amazing new technology suite opened for the students. September's fantastic news was that we had won the Great British Pub Awards in the category for Keeping the Community Entertained. A huge thanks to everyone who voted for us and showing that it is the community spirit that makes The Swan special. The £10,000 grant for winning is being put towards the renovation of our kitchen.

One year on from their live broadcast from the pub October saw BBC Berkshire do a special ‘catch-up' feature on The Swan. The ever popular Cheese and Wine Night also returned. However, our very first Oktoberfest was the highlight of the month and a huge success – so much so that we nearly ran out of beer on the first night! With a top up on the German beer, the sun shining on a blue and white decorated courtyard and plenty of Bratwurst on the BBQ, it was a fantastic weekend for all.

Throughout all of this, the Weekday Warriors made great progress on the chimneys and roof.

With COVID rates rising, November saw us having to close again for a month. However, now fully experienced in on-line events, bingo and quizzes started again; the Book Club continued on line and we started our weekly Virtual Coffee Mornings.

We can't always see what the Weekday Warriors are doing, but the huge task of replacing worn bricks and repointing continues. The top layer of tarmac was stripped from the courtyard and a trench appeared ready to introduce a three phase electrical supply to the kitchen in time for the builders to start. The team continue to work with the professionals to prepare the infrastructure for the new kitchen to be fitted.

After a quick lick of paint to the bar, we opened again on 4th December and learnt what exactly constituted a 'substantial meal' – who knew that the humble Scotch egg would become so important! We managed to squeeze in a coffee morning for Family Friends but sadly, as the Royal Borough slid from Tier 2 to Tier 4 in only 48 hours we soon had to close again. We were sad not to have been able to celebrate Christmas in person with The Swan Community, but remained undeterred and held 'Our Swan Song to 2020' with music bingo, beer tasting and a quiz.

So, as we look forward and plan for 2021– for the return of live music, cheese and wine nights, packed Friday nights, BBQs, an open kitchen, quiz nights, coffee mornings, beer festivals, monthly markets, cycle clinics, community events and much more, we can also look back and be proud of what we have achieved in 2020 in spite of everything.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our volunteers, customers, investors, supporters, benefactors and friends for all of your support this year. Without your enthusiasm and commitment to The Swan and community of Clewer we would not have been able to achieve even half of what we have.

This is just a snapshot of everything that has happened at The Swan this year. You can see much more in our comprehensive Diaries – you might even spot yourself in the photos.

Will, Richard, The Friends of The Swan and The Green Room School look forward to seeing you all at The Swan as soon as we are able to re-open, but in the meantime wish everyone…

A Safe and Happy New Year!

What a year it has been at The Swan! So much has happened in 2019 that we thought that it was only right that we take a look back at the incredible amount that we have achieved and amazing community that we have become.

The year started with the great news on 10th January that contracts had been exchanged for the purchase of the pub!

On 29th January we finally got the keys and on 2nd February we held the Ceremony of the Keys to celebrate. It was cold and snowy, but over 200 people came along to raise a toast to The Swan – the first time that the public had been able to access the premises in nearly 3 years.

A week later, we held our first volunteer weekend and over 60 people turned out to help clear the site. There were plenty of surprises along the way, as we discovered everything from high heels to a (very old) joint of ham, but by the end of day two, the place was barely recognisable, with the old bar completely removed.

March was a month of demolition & stripping and clearing & sanding – plaster, wall paper, wire and woodwork, as the building was allowed to breathe again and we began to understand what was going to be needed to bring it back to life.

But it wasn't all work, as the end of March saw us party with The Skangsters at The Old Court, in aid of our refurbishment fund and in April, we held the first of our Sneaky Beak Barbeques.

The community enjoyed a pint and a burger, a tour of the building to see progress so far and music from Mark and Sheridan. It was great to see the community support for the project growing.

In May, work carried on apace, but The Swan also became a film set for a few days as Alish Castillo used the upstairs bedrooms to shoot her first short film, The Widow. Although the story is set in early 1950s Ireland, the bedrooms at The Swan provided the perfect film location. The film has now completed post-production and Ailish is now entering it into a number of prestigious film competitions.

June was another busy month, with three more Sneaky Beak Barbeque. In the bar, the new steel supports and the start of the new floor went in, whilst plaster boarding started in the School House.

At the same time, the The Friends of The Swan were out and about at The Swan Lifeline and Rotary Summer Fayre raising funds and awareness of the project.

It took more volunteering days, finishing the bar floor, a lot of plaster boarding and late nights, but on 20th July, we unveiled our new sign and opened for the first time! Our bar was temporary and all seating was outside, but this was a major milestone for us.

The first pint was served to Rene Lowe as our oldest customer at 97 years young! We have been open almost every day since.

In August, we took advantage of the summer evenings to host a series of barbeques and a Bank Holiday Brunch. Ian and Tony took their cooking responsibilities very seriously and the courtyard was packed every Saturday. Huge thanks to all of our chefs, volunteers and musicians, who made these events such a success.

Work still continued inside though, with more plastering, painting in the main bar and preparation of exposed brickwork…. It was all starting to come together nicely!

As the nights drew in, we retreated into the bar, as with a lovely new floor now uncovered and the main bar fitted, we held our first Quiz Night with Quizmaster, Steve Long. An amazing 120 people participated, with not a spare seat to be found in the bar, School House or Courtyard.

We said a huge thank you to Alex Loveless who ran 50km of The Thames Path Challenge in aid of The Swan; held a clothes swap event, the book club started and were a venue for the Windsor Fringe Arts Festival. The pub started to open in the day, the keg bridge went in and there was more painting, but most importantly, The Green Room Sixth Form students started lessons from the School House, achieving another of our major milestones.

October started with us hosting an outside broadcast of The Phil Kennedy Show on Radio Berkshire, with Phil learning to pull his own pint! We had live music from Astronaught and ended the month with pumpkin carving and ghostly antics behind the bar on Halloween.

There is no rest for the wicked though and work continued fitting the radiators, the dark green appeared on the walls and skirting and other finishing touches were added whilst progress was made on the office.

In November, we held our first Macmillan Coffee morning and raised funds for Children in Need, as well as holding our first Bonfire Night with a barbeque, toffee apples, popcorn, sparklers and a roaring fire.

November saw soffits and fascias fitted on the roof and a huge amount of rubble and debris cleared from the courtyard and stables. Crucially, our "last orders" bell was fitted – many thanks to Colin (Jock) for the donation.

December has been our busiest month to date, with Christmas Decoration making, Christmas Carols, Morris Dancing, a Christmas Quiz, Live music and the amazing Winter Fayre, organised by the Green Room students. Plus, the never to be forgotten staging of A Christmas Carol for the Windsor Living Advent Calendar!

Work has still continued though, with vital repairs to the chimney stacks and stable roofs, plus preparation for the office and future major works in the kitchen. You may not always be able to see it, but there is always renovation work ongoing somewhere.

2019 has been amazing, with equal amounts of hard work and fun. This is just a snapshot of everything that has happened at The Swan this year. You can see much more in our comprehensive Diaries – you might even spot yourself in the photos.

There is still a lot to do to continue the journey of our ugly duckling into The Swan we all know it can be, but we would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of our investors, supporters and customers.

We hope to see you all later at The Swan to celebrate the New Year, but if not Will, Richard, The Bar Staff, The The Friends of The Swan and The Green Room School wish everyone…

A Happy New Year!