Local media firm films The Great British Pub Ride

Two of the UK’s leading drinks experts and comedians teamed up with Birmingham production agency Spark Media to save the pub by cycling the length of Britain on a tandem bike.

Distraught at discovering that six pubs are closing every single week, Tom Sandham and Ben McFarland are riding from Land’s End to John O’Groats and showcasing how wonderful and versatile pubs can be. They will be only eating, drinking, sleeping and stopping in British pubs.

The pair set off from Land’s End on Friday 20 June and plan to arrive at John O’Groats on Thursday 3 July having visited four pubs every day – a total of more than 60 pubs over the two weeks. 

The duo was filmed by Danny Gwynne and Scott Barnett, known for running Birmingham production agency Spark Media.

They are capturing and documenting the epic pub pilgrimage on the Thinking Drinkers’ YouTube channel.

Together, the four of them has also produced a drinks-related production company called Blind Tiger Films.

Danny Gwynne said: “This will be an epic, emotional, funny, dramatic and actually quite a painful journey - at least for Tom and Ben.

“If we don’t use pubs, we’ll lose them, and this ride is a brilliant way to show just how essential they still are.

“And we promise to capture it warts and all - for the world to see that this adventure is no joke… although saying that there will also be plenty of jokes.”

Ben McFarland added: “We’ve never ridden a tandem, it’s a frighteningly long way and rather than a gentle pootles 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 facing pubs up and down the country.”.

They are also working in tandem with the British Beer & Pub Association’s “Long Live The Local” initiative, which campaigns for a reduction in the unfair burdens on pubs.

In the last forty years, the UK has lost 20,000 pubs while, more recently, the industry has been hit by a crippling combination of COVID, rocketing energy bills, the cost-of-living crisis, a hike in national insurance and reams of red tape.   

For more information and media enquiries, please email info@thinkingdrinkers.com