By Ed Chatterton via SWNS A beer-lover is celebrating visiting his 12,000th boozer following an epic pub crawl across the UK lasting 55 YEARS. Rob Cocker, 73, has been traveling across the country for more than five decades sampling ales in tens of thousands of pubs since 1969. The dad-of-one decided to just "see what else was out there" after getting bored of visiting his local in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs.
, at the age of 18. Since then, he has caught buses and trains as well as hitched lifts with pals to have a "quick half" in pubs from Oban, Scotland to Land's End, in Cornwall. Ale-fan Rob will sometimes cross off 14 pubs in one trip and toasted his 12,000th last week at Costello’s Bar in Warrington, Cheshire.
He proudly boasts of having drank in every city in England and has frequented every single boozer within 20 miles of his home. Rob Cocker with his good beer guide in his local pub Manor Court Ale House enjoying a pint of beer to add to his list. (William Lailey via SWNS) Rob's mammoth pub crawl has also seen him drink in 1,400 alehouses in London and in 471 Wetherspoon's nationwide.
Luckily, he says he has the full support of his wife of 37 years Lynn, 68, who often joins him on his ale-drinking odyssey, which isn't finished yet. Rob, a retired payroll officer, said: "It all started when I got a bit bored of visiting the same pub each weekend from when I was 18 and thought I'd see what else was out there. "I just began traveling a bit further out and trying the differ.