Tasters mark 40 years with Black Country Museum visit.

A group of Black Country pub-crawlers celebrated their 40th anniversary at a boozer in a famous museum.

The Bottle and Glass In hosted the Black Country Ale Tairsters  and their visit made it 23,466 pubs visited in the 40 years, which is marked this weekend.

Amongst the ales they tasted were Fixed Wheel and Banks' Sunbeam and the group plan to return next year to mark their 41st year at the Tipton Road attraction's other hostelry, the Elephant and Castle.

The group originally formed in 1984 and planned to visit 300 pubs on a map issued by Banks's but, like the beer they were drinking, they got a taste for it and just kept on going.

They have had films made about their drinking exploits and have appeared in publications all around the world.

Original member Pete Hill, a retired engineer, even knows how many pints he has drunk in that time - 56,000 - as he keeps a complete record and planned to drink at least 18 at the Bottle. 

He said: "The first pub visited was the Yew Tree at Greets Green, West Bromwich on November 3 1984 so this weekend marks the anniversary.

"It just went on from there and we have done one of the longest pub crawls across the UK known - we have become famous and welcome at pubs far and wide.

"We aim to completed 24,000 at the Black Country Museum next year and to keep on going for as long as we can and visit all pubs that serve good ale and give a friendly welcome."