Pub owners in Kent have sparked debate by deciding to ban children from their establishment following a nearly two-year closure.
Mandy Keefe and John Forge reopened The Wheel Inn in Westwell, near Ashford, last week after pouring love and effort into renovating and expanding the place.
However, youngsters were notably absent from the reopening celebrations. The duo explained that the choice to exclude under-14s was influenced by the scarcity of adult-only venues and the desire for spaces where patrons need not censor their speech.
Mr Forge said: "We're getting older people saying, 'Brilliant, we don't want bloody kids running about.' We get people actually standing at the bar saying, 'This is great because we don't have to worry.'"
He continued, "In a pub, you don't watch your language. You're drinking - you're taking a legal drug. You're then, at times, behaving inappropriately. Customers have said it's brilliant because they don't have to watch exactly what they're saying."
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The landlords insist they aren't aiming to foster a raucous environment or promote loud swearing, but acknowledge it happens regardless. Ms. Keefe told : "Do people really want their children in that sort of adult environment? Also, what is there for children to do? So, they get bored. Then they start to run, they start to cry, or they get shouty. That impacts on those people who have come in here for a quiet, adult time."
However, the decision has been slammed as "archaic" by some. One mum, who recently relocated to the village, expressed her disappointment: "It will please a very small demographic, unfortunately not the future one.
"Even when my kids come 'of age', I don't get the impression they'll be welcomed with open arms.
"It's archaic and just a shame more than anything. We're gutted as we were looking forward to getting to know people in the village."
The landlords, who took over the village's only pub in March 2022, are adamant they won't alter their policy to appease parents. Mr Forge, 59, was blunt in his response: "I really couldn't give a toss about them because what you'll find is that they're actually hypocrites.
"At the end of the day - when their kids have grown up - 90 per cent of them will want to go to a child-free environment."
Ms Keefe was more affected by the criticism and was upset that it was aired on social media rather than addressed directly.
She said: "When the signs went up, nobody came to speak to us. Not one person. It's a close-knit community, and then suddenly you look on what is the village's page, and you see it being slated.
"It's not very pleasant. It felt like I was being bullied into changing my mind rather than coming in the door and asking why we've done it."
Mr Forge added: "They shouldn't be allowed to dictate. There are places for them to go. Go to those places - end of."
Up until 1995, England and Wales had laws that prevented anyone under the age of 14 from entering pubs, but with modern regulations like the Licensing Act 2003 allowing establishments to set their own policies regarding children, there's greater flexibility. Landlady Ms Keefe has chosen to use that elasticity to craft an adult-only environment at the Wheel Inn and she sees the no-children rule as a hark back to the 'good old days'.
The 62 year old remarked: "If you go on holiday, you can choose to go to an adult-only hotel or resort or cruise. Here, where can you go where there are no children? Nowhere. What we've done here is given people a choice."
She added: "We're the only ones that are saying no children. We're providing a nice environment for adults to go where they can talk and chat and be adults together."
