Events: December, 2020

Here is a round-up of the events at The Swan during December, 2020.

4th Dec: Re-Opening

It was 48 hours after lockdown had officially finished and Windsor had entered into Tier 2 Covid restrictions. It was strange for us all. On top of previous restrictions, people outside immediate households or bubbles were not allowed to mingle. Also the pub HAD to offer a substantial meal - difficult when The Kitchen is being refurbished - lol.

So this was day 1 for us in this new way. We offered some starters and desserts from The Bar, our substantial meal came from The Brewery pizza van. It was all pretty new for us. Yes we had a lot of successes and to shout about, but we did have one or two issues for some having to wait longer than they would normally accept.

Thanks to the Bar Staff and those involved with the food. Without you guys, we wouldn't have opened. Thank you from the community.

We were please to see a lot of the community came out to enjoy a wee drink whilst having some food. As you can see here, inside The Bar was popular.

The Coach House now has heaters and a side door to allow it to be used during the winter. further improvements are planned but for now, it offers a real option if you want somewhere slightly quieter whilst being warm.

The Courtyard and "The Shed" (the covered area) were both in use, the brazier was going to keep people warm. In the coming few days, The Shed will being getting new heaters (securely fastened and covered by security cameras when we are not there).

11th Dec: Family Friends

A week after Lockdown 2 had finished. The continued news wasn't great but we were still allowed to open. In conjunction with Family Friends, we decided to have a Coffee Morning with any profits going to their charity.

There was another splendid array of homemade cakes helped us to raise just under £400 for Family Friends, our chosen charity of the year. Staff and trustees from the charity were on hand to also receive Christmas baskets prepared by volunteers at The Swan for onward delivery to families in need.

It was wonderful to welcome so many new visitors at The Swan and to be able to support such a worthy cause.

13th Dec: Mini-Market

Strange times but we had the last of our Sunday Mini-Markets for 2020. Socially distanced, and with the peculiar requirements of the Covid Tier 2, we went ahead. Our stalls included the ever popular Cheesemunger, Jam & Chutney and some Christmas merchandise. Our new food van was also on site producing burgers and chips (which went down a storm). As you can see, it was a very cold day and the stall holders certainly felt it despite being wrapped up. The brazier was lit and in the odd moment it was quiet, various people went to it to recover the feeling in their fingers.

At the time we didn't know that a few days later there would be another UK Government announcement about Covid and by the weekend we would enter another Lockdown.

19th Dec: Lockdown 3.0

Well we didn't get to Christmas before another government announcement and we entered into Lockdown 3.0 - the pub closed for the rest of the year and into 2021. For a full account of Lockdown 2.0, please visit our special diary pages regarding Lockdown 3.0. As soon as this happened, again we immediately went back to online quiz and bingo events. And there was a very special Swan Song to 2020 too.

30th Dec: Swan Song

Our 2020 Swansong saw our largest online audience as we celebrated the eve of New Years Eve! Guided beer tasting, musical bingo and a 2020 quiz combined to deliver a much needed fun night in. Big thanks to Will, Richard and Anne as well as congratulations to our (many) winners who walked off with tickets for two to enjoy a tour of Windsor and Eton Brewery. (The virtual cruise was fully booked!)

Musical Bingo provided a different slant on a familiar game with congratulations to the winners: 1st The Drakes, 2nd Sarah Laver and 3rd Debbie Hodkin.

A challenging quiz saw wins for Richard Douglas (Individual), Smike (Household) and The Snowy Swans (Team).

Willie Calvert guided us through four different beers from The Brewery. Packs had been available for £10 containing 1L Windsor Knot, a bottle of Father Thames, a bottle of Beamquake and a can of Capital. Willie guided us through the beers, with Beamquake being a new one to most and Father Thames getting a huge 'thumbs up'.

The other highlight of the evening was receiving just under £250 in voluntary donations from those that took part - for which many thanks. All funds raised will go towards the kitchen renovation.