Man spends £30k in Wetherspoons after taking on ‘longest pub crawl in history’ - see how many he visits

He will celebrate the end of his 875-pub challenge when he sinks a pint at The Flying Horse on Wednesday
Man spends £30k in Wetherspoons after taking on ‘longest pub crawl in history’ - see how many he visitsMan spends £30k in Wetherspoons after taking on ‘longest pub crawl in history’ - see how many he visits
Man spends £30k in Wetherspoons after taking on ‘longest pub crawl in history’ - see how many he visits

Think pub crawling in your town or city is hard? One man is closing in on his dream to visit all 875 Wetherspoons pubs in the British Isles - which left him with a whopping £30,000 bar tab.

David Bingham, 60, has spent four years enjoying the “longest pub crawl in history”, often travelling thousands of miles every month. He estimates his final tab for his epic mission is close to £30,000, including travel fares, drinks and overnight stays.

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He will celebrate the end of his 875-pub challenge when he sinks a pint at The Flying Horse on Wednesday (7/6). The boozer is located after the security barrier at Gatwick, meaning David had to buy an airline ticket before being allowed inside.

The retired forklift driver said: “The cheapest air ticket I could get was to Shannon in Ireland which doesn’t have any Wetherspoon pubs but that doesn’t matter because I’ll have completed the challenge before I get there.

The man says the challenge has taken him to all sorts of places he’s never been before and that he can’t wait to return to a few of the destinations. “I daresay it’ll be strange to finally finish the challenge but I’m keen to revisit some of the ones I went to in the early days,” he said.

David, from West Hallam, Derbys, came up with his Spoons challenge after his partner Una Cooper, 63, bought him a £3 Wetherspoons directory off eBay.

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The couple took it to their local branch, The Observatory, in nearby Ilkeston, and David decided to visit every single one on the list.

David Bingham, 60, has spent four years enjoying the “longest pub crawl in history”David Bingham, 60, has spent four years enjoying the “longest pub crawl in history”
David Bingham, 60, has spent four years enjoying the “longest pub crawl in history”

His challenge has taken him to 875 Spoons, including more than 40 which have since closed. David is often accompanied by tee-total Una, with the couple taking public transport to tick off the pubs.

As well as trains and buses, the couple took a hovercraft to reach the Man in the Moon pub on the Isle of Wight. David, who has one daughter, a stepson and one grandson, said: “I love going in Wetherspoon pubs because they are all different buildings.

“Many of them are old fire stations, post offices, churches and other beautiful sites.

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“I call them boxes of fun because you never know where they’ll be.”

David Bingham at the Wetherspoons Brass Balance in Birkenhead David Bingham at the Wetherspoons Brass Balance in Birkenhead
David Bingham at the Wetherspoons Brass Balance in Birkenhead

His favourite Spoons are the Royal Victoria Pavilion in Ramsgate, Kent; The Corn Exchange in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk; the Winter Gardens in Harrogate; and the Caley Picture House in Edinburgh.

David now says Una will plan their weekend breaks, but he hasn’t ruled out another Spoons challenge in the future.

He said: “There are 57 Wetherspoon hotels across the country and Ireland and I’ve only stayed in one so I’m already thinking that’s just 56 to go.”