Aylesbury man's 70th birthday pub crawl - to 70 pubs

To mark the milestone, Doug decided to visit 70 pubs around the UK while collecting for the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity.

Doug’s epic pub crawl ended on Saturday with a hero’s welcome at the Hop Pole on Bicester Road, where a final flurry of cash in his collecting bucket tipped the total to £1,600.

“I was in the pub discussing what I could do for my 70th,” said Doug, of Church Street, Aylesbury.

“This idea came up to have a pint in 70 different pubs and getting people to sponsor me.

"Then I got in contact with Florence Nightingale and they were quite happy for me to do this over a long period, using the JustGiving page so all the money goes straight to them.”

Starting in August 2021, Doug’s travels took him to visit family in Devon, Kent and County Durham, along with pub crawls around Wendover and Banbury, always posting a photo of a pub’s real ale pint on Facebook.

Born in Aylesbury and previously working for firms including Antiference and Hazel, Watson & Viney, Doug was a fixture at local music events for over 50 years.

But he admits he has found some pubs “so different now”.

“There are far too few pubs and too many bars,” he said.

"I’m looking at them as a 70-year-old rather than a 17-year-old.”

Doug’s JustGiving page remains open until his actual birthday at the end of May.