Distraught at discovering that six pubs are closing every single week, Londoners Tom Sandham and Ben McFarland are cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats and showcasing how wonderful and versatile pubs can be – by ONLY eating, drinking, sleeping and stopping in British boozers.
The pair will set off from Land’s End on Friday 20th June and plan to arrive at John O’Groats on Thursday 3rd July having visited four pubs every day – a total of more than 60 pubs over the two weeks.
What’s more, the pub-loving pedallers are doing the 1000+ mile, two-week journey on a tandem bike which they borrowed from a man they met down the pub.
“If we don’t use pubs, we’ll lose them – so that’s what we’re doing, relying entirely on lovely ‘locals’ during our nationwide ride,” said Sandham. “No shops. No restaurants. No coffee chains or cafes. No petrol stations. Not even a Greggs.”
McFarland added: “We’ve never ridden a tandem, it’s a frighteningly long way and rather than a gentle pootle around some pretty pubs, it’s going to be a brutal bike ride on behalf of the beleaguered British boozer – but it’s nothing compared to the daily struggles facing pubs up and down the country.”
Tom and Ben – also known as alcohol-based comedy duo ‘Thinking Drinkers’ – have promoted pubs in all of their Guinness World Record-breaking live comedy shows, and received wholehearted, widespread industry support from pub companies, brewers, drinks firms and the online resource ‘Stay In A Pub’ for their bike ride.
“The costs for pubs to simply do business are far too high – no other business sector in the economy is taxed so heavily and unjustly and this has pushed the price of a pint above the £5 barrier,” continued McFarland.
“With even really busy pubs currently struggling to survive and the average publican making just 12p profit on a pint, we’re calling for a reduction in business rates to give them a much-needed lifeline.”
We’ve lost almost 1,000 pubs in London in the last 20 years and over 13,000 in the UK, while, more recently, the pub trade has been hit by a crippling combination of COVID, rocketing energy bills, the cost of living crisis, a hike in national insurance and reams of red tape.
“Pubs are essential in bringing communities together and do so much to improve our collective mental well-being,” McFarland added.
“They provide crucial social respite to the people who live around them – from coffee mornings for new parents and pensioners; to live music, comedy nights, kids’ parties, pilates, hot-desking work spaces and, hopefully, somewhere safe to apply anti-chafing cream to very sore bottoms!”
Remaining loyal to their motto of ‘Drink Less, Drink Better’, Tom and Ben will be abstaining from alcohol entirely whilst on their tandem bike and after they’ve dismounted, they will not be exceeding the recommended 14 units a week.
The award-winning duo will be documenting every mile of their epic pub pilgrimage on their Thinking Drinkers YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@TheThinkingDrinkers), and they’re urging pub-goers to subscribe, like and get behind the campaign to raise awareness of the issues facing pubs.
Tom and Ben are also inviting people to meet them at one of the pubs on their journey.
“Please come and meet us at one of the pubs on our journey,” said Sandham. “We want to encourage the public to get off their sofas and support their locals – because if we don’t, we’ll seriously miss them when they’re gone.”
