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Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to accompany us as we travel the famous No 17 bus route from the Bear Inn, Tilehurst, to the George, Lower Earley, stopping at (almost!) every public house on the way. We shall be stopping half way through for food in the town (a curry, of course!). Below is a list of the pubs, and, for those lightweights who won't be with us at the start, a schedule of where we hope to be when.
And so it was at 10.55am, five of us were standing outside the first pub. Myself, Ryszard, Adam, Al and Debs, with Linda meeting us in town.It was actually Adam's 25th birthday, and so this was as much as a birthday celebration, as the first pub crawl.
I can only call this attempt a reasonable success. Most of us managed to get to 19 of 26 planned stops (the curry took rather longer than expected!), with only one major "pissed b*****d" casualty (No names, you know who you are!).
After the reasonable success of the first one, on the 27th May, 1995, the following was issued...
OK, there's been a slight cock-up on the curry front... Sirdar doesn't open until 6PM. That's what you get when the planning is down to a couple of long-haired drunken yobs. This is the revised schedule ; the only difference is that we're now doing five extra pubs between the Hobgoblin and the Sirdar, getting the bus back into town for 6.30pm and then catching a bus to the Kings Tavern for 8pm. Be warned; we have to get the 7.57pm bus after the Sirdar or else we're going to struggle to get the remaining pubs in. This makes things a little tougher, but we can still do it. Good Luck!
Unfortunately, I can't report much of what happened on this attempt (some of it due to the fact that I was totally out of my tree, and the rest because it was far too embarrassing! - the other people on the crawl know what I mean!)
We should have known from the start that this attempt was probably doomed. Most of us arrived at the first pub about 30 minutes late completely hung over from what was supposed to be a quiet night in the previous evening!
The main occurrence was a synchronised pass-out at the Lyndhurst after three of us all had a pint of Speckled Hen. We were put in a taxi and sent home :-( The next thing I remember is having a terribly bad headache at 1am Sunday morning.....
All in all, it was slightly more successful than the first attempt, with 20 pubs being made.
On the 30th September, 1995, we decided to try again...
Undeterred by our synchronised collapse on our last try, we're making another attempt to drink our way from Tilehurst to Earley. We're aiming at slightly more sensible drinking and we've ditched the curry in favour of fast food and extra time, and not just because the curry houses are getting wise to us! Below is a schedule of where we plan to be when; we intend to stick to it quite tightly, but feel free to keep your own pace and join or leave us as you wish. The idea is to make all 25 pubs and leave the George under your own steam, preferably in a vaguely vertical position.
This was definitely the most successful so far. Every pub (bar 3, which were shut on the day) was visited (22 of them), and most of us were at the last pub. The fast food idea was definitely a good idea, and helped counteract the vast quantities of alcohol that were consumed!
For some reason, there was a huge wait for us to decide to do the next crawl. I think it was the fact that I wasn't around for either of the two May bank holidays (I was in sunny California on work!). So, on the 24th August 1996, we sent the following out...
In honour of Ryszard's birthday we are holding another of our much-acclaimed pub crawls (as if we need an excuse). The day is open to veterans, rookies, drinkers and non-drinkers, but be warned; slackers will be abandoned en route! The format is slightly different - as it's a 25th birthday we hope to make 25 pubs! As some of the regulars are closed we will briefly call into a couple just off the route. If the idea of getting to Darkest Tilehurst for 11am on a Saturday is too much, then the Pond House or the Broad Street Hobgoblin are good places to find us. Hopefully we'll see you at some point. Oh, and bring a pen!
We're definitely getting better at this pub crawl! All 25 pubs were achieved, and a great time was had by all. Particularly Ryszard and myself who were seen (and heard) singing as we were arriving at the College Arms by some friends who decided to see how we were all doing. I think that we showed them (and everybody else!) how we were feeling.
On the 29th March 1996, we decided to do it (again!)...
The last No 17 was a great success; we made all 25 pubs and celebrated Ryszard's 25th birthday in style. Well, there are now 26 pubs so we are forced to try it again! Veterans, rookies, drinkers and non-drinkers are all welcome, but remember; the aim is to make the distance. There is no pressure to drink, but the schedule is tight so slackers will be abandoned en route! If the idea of an 11am start is too much, then the Pond House or the Broad Street 'Goblin are good places to meet us.
This time a big hand to anybody who does the day on alcopops (26 WKD's - eek!). Imagine if we had to go in The Turtle ...
Well, what can I say... the best yet. Probably helped by the fact that 11 people started it (we usually have 4 our 5). By the time we hit town, we had 14, and during town, about 18. The only problem was the amount of time it took in each pub to get all of us served! Hence, we were running seriously late by the end of the crawl. Most people made 25 pubs, but a select few of us hardened drinkers managed all 26.
I personally made 27, when I nipped into an internet cafe, Reality Bites , to attempt to mail people to let them know how well we were all doing. This was a disaster since they didn't allow mailing from the place, and I was sufficiently inebriated to forget how to directly talk to a mail server using telnet (yes, I know it's sad that I usually know how to do it!). I did get an alcoholic drink though.....
The "Most Outstanding Achievement" Award has to go to Adam, who after already being up for one day in the USA, flew back at 5.00pm USA time and arrived at 8.00am UK time on the 29th, and then proceeded to complete the entire crawl!!
An independent review of the proceedings is available!
This was the 2 year anniversary of the crawl...
Yes, we're doing it again. You may shake your head incredulously and ask why. Well, in the spirit of Scott, Cook, Columbus, Armstrong and Hilary, because it's there. Veterans, rookies, drinkers and non-drinkers are all welcome, but remember; the aim is to make the distance. There is no pressure to drink, but the schedule is tight so slackers will be unceremoniously abandoned en route! If you can't manage an 11am start, the Pond House or the Broad Street 'Goblin are good places to catch us.
If there are a lot of us be ready to split into small groups for rounds, otherwise the bar staff can't cope. Oh, and bring a pen; inflatable bananas are optional.
I've got to find the comments from this one...
This was a pre Reading Festival event, and another celebration for Ryszard's birthday.
I've got to find all of the stuff for this one.
People had been hassling us for ages to do another crawl, so as to not disappoint, we embarked on the 8th attempt...
Here we go again - the first No 17 of 1998! With the resurrection of The Granby there are now 28 pubs to conquer. Again the basic route is the old bus route, but with the opportunity for a few extra stops around the town (Andy will handle this). Veterans, rookies, drinkers and non-drinkers are all welcome. Remember: there's no pressure to drink - the aim is to make the distance. Finally, loutish behaviour will not be tolerated. If you can't remain civilised you will be told to go home. But not so politely.
I've got to find the comments from this one...
There is also a set of image maps of the No 17 bus route with information on various pubs and eating establishments along the way, some on the crawl and some not.
Be warned, the page may take a while to load.
Andrew Pollard: andrew@odie.demon.co.uk Last updated: 14th February 1998