Mark McConachie has completed the ultimate pub crawl – a 20 years tour of 300 pubs. The dedicated real ale fan started his crawl of Robinsons pubs back in 1991 and has completed it at The Sycamore in Birch Vale, Derbyshire.
As part of his quest Mark has travelled as far as Lancaster and Stoke.
50 year old Mark’s first stop was at the Tatton Arms near Manchester Airport and he has since been using his Robinsons pocket guide to find other pubs to visit.
Mark said: “Within two years I’d visited 200 and at the time I thought that would do me. But then I moved to Stockport and my whole interest was rekindled by the pubs on my doorstep.
“It’s a hobby and it helps being single but the higher you go the more difficult it gets. I’ve invested a lot of time in it.
“Twenty years ago pubs were a bit different. There were a few squalid ones but they all seem to have upped their game now.
“But you see fewer people in them and quite a lot have closed.”
Robinsons have 370 pubs in total and Mark hasn’t ruled out visiting them all. Robinsons have sent the keen ale fan a a fleece and VIP pass for their Stockport brewery.
Two of Mark’s favourite pubs are in the Stockport town centre, the Arden Arms and the Swan with Two Necks
Over the years the secretary for the Stockport and South Manchester branch of the Campaign for Real Ale’s favourite drink has changed from bitter to mild.
David Bremner, from Robinsons, said: “Customers as dedicated as Mark are few and far between. He probably knows more about our estate than most of us here at the brewery.”