Three cheers to ‘Spoons’ fans Julie and Phil
A PAIR of Wetherspoon superfans who’ve visited 323 of the famous pubs are planning to spend their ruby wedding anniversary adding three more to their tally.
Phil, 74, and Julie Fox, 71, set out to sample just 100 of boozers but have notched more that triple that figure after travelling the length and breadth of Britain in search of pints.
The furthest the couple from Brighouse, have gone to quench their thirst during their 18year “hobby” is a pub in St. Ives, Cornwall - nearly 400 miles away.
But despite their ambitious attempt to bag as many pubs as possible, they don’t believe they’ll visit all of Wetherspoon’s 861 establishments in their lifetime.
Grandfather-of-five Phil originally came up with the idea while drinking in his local ale house and said it has been a great way to “see other parts of England.”
And next month, when he and Julie celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary, they plan to visit three recently opened Wetherspoon pubs in towns across West Yorkshire.
Phil said: “On Easter Saturday, it’s our wedding anniversary, so as a treat to ourselves, we’re going get a day ticket on the train and we’re going to do all those three.”
“We’ve been going to Spoons a long time, and we have grandkids, and it’s ideal for them because if they knock a drink over, nobody gives them the evil eye.”
Phil struck upon the idea of counting up how many Wetherspoon pubs he and his wife had visited after he retired at the age of 60 in 2007.
He said: “One day we were sat in the Obediah Brooke Wetherspoon pub, in Cleckheaton, and me and my wife ran out of conversation.
“So I just said, ‘I wonder how many Wetherspoons we’ve been in?’ We sat there and by the time we’d had another drink, I said we’re up to about 60 odd.”
“We just decided we’d try and do 100 and then call it quits that’s how it started. But we’re up to 323 now.”
Of all the pubs Phil has visited with Julie, a former model and retail worker, he ranks The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, in Keswick in the Lake District as his favourite.
We just decided we’d try and do 100 and then call it quits but we’re up to 323 now