Tuesday Town Crier evenings to resume

Club nights will resume from August 3rd 2021. Members and prospective members should be comfortable with taking on the coronavirus risks from being inside in close proximity with other players and prepared to follow the guidance points below.

Games will be informal between club members for now. The earliest date on which some league matches against other clubs will resume is expected to be October.

Junior club Friday nights will remain online for now.

Guidance to reduce covid risks:

1) Please do not attend the club if you have covid-19, covid 19 symptoms or if isolating.

2) Please do not attend the club if you have flu symptoms.

3) We will need to follow the Town Crier’s policies. Mandatory check-in via a one-way system has been removed so it should be possible to approach the club room directly from the stairs on the corner of City Road.

4) Please register on entry into the club room. Ideally bring your own pen to write your name on that day’s registration sheet. If you haven’t been to the club before, please add your contact details.

5) At this stage we do not plan on having a formal capacity limit. Summer attendance is normally low and many members are planning on staying away for now. As and when league matches resume, we will reduce the number of concurrent matches from a maximum of three to a maximum of two.  

6) There will be hand sanitiser available on entry to the club and within the club near the boards.

7) For ventilation we will have the window open where possible.

8) Boards should be spread throughout the room.

9) It’s recommended that face coverings are worn in the club room. The relevant government advice can be found here Face coverings: when to wear one, exemptions, and how to make your own – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Please bring your own but we will have some disposable ones available in case needed.

10) Formal social distancing regulation of the 2m or 1m+ type has been removed. However, please avoid crowding around a board if you are watching a game.

11) Pieces, board and clock should be cleaned before and after games. Wipes will be provided to do this.

12) Drinks are available at the bar as usual. There is also a new app advertised in and around the pub which should enable us to order drinks remotely. This wouldn’t be appropriate in a formal game such as a league match where such use of a phone could be mistaken for cheating. You can remove a face covering temporarily to take a drink.

13) Players may wish to find an alternative to the handshake for showing respect at the start and end of a game.

14) Whilst there are no formal games ongoing, players might wish to trial creative ways of expanding social distance and reducing shared piece touching by playing with a board each.