SATURDAY REFLECTIONS ON BRIGG PUBS

After two weekends of Brigg bars being allowed to reopen if they wish, some people are still reticent about having a night out on licensed premises. 
So it may be helpful to point out that many measures are in place.
Hand sanitiser dispensers are widespread and customers are not being permitted to stand together at the bar while awaiting service.
It's now common for seats and tables to be allocated to visitors when they arrive, and for staff to bring over the drinks after taking people's orders and then collect payment after doing so.
At the Black Bull, on Wrawby Street, we were invited to enjoy exclusive use of one of the colourful cabanas (wooden shelters) in the beer garden on Saturday night (July 11).
The Britannia Inn, which reopened on Friday night, has a shelter with extensive seating in its beer garden which was proving popular on Saturday; it's size means that customers can 'social distance' with ease. 
The Lord Nelson, in the Market Place, has an interesting signing-in system. Customers write their names and contact details on a tear-off sheet and post it in a box with a slit in the side.
The signing-in requirement at various pubs has prompted some good humoured comments among regulars who are well-known to bar staff but still need to comply with the procedures whenever they visit.
The public always like to see the re-assuring presence of the police on patrol, and around 11.30 on Saturday night a Humberside force van drove through the town centre to ensure all was well.  Officers did not have a word with two cyclists who were then riding through the pedestrian area where bike users are required to dismount.
At tea-time on Saturday we raised a proverbial glass to the NHS-supporting Spitfire which flew over the Brigg area as part of a fly-past of hospitals in the region. There were actually three old fighters in formation. We viewed them, in open countryside, from the public footpath which links Churchill Avenue with Wrawby. Heading towards Scunthorpe General Hospital, the planes were too far away to get a meaningful picture. We thought about taking along a pair of binoculars but didn't, which was a mistake.