A man with arguably one of the best jobs in the country was in Wokingham recently as part of his quest to visit every pub in the country.
Dale Harvey made the trip south from his Nottingham home to tick off a number of pubs in the town, starting the day with pub number 9,608 – the Dog and Duck in Emmbrook.
He also took part in the Wokingham Ale Trail, being rewarded with a badge for his efforts as being one of the first people to complete the challenge.
Speaking exclusively to Wokingham Today at the start of his visit to the town, Dale said: “I’ve been in this industry since I was 15-years-old.
“I had worked 80 hours a week for 25 years.
“My wife and I started this because I just that I’ve got time and I don’t want to be away from the pub.
“I thought ‘Why don’t we try and have a drink in every pub in Nottinghamshire where we live?’
“My wife said, “ .. of course you are, dear, so that was as much as a red rag to a bull as you’re ever going to need.
“The second she suggested, sarcastically, that I wouldn’t stick to it, I was obviously going to do it.
“I did every pub in Nottinghamshire, and we had about 2,000 followers on social media by then.
“I just said to them, ‘are you guys enjoying this?’
“Do you want me to keep going?
“Someone joking said I should go to every pub in the UK?
“I said to my wife that I’m going to change the challenge.
“She went, yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, and before she’d finished talking, I changed the websites and social media, and said ‘well, it’s on there now.
“ managed to make it a full-time job nearly three years ago now.”
Dale said he makes his living through producing content for his followers on his various social media
“I do say it’s the best job in the world.
“If I ever wake up and I feel a bit under the weather, I just get up and get to work.
“I will carry on.
“I think my liver will give up before I do.
Dale’s visit to Wokingham was sponsored by landlady Victoria of the Dog and Duck, a follower of his for several years.
She told Wokingham Today: “As soon as I saw it was coming to Wokingham, I was like I’ve better to get in on this,
“It means a lot to us that he has chosen to start his day in Wokingham at the Dog and Duck.”
Following his visit, Dale described Wokingham as a “… hidden gem” for pub lovers.
@TheGreatBritishPubCrawl
