The couple’s ‘weird’ hobby sees them traveling across the country to visit Wetherspoon pubs
One couple’s “strange” hobby has them traveling all over England. Phil and Julie Fox, from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, have visited an incredible 321 Wetherspoon pubs since 2004.
The couple hit the milestone on Tuesday, March 2, when they entered a ‘Spoons in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. The couple like to “pack spoons” and visit parts of England they’ve never been to. Visiting number 321 was a special day for Phil, 74, Yorkshire Live reports.
The father-of-five said: “Number 321 sounds great. We are staying near here for the late winter holidays. We are leaving for London in June and plan to take a few spoons south of the river, including including one named Fox on the Hill.”
He added: “We just love packing ‘Spoons, visiting parts of England we’ve never been to. Did you know King’s Lynn has its own leaning tower?”
Phil says he enjoys visiting Wetherspoon pubs because he enjoys geography, beer and good value food. He made his first visit to Richmond, North Yorkshire, in 2004, and hasn’t looked back.
In 2020 they visited The Imperial in Exeter, a former hotel with barrel-vaulted veranda space, described as “absolutely wonderful” by Phil. He and Julie are also fans of the oddly named The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, a former courthouse and police station in Keswick, Cumbria.
(Photo: Phil Fox)
Phil, a retired production worker, also loves The Admiral Collingwood, named after Nelson’s second-in-command at the Battle of Trafalgar, which is located in Ilfracombe, Devon, and has a ‘garden bar on the roof” with sea view.
He admits one or two ‘Spoons’ pubs have been a bit ‘rough’, including one near Rochdale where Phil says ‘we had to yell at women using the ‘F’ word. ‘back.”
He says his family accepts that he and Julie have a “strange” hobby.
“I think our family is just accepting that we have a weird but good hobby,” he said.
“When we go anywhere they love that seven or eight of us, including grandchildren, can eat for less than £50.”
(Photo: Phil Fox)
Phil says he has another ambition, aside from visiting more Wetherspoon pubs.
“We have an ambition. One day we hope to see ourselves in the in-house magazine ‘Spoons publishes’.”
* Greyfriars Tower in King’s Lynn, one of only three surviving Franciscan monastery towers in England, is informally called ‘The Leaning Tower of Lynn’ because it leans considerably to the west.
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