20/06/2026
I’m not one to shy away from issues as some of you know this is no exception.
Following a neighbour’s complaint that apples were being thrown from our garden into theirs, I have just spent the last two hours reviewing our CCTV footage to establish what happened.
Like the neighbours, I was quite shocked about this. We have done everything we can to prevent issues like this and last year thankfully no apples were used as missiles. Unfortunately, we had to remove a large unsafe apple tree yesterday morning, and we had not yet had time to clear all of the small apples that had fallen. These are gone now.
After reviewing the footage, there were 2 children responsible who were visiting with what looked like a lovely family and friends group. I will not be sharing any CCTV images. However, the footage does show that for approximately 9 minutes the children were unsupervised while the adults were engaged in conversation. That can happen easily, but unfortunately it was enough time for problems to occur.
During that period, the children entered the area that has been clearly sectioned off behind barriers and marked as dangerous. This area is restricted to protect a nesting bird and because we currently have a large amount of thorny wood awaiting processing through our shredder as well as some plants we are trying to establish. The barriers are also there to help protect neighbouring gardens and parked cars from anything that could accidentally go over the wall from the garden.
The children climbed a tree in this restricted area, with one of them at one point climbing over the fence and out of the garden. They then proceeded to throw apples towards neighboring properties, parked vehicles and houses not just 1 or 2 unfortunatly but many apples.
Our neighbours were absolutely right to raise their concerns.
As the garden cannot be seen from inside the pub, neither I nor my staff were aware of what was happening. It is absolutely not the responsibility of myself or staff to supervise children.
We provide a bouncy castle and a play area that is independently inspected by ROSPA every year to keep children safe. In return, all we ask is that parents supervise their children and do not allow them to do things here that they would not be allowed to do at home.
Please, please keep your children within sight at all times. Nine minutes may not seem like that long, but as this incident shows, it is more than enough time for accidents, damage, disputes with neighbours, or injuries to occur, imagine what else might have happened?
Thank you to our neighbours for bringing this to our attention, and a huge thank you to the vast majority of parents who supervise their children responsibly. We really do want The Anchor to remain a safe and enjoyable place for everyone.
Elaine
