From toddlers running between tables to adults seeking a child-free pint, Madison Convey tackles the great debate about kids in pubs
Waltham Forest pubs: some are very welcoming to families, while others limit how long children can stay in drinking spaces or have strict rules such as “must be seated at all times.” Some, rather infamously, ban children altogether.
As more London pubs introduce similar policies, local social media groups have been a hotbed for debating who pub environments are really for.
Picture the scene: a buggy wedged next to a table, someone balancing two pints through the mass, and a toddler who’s spotted an opening between two chairs. A disaster many have witnessed.
There seems little room for compromise, yet the middle ground already exists. Time Out counted 45 pubs in the borough in 2021. There are fewer now, but there’s still enough variety, with different rules on children that most people can find somewhere that suits them. Perhaps the argument runs deeper than where kids should and shouldn’t be allowed.
“I personally much prefer pubs with no children and actively avoid the ones that are popular with families, or go after the no-kids curfew,” one pub-goer told me.
They also recalled leaving a local pub because it was “overrun with children,” and they saw rules in another tightened after a child fell down the cellar.
Some were less concerned about the presence of children than about supervision, with talk of parents “getting drunk and expecting staff to babysit”.
Tess, a parent herself, fondly recalled being taken to restaurants as a child and expected to sit at the table and entertain herself quietly. Some pubs now “look like a crèche inside and out,” she said, with children running wild.
The Castle exemplifies Walthamstow’s family-friendly pub culture. Its local nickname? “The Crèche.” A few streets over, expectations can be utterly different.
Mark looks for a family-friendly venue when he goes out, which is once or twice a week. He described being challenged one Friday after nursery pickup, with his babies crying, despite doing his best to pacify them.
He didn’t mind some places being adults-only, but parents still needed somewhere to socialise. “Kids can’t be kept on a tight leash in a pub environment. They will want to run around and play.”
Many opinions were simple: there are already plenty of pubs for families so that others could keep things adults-only. Others suggested cut-off times. Consider designated areas or stricter supervision rules.
The bottom line is that this choice already exists. Nobody should expect every pub to accommodate everyone; support the places that suit you.
If you’re a parent who would be put off by football fans swearing at the television on a Saturday evening, The Goose probably isn’t for you. Equally, if you’re a young person who would rather not zig-zag around prams on the way to the bar, you’ll probably give The Castle a miss.
What irks people is being caught out. A parent doesn’t want to arrive with a buggy to find that children are unwelcome. Someone who goes to a pub specifically for an adult venue doesn’t want rules to change around them, too. The policies need not be the same, or so the consensus goes. They do need to be clear, however.
At least then everyone knows what they are walking into before the first pint is poured.
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