The Mates Who've Met for A Pint Every Thursday for 56 Years at A Pub: BBC 🍻

Last edited Mon Oct 21, 2024, 12:38 PM - Edit history (1)

'The mates who have met for a pint every Thursday for 56 years,' BBC, Oct. 20, 2024.

Photo: 6 gentlemen in their 80s sit around a pub table holding their beers up. The friends have scarcely missed a weekly pub trip since 1968
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It's Thursday night in the White Swan where, in one corner, songs by Cliff Richard, Derek and the Dominoes and Rick Astley are among those being belted out through the speaker - and by some of the less sober punters. At the other, quieter end - huddled around a table of half-full glasses of Stones beer and alcohol-free Guinness - are Paul Haynes, Bill Munden, Ken King, Peter Thirlwall, Brian Ayres and Dick Cotton.

None of them can imagine being anywhere else in the world right now, as Thursday night has been pub night every week for the last 56 years. The group, all now in their early eighties, reckon they've scarcely missed two dozen meet-ups since 1968. - Photo: Bill Munden A group of three men and three women sat around an oblong pub table with drinks in the 1980s.

Group trips away to Filey with their wives were a regular occurrence during the 1970s and 1980s. "It’s very, very rare we miss a Thursday," retired electrical engineer Peter says with pride. "Sometimes we’re all on holiday and we can't manage it. We might be down to three of us if it gets really desperate.” "There have been times when we've made every Thursday in the year, two or three years in a row," Dick adds. "It's quite impressive."

The pub trips started with then students Ken and Paul, who used to take advantage of free study periods to play golf and have a crafty pint afterwards. The habit quickly morphed into an immovable tradition, with Ken joking that a school-style written note of absence is necessary for anyone who dares bail without good reason, although one member of the group is legitimately absent this week due to a holiday.

The group's numbers have changed over the years, as friends, colleagues and neighbours came and went...
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgj4pl878pwo