Two Wetherspoon super fans who have visited nearly 400 of the iconic chain's pubs have been left 'shocked' at the proposed sale of their local boozer. Dedicated Phil, 74, and Julie Fox, 71, now face a race against time to tick off the rest of the 38 pubs facing closure before they are sold off.
The chain said it will get rid of 39 pubs, which will remain open during the sales process, after previously warning it could lose £30m due to rising staff wages and repairs. Those up for sale are located throughout the country, from the Thomas Leaper, in Derby, to the Bankers Draft, in London, and the Billiard Hall, in West Bromwich.
The couple, who celebrated their 40th anniversary in the chain, were saddened to note their local 'Spoons, The Percy Shaw in Halifax, West Yorkshire, was earmarked for closure. And they now say they will seek out those pubs earmarked for closure for a final farewell drink.
Phil said: “We were quite shocked to hear the news really. One of them is our local, the Percy Shaw, in Halifax. It’s a sign of the economic times.
“I’ll be having a look at the list, and we will try to go to places which are expected to close, especially in the New Year when we’re looking for places to go. We’ve just been away for a weekend in Derby, visiting about six. There's one of those up for sale there. I think the idea is to downsize."
Phil said he would be “gutted” if any further pubs were added to the list. He added: “I would be gutted, really upset. I meet up once a month in the pub with some lads I used to knock around with in my teens.
“It’s somewhere for us old fellas to go. Rather than having daycare, we have Wetherspoon, and if they close them down, where will folks of my age go?”
The couple initially set out to sample 100 of the bars but have notched almost quadruple that figure after travelling the length and breadth of Britain in search of pints. They have since visited 395 Wetherspoon pubs and hope to make it 400 by Christmas.
The furthest the couple from Brighouse, West Yorkshire., have gone to quench their thirst during their 18-year “hobby” is a pub in St. Ives, Cornwall - nearly 400 miles away. In the past, the retired pair have celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary at newly opened pubs, while also regularly scheduling holidays so they can add to their tally.
Grandfather-of-five Phil said he fell in love with Wetherspoon pubs almost 20 years ago when his car broke down. He said: “We were on our way up to our daughter’s place in Newcastle, and we were going up through The Dales and my car started playing up.
“I went for a wander round the town, and we went into this pub, and we couldn’t get over the price of everything – how cheap it was! That was the first time I really realised what a Wetherspoon's was, but I’m sure I’ve been in them before that.”
Phil said he 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, he ranks The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, in Keswick as his favourite. He explained: “It’s a converted magistrates court and police station. You can sit in the converted two cells and drink and eat.
“Where the magistrate sits, you can sit there, and where the defendant sits, there’s just enough room for a small table, so two people can sit in there. This one’s also got an all-slate bar, because a lot of slate used to come from up in Cumbria, and it’s absolutely gorgeous."
