Six friends from across the UK have reached a milestone on their ‘never-ending pub crawl’, visiting their 200th pub in London. The group, known as the ‘Jolly Boys’, have been coming to the capital on the same weekend every year for over a decade, aiming to visit as many of the city’s pubs as possible.
They recently completed their ninth trip, having taken a break during the pandemic, and visited 35 pubs – bringing their total to 205.
Exclusive Tower of London visit
This year’s crawl included a particularly special stop: The Keys, an invite-only pub inside the 900-year-old Tower of London. The pub is run by the 35 serving Yeomen Warders, and only their personal guests are allowed entry. It has been described by Business Insider as what ‘might just be the most exclusive pub in the world’.
Karl Young, 55, who plans the event every year, said the group had been trying to gain access for three years. The engineer from Bakewell, Derbyshire, said: ‘It took us three years to get an invite to even get in there.’
He added: ‘It is amazing. It is definitely regarded as one of the most exclusive pubs in this country. If you are into London pubs it is almost that mythical place that you might never get an invite to.’
A weekend of tradition
The group meets every third weekend in September, with no exceptions allowed aside from during the pandemic. They always order a pint of Guinness, saying the lack of carbonation makes it easier to drink.
The Jolly Boys started their mission after reading a book on London’s most historic pubs, and after visiting all of those, they decided to branch out. The core group includes engineers Richard Moore, Karl and Dave Russell, hairdresser Jon Main, business owner Vaughan Williams and commercial manager Trevor Power.
They always begin at the Betjeman Arms in St Pancras station on arrival on Friday, before mapping out the pubs for the rest of the weekend. Among their favourites so far are the Prospect of Whitby in Wapping, the Mayflower in Rotherhithe and Ye Olde Mitre in Holborn. They said the best Guinness in London so far was from the Guinea Grill in Mayfair.
This year, they started in West Brompton and walked towards Central London. Standouts included The Antelope and The Hoop and Toy, along with The Keys, where they stayed for over three hours and watched the Ceremony of the Keys, when the Tower of London is locked up.
Plans for next year
Karl said: ‘I can’t believe we managed to do all of these. It is ridiculous really. It is something that takes a lot of planning but something that we all really love. It is not just for the drinking, it is more like a lads weekend away.’
Next year, the group hopes to visit the pubs in the Houses of Parliament. The Saturday of next year has already been planned, with the group aiming to visit 30 pubs in one night, ordering half a pint in each.
Karl, who plans it all, said: ‘It takes quite a long time to plan. I do a full document route every year. We have probably run out of notably historic London pubs and now it is more a question of hitting a borough and working out how to get through it without crossing our paths.’
Richard Moore, 59, added that the crawl being booked out for the same weekend each year meant there was less room for excuses. ‘It’s the only way we can guarantee we are all going to be available,’ he said. ‘The third weekend in September is always booked out in our calendars. Wives can’t plan anything for that weekend – it’s our weekend.’
