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As a mother, grandmother and ex Nursery School Head I can say the Polo Bar is not the right environment for young children.
Children want and need to play, run and be entertained in fun activities, not cooped up in the small Polo Bar which is low on space at the best of times. How long would it take for a young child to down a gin and tonic left on a table by a parent or fellow member?!
Let children be children in their own safe environment, the Polo Bar is not one of them!Doesn’t seem like a good idea and I do not support. By all means create more child friendly places at the club, but a bar is not that place. The Harness room on a Saturday morning is pretty noisy and I think that is great, lovely to see it being used…so long as I can go somewhere else..like the bar. Henry P’s comments are fair but in reality how often is a parent at the club, with the very young, all by themselves? They will have friends, older children, spouses, people they have just demolished on the squash court, nannies etc who can mind the kids while they step into the bar..or they have other options to buy drinks. The club can never please everyone, but we can aim to work for the majority, not the outliers.
Reading the comments, it would seem that most members, even those with young children, think opening up the Polo bar to kids a bad idea. Generally I prefer a less formal rule book but I am not sure that parental discretion in this regard will work. Seating in the polo bar is limited and confronting members with large groups of young families occupying the tables is less than ideal. I suggest a secondary bar area in another part of the club for young families, possibly in the play ground. It will be interesting to see how the trial period works on winter weekends.
Gerard ConnollyWe are all now well informed about the ‘two humps’ in the membership of the Club. One ‘hump’ (of the older members) would seem to be becoming more and more marginalised in terms of places to sit quietly inside the Club. The Polo Bar is now open to children why, when the Cafe has been recently renovated at great expense to make it more like a McDonald’s!! The drawing room has gone – why, can the Terrace room not be used regularily for added dining space? It is pleasant and has recently also been renovated. The Committee must be mindful that the style and ambiance of the Club is being very gradually and visibly eroded for one ‘hump’.
As a parent with a young child I do not see any need to have them in a bar for the reasons stated above. I also like there are rules – it helps my child learn about manners, respect and that they will earn privileges as they grow up.
I totally agree with member 978889 – all the actions of the club now seem to be in favour of families with children at the expense of other members . I had hoped that a new broom at the helm of the club would lead to more sensible decision- making but i find myself disagreeing with virtually all of the proposals put forward by the new team sadly – Horizon related or otherwise . For the record , I myself am in neither hump but the valley in the middle !
I think that it is lovely that children are welcome at the Club and my youngish daughter enjoys much of what the Club has to offer but I do feel that there should be an area reserved for grown ups such as the Polo bar!
I am in the younger ‘hump’ of membership (aged 28) and have a 3 year old daughter. I agree that it is important to have no-children spaces (such as as the bar). As previous commenters have said, it is often those with children who most appreciate some child-free time and space!
On the other hand, I am generally in favour of a more relaxed approach to “rules”. I have no issue with, for example, a parent coming into the Bar to order some drinks with their child by their side and there was a sense previously that one mere step into the Bar with a child (even if they were completely silent) would be met with a telling off from some person or another.
I have not noticed an issues arising out of the rule change.
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