Bar Guidance

The main advice is to try to enjoy doing your duty! It is perfectly possible to invite other members or a couple of friends to come down to the club too. The bar supports members meeting together, and it can be a social occasion for you too!

Some bar duties are allocated to one person, others for two. If the latter, please liaise directly to organise your evening. For instance, if expecting a relatively quiet night, you may want to plan time slots. Making contact is easy using the messaging facility in the Members' Portal at 'Duty Roster'. This will tap into each others' email system.

It's a good idea to turn up a bit early for Bar Duty, so that preparation can be unhurried. However, in any event, don't worry! Because most members do bar duties from time to time, there is a lot of knowledge of what to do and appreciation of how much there is to take in if someone has not done it before. Help will be forthcoming if you need it! Just ask!

If you want to ask about anything before the event, please email the Bar Manager, at barmanager@topsham-sc.org.uk for advice or help.

Access to the Club House uses a normal members key. Light switches are in the hall.

Access to the Galley and Bar

The key box is to the left of the Galley door. The code is not published here, for obvious reasons, but it is prominent in the Introduction to the Members' Portal. If you can't locate it, please contact the Bar Manager or ask another member.

• Open the Galley door with the small grey key.

• Light switches for the galley are immediately to your left as you enter the room, and also the 2 switch set on the wall to the left of the "turbo oven".

The bar lights are the set of four switches on the wall to the left of the "turbo oven". Turn all of them on before opening the bar door!

• Use the smaller yale type key to open the bar door padlock.

Disarming the alarm

• There are instructions on the outside of the Bar doors regarding disarming the Alarm. Basically, open the doors and place the grey Fob close to the Alarm Pad situated immediately on your right when entering the Bar. It will Beep-Beep and turn off the Alarm.

Removing the bar screen

Panels are numbered 1-8 and are fitted in two groups 1-4 and 5-8. It is best to remove the middle ones first 2, 3, 6, 7 and do the perimeter ones last 1, 4, 5, 8. Finally, remove the two counter top battens. Store these outside on race nights or when the galley is in use, otherwise in the hall next to the bottle store door or in the galley. Restoring the screen is simply a reverse process. It can be done alone but is easier with two people one each side of the bar.

Take stock

Have a look at the bar arrangement, the stock of drinks and snacks, the price lists and, Sum Up, the payment system.

There is a light for the chilled drinks cabinet, but it is a very obscure place. It is to be found at the underside of the right hand door, about 3 inches in from the edge. If you feel there, you will find a rubber-protected toggle switch which responds to prodding with a finger. Good luck with this one!

Sum Up

This payment system is described separately and there will be an explanatory card with illustrations on the bar. It is extremely easy, but you might want to give yourself a few minutes to check over the categories of items for sale before people start to arrive. Please use it to record actual sales and do not use Custom amounts. This way the bar team can reconcile sales with monies taken and can also keep a rudimentary stock list.

Tidying up

There may be some glasses, left drying after the last opening, which need to be put away.

The draft beers may need pulling through to remove water from the pipes. Just do this for a few pints until the beer or cider runs clear with the right colour and settles well.

Check that the bar stocks are OK. If you are short of anything, you can check in the bottle store which is in the hall. The bronze mortice key will get you in.

There are bar towels and beer mats in the cupboard adjacent to the glasswasher.

Disposing of empty bottles

Please put these in the Bottleman bin which is located by the wooden hut near the yard gate. Please avoid doing this late at night when neighbours could be disturbed!

Washing up

The bar's Sammic dishwasher is an incredibly fast machine which is specifically designed for glasses. It takes less than two minutes, so washing up is easy at the end of each session. Detailed instructions on its use are on the back bar. To wash up, potter through the process below:

• Accumulate dirty glasses in a Sammic tray within the drain area on the rear counter.

• Check power is on at socket which is on the rear wall above the machine reach back.

• When ready, insert tray into dishwasher.

• Press left hand switch to start (detergent is introduced automatically)

• Press middle switch to open when it finishes.

• Remove the tray of clean glasses and let them dry off.

• Drain off dirty water. Do this by removing the filter and pipe which will be in water at right hand front corner, and then press and hold the right hand switch. Water will be pumped out.

• When empty, replace the filter and pipe for the next user, shut the door and turn off the power.

Replacing the bar screen

With help from another if you can get it, reverse the process described above.

Exit

This is just a reversal of the entry. When you are completely ready to leave the bar, the grey fob on the key ring will activate the alarm system when passed over the sensor on the keypad. Leave smartly, then close the bar door and secure it with the padlock. Switch off all lights, then close and lock the galley door. If last out, lock the clubhouse with all lights out (the exterior lights are switched close to the front door). Padlock the main gate, and you've done it!

Guidance compiled by Richard Cridland and Andrew Pollard, May 2022.

If you have any thoughts on how this guidance might be improved, please contact barmanager@topsham-sc.org.uk or barsecretary@topsham-sc.org.uk.

Last updated 08:59 on 2 April 2024