I’m delighted that Duncan Mackay has started a blog to record his adventures, including the completion of the Good Beer Guide pubs (see here). Duncan has the beating of me in sneaking in the back to pour his own pint stakes, though I can compete on the “gatecrashing a private function stakes“, having posed (unsuccessfully) as a schoolboy to get into a private party in Epsom a few years ago.
In response to overwhelming demand, I’ve attached my summary of my own progress, give or take the last week’s spreadsheet updates;
The hard facts are I’m 80% done but that’s 900 pubs togo. When the new GBG comes out that number will go back above a thousand due to all the new micropubs and Ember Inns entering the Guide for the first time.
I really have to get to grips with Cumbria, Devon and Dorset over the Summer, but I’m still hopeful Scotland will get its own GBG following a second referendum, so I won’t lose sleep over the 250 I need to do there.
By the way, total GBG pubs visited over the last 20 years is now approaching 10,000, which just illustrates how much churn there is in the GBG. I predict Pub 10,000 will be a micropub in Kent. Can’t wait.
| PUBS VISITED IN GBG | GBG 2017 | @20/2/17 | |||
| Visited in 2015-16 | TOTAL | VISITED | TO VISIT | % | |
| BEDS | 5 | 49 | 49 | 0 | 100% |
| BERKS | 11 | 53 | 53 | 0 | 100% |
| BUCKS | 9 | 54 | 54 | 0 | 100% |
| CAMBS | 3 | 70 | 70 | 0 | 100% |
| CHESHIRE | 2 | 70 | 64 | 6 | 91% |
| CORNWALL | 0 | 62 | 46 | 16 | 74% |
| CUMBRIA | 0 | 87 | 23 | 64 | 26% |
| DERBYSHIRE | 5 | 95 | 84 | 11 | 88% |
| DEVON | 0 | 122 | 42 | 80 | 34% |
| DORSET | 0 | 66 | 33 | 33 | 50% |
| DURHAM | 2 | 85 | 68 | 17 | 80% |
| ESSEX | 13 | 108 | 108 | 0 | 100% |
| GLOUCS | 0 | 103 | 77 | 26 | 75% |
| HAMPSHIRE | 4 | 117 | 91 | 26 | 78% |
| HEREFORDSHIRE | 0 | 26 | 25 | 1 | 96% |
| HERTS | 6 | 64 | 64 | 0 | 100% |
| ISLE OF WIGHT | 0 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 45% |
| KENT | 5 | 145 | 134 | 11 | 92% |
| LANCS | 1 | 121 | 101 | 20 | 83% |
| LEICS & RUTLAND | 8 | 75 | 69 | 6 | 92% |
| LINCS | 1 | 113 | 106 | 7 | 94% |
| LONDON – Central | 6 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 100% |
| – East | 4 | 45 | 44 | 1 | 98% |
| – North | 2 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 100% |
| – North West | 2 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 100% |
| -South East | 5 | 63 | 59 | 4 | 94% |
| -South West | 6 | 51 | 51 | 0 | 100% |
| -West | 2 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 100% |
| GTR MANCHESTER | 16 | 158 | 152 | 6 | 96% |
| MERSEYSIDE | 7 | 69 | 62 | 7 | 90% |
| NORFOLK | 12 | 105 | 103 | 2 | 98% |
| NORTHANTS | 9 | 49 | 49 | 0 | 100% |
| NORTHUMBERLAND | 0 | 39 | 23 | 16 | 59% |
| NOTTS | 4 | 74 | 69 | 5 | 93% |
| OXFORDSHIRE | 10 | 69 | 69 | 0 | 100% |
| SHROPSHIRE | 0 | 51 | 47 | 4 | 92% |
| SOMERSET | 0 | 102 | 69 | 33 | 68% |
| STAFFS | 8 | 89 | 82 | 7 | 92% |
| SUFFOLK | 6 | 71 | 70 | 1 | 99% |
| SURREY | 0 | 70 | 59 | 11 | 84% |
| EAST SUSSEX | 0 | 66 | 58 | 8 | 88% |
| WEST SUSSEX | 0 | 60 | 52 | 8 | 87% |
| TYNE & WEAR | 10 | 59 | 59 | 0 | 100% |
| WARWICKSHIRE | 2 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 100% |
| WEST MIDLANDS | 8 | 118 | 115 | 3 | 97% |
| WILTSHIRE | 0 | 61 | 53 | 8 | 87% |
| WORCESTERSHIRE | 3 | 56 | 50 | 6 | 89% |
| EAST YORKSHIRE | 0 | 43 | 40 | 3 | 93% |
| NORTH YORKSHIRE | 11 | 144 | 105 | 39 | 73% |
| SOUTH YORKSHIRE | 5 | 80 | 80 | 0 | 100% |
| WEST YORKSHIRE | 12 | 132 | 128 | 4 | 97% |
| 3812 | 3300 | 512 | 86.57% | ||
| GLAMORGAN | 10 | 93 | 63 | 30 | 68% |
| GWENT | 10 | 39 | 35 | 4 | 90% |
| MID WALES | 0 | 35 | 12 | 23 | 34% |
| NORTH EAST WALES | 0 | 42 | 31 | 11 | 74% |
