Historic Lancaster pub gets set to re-open in November

The Golden Lion is due to re-open its doors at the start of November, "possibly earlier", says landlord Jon Davis.
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Renowned for its live music and DJ nights, live screen sport, open fire and cosy nooks and snugs, The Golden Lion is one of Lancaster's favourite proper pubs.

The Moor Lane pub closed in March at the start of the coronavirus lockdown, but decided not to re-open with many others in July.

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Landlord Jon Davis said the conditions were not right for the relatively small pub to re-open then, but the new "rule of six", and the end of furlough, meant the time was now right to look at re-opening.

The Golden Lion in Lancaster.The Golden Lion in Lancaster.
The Golden Lion in Lancaster.

"I'm very much looking forward to re-opening and getting back to some sense of normality," he said.

"We've been in a reasonable financial position, so we've been able to ride it out.

"My plan has always been to look to re-opening in the autumn, and we're now looking at the beginning of November.

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"I've had a few meetings with Environmental Health, and initially they said we'd be able to accommodate 26 people in the whole place, and bearing in mind the demographic of people that come in, it would have meant that at that time we'd have only been able to have one or two at a table.

Jon Davis, right, with DJ Steve Jarvis during the Funky Lion era.Jon Davis, right, with DJ Steve Jarvis during the Funky Lion era.
Jon Davis, right, with DJ Steve Jarvis during the Funky Lion era.

"However the new rules improve things for us."

Jon is now looking at being able to accommodate around 40 customers at any one time, and is looking at removing a pool table which will create more space for tables.

"A lot of this depends on what happens in the next month or two," he said.

"We have a capacity of 96 normally, but we can't have live gigs or sport at the moment, however, we are looking at potentially re-starting acoustic open mics and live sport when we re-open.

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"I'm part of the Music Venues Trust which represents grassroots music venues, and I looked at applying for funding from the Culture Relief Fund but if you're not a limited company you don't qualify.

"We've had bands here that go on to get plays on 6Music.

"There's an arts council grant that is intended to get limited live music going, so we're going to have a look at that."

Jon said a lot of people had been enquiring about the re-opening of the pub, which was built in the 17th Century.

"In the coming weeks I'm going to get the place ready to re-open," he said.

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"There will obviously be certain rules, so once all the seats are taken up, that's it.

"There will be a form on the table that customers will need to fill in before they get served.

"I think the demand is there for people to return to the Golden Lion. One of the reasons I didn't open is that for our regular customers it would have been awful under the previous rules.

People would have come in and thought 'this is rubbish'.

"With the rule of six we can create a better atmosphere as people can sit together.

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"The bar feel at the Golden Lion will change as we'll probably serve drinks at the table, but that means the bar area will be clear so we can see people coming in and let them know whether we can accommodate them before they come in."

The Golden Lion is also currently looking for new bar staff.

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