FAQ
We regularly receive questions relating to tankards; hopefully this page will address them all.
Yes. The cost of annual engraving is about £10/name and is passed to the Club, Society or Constituent Union to which the tankard is associated.
Tankards which represent a volunteer position in the Union can be added to the collection, but they must be of the standard design and purchased through the Union to ensure consistency. Each new tankard costs £100 which includes the engraving of the appropriate crest and role name. The role, Club or Society must have existed for at least five years for a tankard to be created. It is appropriate when a tankard is created to engrave the names of those who have held the role previously, so at least £150 should be budgeted for a new tankard. Each additional name costs £10. All costs of new tankards are passed to the associated Club, Society or Constituent Union. New tankards are created once a year over the summer break and are subject to there being enough available space on the shelves behind the bar. If your Club, Society or Constituent Union would like to request a new tankard then please complete the webform.
Ask the staff in the Union Bar for the list of tankards, look up the tankard in the book and tell the bar staff the code. It helps if you remember the code. The code gives a location on the correct shelf. The bar staff will fetch your tankard in exchange for some ID which they will keep until you return the tankard.
Tankards can't always be found in their correct place and have a habit of wandering around the shelves of the bar; generally they reappear in time. Imperial College Union accepts no responsibility for lost tankards. If a tankard is lost then a replacement will need to be paid for by the Club, Society or Constituent Union responsible for it, tankards will many names engraved on can cost over £500 to replace.
Basically yes. Pewter is a relatively soft metal so bends easily, particularly when dropped. While it is difficult to break the pewter it is easy to bend the metal and crack the glass in the base of the tankard. If this happens give the tankard to the bar staff who'll add it to the pile for repair - replacement glass costs about £35, this will be charged to the associated Club, Society or Constituent Union. Repairs are carried out once a year over the summer break.
The seal between the pewter and glass deteriorates over time, this causes the tankard to leak. If this happens give the tankard to the bar staff who'll add it to the pile for repair - new seals costs about £35, this will be charged to the associated Club, Society or Constituent Union. Repairs are carried out once a year over the summer break.
There is only limited space behind the Union Bar for tankards, so many are kept in storage. Every year tankards which haven't been used much are put into storage to make space for new ones. If your tankard is in storage we can add it back behind the bar if you would like to use it, just ask the bar staff and they'll make sure it is there for your next visit. Unfortunately tankards take a couple of days to remove from storage, so we can't fetch them while you are waiting.