While others were pledging to get fit, paint a masterpiece or learn a new language during lockdown, Mark Jacklin was fulfilling his own long-time ambition – to build a bar in his back garden.
With a lot of help from his wife Donna, Mr Jacklin turned a chalet in their garden in St Lawrence into the perfect stay-at-home pub.
And now Bar M, as it is known, is fully decked out with optics, dart board, Sky TV and pub games.
And as well as helping to relieve their own boredom, the project has also provided new opportunities for the couple to spend time with their children, Abigail (13), Leon (10), Emma (7) and Daniel (5).
‘I am a builder by trade and everything was a little bit intermittent so in my spare time I decided to get it done,’ said Mr Jacklin, who runs Majestic Building & Renovations Ltd.
‘The chalet was already there but had been taken over by the kids, so we moved them out, adjusted it, built a little bit on the side for all the gardening tools, put matchboard in, ran all the electrics to it and got the TV in there as well. It has got fridges, lighting for night time, a TV rigged up to satellite – it’s even got a heater in there.’
In fact, he said it is so nice that the kids have decided to move back in, and can often be found playing darts or the traditional Jersey dice game Crown and Anchor together.
He added: ‘Lockdown hasn’t been all bad – there is a lot of good if you look for it. We are lucky we have got a nice house and garden, the kids have got everything they need. Yes, they are not seeing their friends, which is a killer, but they have been getting on a lot better and being more understanding of one another.’
