Under the Wether on pub crawl
TONY VISITS 789 SPOONS ...BUT FINAL ONE IS SHUT
BEER-LOVER Tony Burrows had time called early on his marathon pub trek.
The retired civil servant was just one pub away from completing his five-year mission to visit all of England’s 789 Wetherspoons boozers.
But after a gruelling fivehour journey by bus and train to get to the final venue, he found it was closed for a refurb.
In the past he has set off from home in Rugby, Warks, and always managed to reach his Wetherspoons destination – despite cancelled bus services and even rail strikes.
But now Tony, 76, is keeping his fingers crossed it’s second time lucky when he heads off for a tipple again to The Bishop Blaize in Manchester, next to United’s Old Trafford stadium.
And his former telecoms supervisor wife Patricia, 73, has vowed to go with him this time to make sure he gets his pint.
Tony said: “At first she wasn’t that keen on all of this, but I said it was my hobby and she had to let me get it off my chest.
“She has visited some of them with me in the past and I think she’s let me just get on with it.”
He added: “Of course, it was really frustrating to get to The Bishop Blaize and find it was having a refurb. It’s just not the sort of thing I would have checked up on in advance.
“I need to keep on top of the hobby because I may find travelling a little too demanding in future. “It’s never-ending in a way because I think there’s a new Wetherspoons opening this year in Liverpool, so I’ll have to be quick off the mark to make sure I can tick it off.” Tony is fond of many pubs he has visited and reckons his favourite Wetherspoons is the Opera House in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
A spokesman for the company praised his efforts and described him as an “amazingly loyal customer”.
They added:
“We’re hoping he won’t be hampered by any more refurbs on his future visits.”