| NORTH WEST WALES | 0 | 46 | 26 | 20 | 57% |
| WEST WALES | 0 | 70 | 14 | 56 | 20% |
| BORDERS | 0 | 18 | 1 | 17 | 6% |
| LOCH LOMOND, STIRLING & TROSSACHS (CENTRAL) | 0 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 24% |
| DUMFRIES & GALLLOWAY | 0 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0% |
| FIFE | 0 | 21 | 1 | 20 | 5% |
| ABERDEEN & GRAMPIAN | 0 | 40 | 6 | 34 | 15% |
| HIGHLANDS & WESTERN ISLES | 0 | 35 | 10 | 25 | 29% |
| NORTHERN ISLES | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0% |
| EDINBURGH & LOTHIANS | 0 | 43 | 24 | 19 | 56% |
| GLASGOW | 0 | 45 | 24 | 21 | 53% |
| ARGYLL & THE ISLES | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0% |
| AYRSHIRE & ARRAN | 0 | 20 | 1 | 19 | 5% |
| TAYSIDE | 0 | 30 | 6 | 24 | 20% |
| NORTHERN IRELAND | 0 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 50% |
| CHANNEL ISLANDS | 0 | 22 | 16 | 6 | 73% |
| ISLE OF MAN | 0 | 28 | 25 | 3 | 89% |
| TOTAL | 4522 | 3610 | 912 | 79.83% |
retiredmartin 
The list is really interesting to see. I have been curious about this for a while. Pretty amazing.
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Bit dull but I’ve been asked a few times about it. Simon is much more methodical about progress, even though he claims to be punk 😉
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And I thought he was a banker.
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We don’t have language like that on here Dave.
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Now, do you go for the low-hanging fruit first, or try to grasp some of the bigger nettles? (Says Mudge, Mixing his Metaphors). I’m sure the 1 in Suffolk and 2 in Norfolk can easily be knocked off on day trips.
This task must have been made harder in recent years by all the brand-new pubs and bars being included. Twenty years ago, it was often a case of recycling the same pool of pubs, so a new entry might well have been already in five years before.
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I’m saving the two by our coast for planned camping trips, however strong the pull to clear them now.
There are far more brand new pubs now (I did four micros in four mile stretch in South London yesterday, but you’d be surprised how many “normal” pubs still get in the Guide for the first time ever/for ages. Sir Ralph Abercromby in Manc falls into that category.
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The Abercromby *may* have benefited from a sympathy vote, given its threatened demolition by a consortium of former association football players.
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Quite “possibly”.I had a very good pint there recently though
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Very impressive stuff. The task is much harder these days because of brand new pubs appearing for the first time (micropubs, Spoons in particular) and increasingly challenging opening times. It’s not uncommon to find listed pubs that aren’t open at all on Mondays or Tuesdays and many more than shun lunchtimes due to changing social attitudes. Get cracking on Saturday and the islands!
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Scotland and the islands have more appeal than just the pubs, of course. Dragging teenagers up to the Hebrides for a holiday is proving a bigger challenge than finding out SE London micro opening times !
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Impressive! I feel a bit guilty about having you round for a coffee now and then – you could have been knocking at least another pub or two off the list! Keep up the god work mate.
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