About people smoking in beer gardens?

[Shellym13]

I know I am being U but we just got back from a lovely weekend away. Weather was fantastic and we loved sitting outside to eat and chat in the sun.
I was so annoyed with the amount of smokers using the beer garden as a smokers den. All my family smokes but I am quite sensitive to the smell! I hate walking through the crowds gathered at the door but when you're trying to eat and everyone is smoking or rather lighting cigarettes and leaving them burning away in ashtrays, it was awful.
Is it just me or would separate outdoor areas be a good idea, the smell just makes me heave! Just because you are outside doesn't mean the smoke doesn't blow in your face. if a place e is serving food should it not be separated.
Apologies to smokers I know we all have to live together, I'm not really sure what the solution is.

Yeah it is tough, a lot of the newer beer gardens are catering for all markets with outdoor bars, BBQ and kids play areas. I always accepted that the smokers areas were mainly at the front.

BandeauSally there are 4 x as many non-smokers as smokers so even if all the smokers stopped going it would only take 1/4 of the non-smokers to make up the numbers.

There was no surge in pub attendance from non-smokers following the smoking ban, even though so many said they'd love to go if only it wasn't so smoky and they were looking forward to the ban.

Im a smoker myself and i can see both sides. On one hand im not bothered people smoking near me when i eat but i get others do which is why i move away from ppl eating outside if im having one. On the other hand i cant smoke indoors whereas non smokers have the choice to eat indoors. A seperate area would be ok but its not really fair to trek to a seperate area when your outside anyway where, like it or loath it, its legal, especially if your having a pint. Id like to think im a considerate smoker but if pubs banned smoking in the beer garden i wouldnt go back. Its probably a question of compramise. Smokers should be considerate of non smokers eating and non smokers should be tolerant if they can see the smokers are at least trying. Its a two way thing really

Op a million versions of this thread have been done to death and they always become a bunfight. YABU. You have a choice to drink inside or out. Smokers can no longer smoke inside pubs. You can't ban people from smoking in open spaces

Honestly, in a country with a pretty huge drinking problem, is it really such a bad thing if a few smokers' pubs close?

It's not a few, it's the vast majority! Many of these were local landmarks that had been there for hundreds of years and had a lot of history attached. We've lost a huge part of our heritage with the death of pubs.

People with drink problems now drink at home more which is cheaper so they drink more and, if they smoke indoors, they are subjecting their families, including children, to more SHS.

Most of the shut pubs round here are now betting shops so we have an increase in problem gambling and no reduction in problem drinking.

So yes, it's a bad thing IMO.

Pah, pubs shouldn't be for eating, pubs are for drinking! And darts/dominoes!

But seriously, you are being U, and don't you find pubs smell of stale beer and piss now that they no longer smell of smoke?

I havent said smokers should be banned from public places?

Separate areas is fine except that the non-smokers area would be empty except for a handful of days or weeks when everyone decides they want to sit outside pubs. So from the pubs POV a wasted space 90% of the time.

I'm a non smoker, I don't like people smoking when I'm eating at the next table. But it's one of those things you have to put up with in a shared space. If I don't like it, I can go sit indoors.

They should all have a 'smoking area' away from where food is served or any children's play equipment / areas.

I sympathise OP. I particularly dislike when smokers hold their cigarettes away from their table and the smoke drifts in my direction. I know it is unreasonable but I wish it would be banned from all public places

The outdoor area in the bar I mentioned is occupied 52 weeks a year, summer and winter!
In winter there are lovely heaters and blankets None of the smokers I know mind nipping in to the cordoned off area for 5mins to have a quick ciggie before rejoining the rest of us.

Pub owners are unlikely to split their often small beer garden into smoker and non smoker areas. The smokers are in the beer garden come rain or shine and keep the pub going in November and March.

Most pubs can ill afford to keep a beer garden (or half of it) smoke free for the 8 weekends a year it is nice enough for an afternoon pint in the sun with the family.

They should get rid of the children's play areas. Pubs always used to be adult venues for adults to drink and socialise. Nobody goes there for their health and nobody should be expected to stick to 'child friendly' behaviour in a pub or pub garden.

It's not good for children to be in an environment so dedicated to alcohol consumption, however pretty the garden is and however nice the weather. I don't know why this has become the norm.

Pubs have lost business because you can get a bottle of wine for the price of a glass in a pub. Blaming the smoking ban is a cop out. The pubs that do decent food do a roaring trade. Life's changed, the demand for the traditional pub has declined. The first one to ban smoking in its grounds will do fab too. I see more and more people moving to vaping. Cannot understand why anyone would want to carry on smoking with such alternatives available. Aren't they like a tenner a pack now?! Think what you could do with that money!!!!! (Go to the pub!)

Smoking is a complete mystery to me but whilst people do it, landlords can't really afford to exclude a significant portion of their customers. But I do agree it's annoying when you get downwind of a smoker especially when you have food.

I'm the one made to stand in the beer garden in the middle of winter and in the pouring rain. The sun cones out and suddenly all you non-smoker are in my space and moaning.

Keeping an outdoor area non-smoking for the 4 weeks a year up here that the weather is nice would be a money-losing endeavour. YABU.

I stopped smoking 2 years ago, but i dont think smoking should be banned in beer gardens,or where would people having a drink go
Smokers have been penaliused enough, when there were tap rooms people could go there and smoke, not really healthy i know, but i think smoking and drinking go together, i couldnt be bothered to go outside to smoke if i still smoked,so beer garden should allow it
If people want to eat,go inside,
Not too keen on eating outdoors anyway, with wasps, and bees around
I read somewhere last week that people who were new tenants in social housing were not going to be allowed a house if they smoked.which is ridiculous i think, as people usually decorate which would stop nicotine building up on walls etc

This pops up every year on MN.

I don't think yabu, but smokers will disagree!

I really don't think smokers realise how much it stinks sadly.

Our local pub has 8 outdoor tables. They split them into smoker and non-smoker for a while. The smoker tables were always full with people standing around them, too. The non-smoker ones were empty except in fantastic weather. They removed the non-smoking signs. All 8 tables full again.

'I see more and more people moving to vaping. Cannot understand why anyone would want to carry on smoking with such alternatives available. Aren't they like a tenner a pack now?! Think what you could do with that money!!!!! (Go to the pub!)'

I vape. Lots of threads on here complaining about that, too. Most people I know who still smoke buy baccy on the black market and smoke rollies. I live in a council estate with plenty of E. Europeans who bring back baccy to sell regularly. I only know one person who still smokes premium brands, but she's quite wealthy.

All well and good separating outside areas.... Until there's a breezy day and you'll be off moaning again

The point is times definitely have changed -and a beer garden is not just for smokers

The laws in England have changed regarding purchase of vape liquid, too. You aren't allowed to buy the big bottles anymore, just 10 of the smaller ones . I mix my own juice so I reckon many will go over to mixing their own, too.

Oh, come on, pencils. Things change. I am keen on preserving history but I just don't really think this is an issue. The NHS spends shitloads on people with alcohol and smoking related issues.

Where we are, the pubs that have gone out of business or are empty, are the grim kind where people went purely to smoke, drink, and be unpleasant. I really don't care if they go out of business.