The Thinking Drinkers are cycling the length of Britain on a tandem bike – to help save the British Pub.

In the last forty years, the UK has lost a quarter of its pubs, six ‘locals’ are closing every single week and thousands are facing a very uncertain future.

Something needs to be done. So, we are going to be cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats and we will ONLY be eating, drinking, sleeping and stopping in British pubs – to showcase and remind everyone how flipping brilliant they can be.

During the gruelling 1000+ mile, two-week pub pilgrimage, there will be no shops, no restaurants, no coffee chains or cafes, no petrol stations. Not even a Londis or a Greggs.

If we don’t use pubs, we’ll lose them. So that’s what we’re doing, relying entirely on lovely ‘locals’ for our two week ride.

And we’re doing it on a tandem bike. Until recently, we’ve never ridden a tandem bike. But we’ve got one now, having borrowed one off a fella we met down the pub – the same pub, in fact, where we came up with this idea*.

It’s a frighteningly long way. Far from 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 and strife facing pubs up and down the country.

In recent times, the British Pub has been dropped to its knees by a crippling combination of COVID, rocketing energy bills, the cost-of-living crisis, a hike in national insurance, reams of red tape, the list goes on and on…

The grim reality facing pubs is that the costs of simply doing business are far, far too high.

No other business sector in the economy is taxed so heavily and so unjustly. Even really busy pubs currently are struggling to survive and, for the average publican, the profit on a £5 pint is just 12p!

Twelve. Pence.

It’s simply not sustainable. How can you help? Well, apart from going down the pub, which will really help, here’s how we can win:

• 1. SUBSCRIBE TO THE THINKING DRINKERS YOUTUBE CHANNEL here

By making a lot of noise, we will make things happen. Every mile of our epic odyssey will be documented on our Thinking Drinkers YouTube channel – filmed by our friends at Blind Tiger Films.

Please SUBSCRIBE to the immensely entertaining and informative channel, LIKE the Videos and tell all your friends, family (even your weird uncle) and your local pub landlords to do the same.

If you do, it will really help us raise awareness of the issues facing pubs up and down the country.

2. SIGN UP TO THE “LONG LIVE THE LOCAL” CAMPAIGN HERE

We’re campaigning in tandem (pun intended) with the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) which consistently calls for a drastic reduction in the unjust catalogue of costs that prevent pubs simply operate a viable business.

They can help us all raise issues with our local MPs, influence Westminster’s corridors of power and bring about changes that will help pubs.

The grim reality facing pubs is that the costs of simply doing business are far, far too high.

Please do the above. Pubs today are much more than just a place to drink**. They are unique, historical national institutions, the cornerstones of our communities, the heartbeat of our high streets and proven antidotes to loneliness.

They are essential in bringing communities together and do so much to improve our collective mental well-being. 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 workspaces and, hopefully, somewhere safe to apply anti-chafing cream to our battered backsides.

According to some rough sums we scribbled down on a beer mat, if things carry on the way they are, in six years pubs will be outnumbered by a mundane mixture of insipid branded coffee chains and Greggs.

How depressing. Literally. The coffee shop boom has been accompanied by a 70% rise in cases of anxiety. Coincidence? Course it’s not. If we all keep drinking coffee at the same rate, the entire nation is going to s**t itself – and heaven knows the water companies (who aren’t taxed enough!) can’t cope with that.

It’s time to rise up against the pastry-archy and get behind “The Great British Pub Ride” – along with the entire industry including pub companies, brewers, drinks firms and “Stay In A Pub” – an awesome online resource for those looking to spend the nights in lovely locals up and down the land.

We are going to set-off from Land’s End on Friday 20^th June and plan to arrive at John O’Groats on Thursday 3^rd July. We will be visiting four pubs every day – a total of more than 60 pubs over the two weeks.

We will be publicising our provisional route, complete with pub stops, very shortly!

We would absolutely love it if you can come and meet us for a beer (*or a soft drink/coffee/packet of crisps/nourishing salad) and support us in our two-wheeled mission to celebrate the pub.

We need to get off sofas and phones and support our locals – because if we don’t, we’ll seriously miss them when they’re gone.

Cheers,

Ben & Tom – The Thinking Drinkers

*One of many great ideas had in the pub. Others include the discovery of DNA, the Enigma Code, Germ Theory, the Laws of Cricket and even “The Thinking Drinkers Almanac” – which you can buy here.

**Remaining loyal to our motto of ‘Drink Less, Drink Better’, we will be abstaining from alcohol entirely whilst on their tandem bike and only enjoying a pint at the end of each day.