I visited FIFTY Wetherspoons across the country spending £1,250 on drinks – here are the UK’s best boozers

A PUB lover visited 50 different Wetherspoons in the year before her 50th birthday.

Cheryl Marland shelled out £1,250 on drinks and snacks at the various branches across the country and travelled more than 1,000 miles in the process.

The 'Spoons superfan set herself the challenge in August 2021 - a year before the big 5-0.

She wanted to test out the same number of budget boozers she'd never tried before, as well as complete a raft of other tasks like complete the London Marathon and visit Greece for the first time.

The train worker smashed through her list in record time, ticking off 50 by May the following year.

Cheryl spent an average of £20 to £30 at each venue, and even got the train more than 200 miles just to sip a G&T at one she'd had her eye on for a while.

She then crossed the finish line of the 26-mile race in October, and later jetted off on a birthday trip to Rhodes.

Cheryl said: "A year before my 50th birthday I had decided to try out 50 new Wetherspoons I’d never been in before, just as a daft challenge.

"I started it in Newbury and we just planned it out throughout the year.

"I just quite like Wetherspoons, and there’s just so many of them.

"Sometimes we stayed over and made something of it too.

“I went with my husband, Paul, mainly, sometimes with my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law or my dad.

"My husband is a CAMRA member so he really liked it too."

Cheryl meticulously planned her ‘Spoons-a-thon, plotting out various cities and towns across the country from London to Lancashire and Berkshire to Birkenhead.

To cut costs, she identified branches she could get to by train, using a discounted rail pass she is entitled to through her job.

The 50-year-old, from Preston, Lancashire, popped into 50 English pubs and one extra Scottish one for luck.

She mostly sampled gin and tonics, as well as several food menu items - her favourite always being the chain's chips.

Out of the 50, her top three were The Old Manor in Bracknell, Berkshire, The Winter Gardens in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and The Velvet Coaster in Blackpool, Lancashire.

'SPOONS-A-THON

She was over the moon to have fulfilled the mission, especially alongside training for the marathon which she finished in just over six hours.

Cheryl, who raised £1,035 for Cats Protection, said: "I can’t believe I did it.

"I had applied probably about six times in my lifetime and never got in.

"The inspiration was my dad who actually ran in the second London Marathon in 1982.

"I ran to join him at the end and we crossed the finish line together."

Cheryl's next goal is to visit all 842 JD Wetherspoons pubs in the UK.

She said: "I’ve been back to a few Wetherspoons since the challenge.

"I’d love to complete all of them at some point, but we’ll see."

Wetherspoons spokesperson Eddie Gershon said: "We are delighted that Cheryl likes our pubs so much.

"We applaud her for visiting 50 Wetherspoon pubs as part of her 50th birthday celebrations."