Derbyshire brewery bans children from tap room as parents let them 'move around unsupervised'

A New Mills brewery says it is banning children from its taproom following ‘a number of recent events’. 

Torrside Brewing, which has its facility by the New Mills Marina in High Peak, in Derbyshire said that despite prominent signage and personal pleas to visiting families, parents were still allowing their children to ‘move around unsupervised’.

In a post on social media, it said that it had ‘exhausted other options’ and had made the decision reluctantly.

“Following a number of incidents at recent events, we have very reluctantly decided to adopt an 'over-18s only' entry policy at the brewery,” brewery owners said.

“As we have, often repeated, the brewery is not a safe environment for children to move around unsupervised, and the marina is private property with a large body of water.

“In particular, now that our events are getting increasingly busy, there is too great a risk of accident, injury or damage.

"On a practical level, we don't have the staff or capacity to manage these risks.

“We feel we have exhausted other options: we've asked nicely in person, posted regular reminders on social media, put posters all around the brewery, and attached details to every table.

"Every time we open however, we have some parents allowing their children to wander around the brewery and the marina unsupervised.

“We are truly sorry to those of you who have visited the brewery with your children and behaved impeccably.

"We know this is a minority who are unwilling or unable to follow our very clear requests, but this constantly causes a disproportionate amount of work and stress.

“Simply put, we are not comfortable having responsibility for these risks placed over our heads.

"We want our events to be safe and enjoyable for everyone, including the brewery team, and we don't feel we can achieve that without making this change.

"Thank you for your understanding.”

Followers of the brewery on Twitter have been overwhelmingly in support of the move, many calling it ‘sensible’.

One said: “It's a shame but sounds like a sensible decision. Not all environments are suitable for children. Not worth the risk.”

Torrside was founded in 2015 by three home-brewing friends, naming themselves after the nearby gorge.

The taproom and brewery is located opposite the famous Swizzels sweet factory.