Club hoping bid to set up biggest beer garden in Borders will be pitch perfect

Rugby club bosses trying to set up the biggest beer garden in the Borders believe their bid is pitch perfect and are hoping to see it converted into reality.
Hawick Rugby Club president Rory Bannerman at Mansfield Park.Hawick Rugby Club president Rory Bannerman at Mansfield Park.
Hawick Rugby Club president Rory Bannerman at Mansfield Park.

With most sport sidelined because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, officials at Hawick Rugby Club have been considering how best to utilise their Mansfield Park ground, and they have come up with the idea of creating a beer garden on its pitch.

They are consulting Scottish Borders Council officers over the viability of that plan, inspired by similar proposals drawn up by an English rugby club, and awaiting news of a potential easing of the current lockdown from Scottish Government first minister Nicola Sturgeon, possibly as soon as tomorrow, June 18.

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With pubs unlikely to welcome customers back indoors in the near future, the club is convinced the beer garden could prove a hit with thirsty Borderers this summer.

Its move was inspired by Barrow Raiders announcing plans to convert the pitch at their Craven Park stadium into a socially-distanced bar during the pandemic.

It is hoped that as many as 500 people could be accommodated as a way for the Cumbrian club to welcome back supporters and generate some income despite no games being played for a while yet.

Hawick Rugby Club secretary John Thorburn said: “We are at the very early stages of looking at the feasibility of what’s required.

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“We have been speaking to various people and obviously we’re waiting for the government to make any announcement on relaxing lockdown.

“We’re looking to have tables on the pitch.

“We’re checking with the council and are awaiting feedback from them on whether it will be allowed.

“Like everybody else, we are trying to get some income in.

“In Scotland, you are weather-dependent, so this is something we are hoping to introduce for this summer.

“It doesn’t seem like the indoor pubs or clubs are going to open anytime soon, so hopefully if this comes off, it will prove popular with the public, particularly as we will have food available too.

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“People, I am sure, will be keen to get out in the fresh air while enjoying a drink and observing the two-metre social distancing rule, as it currently is.

“We should find out this Thursday if there is going to be an easing of lockdown, so we should have a clearer picture of where we stand then.”

If that proposed move is able to go ahead, Mr Thorburn said the plan is to open on Friday evenings, all day Saturday and at Sunday lunchtimes.

He added: “We have no idea how many tables we would have on the pitch. I expect that would be down to demand, and we would need a booking system.

“We’ve never used the pitch this way before.

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“It’s a big area with plenty of space for social distancing.

“We actually got the idea from Barrow Raiders. It was on their Twitter page I think it was, and we thought ‘that’s a good idea’.”

Pubs in the Borders, like all others elsewhere in the UK, have been closed since last orders on Friday, March 20, ahead of the week after’s wider lockdown, though some, such as the Fleece in Selkirk, are selling takeaway food.

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