IT was only day 34 yesterday, but determined Kevin Cassidy had already covered most of Strathclyde.

Then there's the mysterious Willy Peel. No one has a clue who he is but he has polished off Weston-Super-Mare.

Now the landlords of The Ship Inn are hoping other dedicated drinkers will stagger forward to help a charity challenge with a difference.

The pub, in the hamlet of Middlestone Village, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, is hoping to send a representative to some of Britain's most far-flung ale houses.

For Graham and Liz Snaith have assigned their staff and customers the task of sampling each of the 5,000 hostelries listed in the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide 2002 by the end of the year.

Ambassadors from The Ship itself national runner-up in CAMRA's Pub of the Year competition must also return with a memento from each visit, to be auctioned off in aid of Bishop Auckland's Butterwick Hospice.

Graham and Liz are spending a week before their holiday in Tenerife crossing off as many pubs as possible. "We're just going to head south and take in the Isle of Wight," said Graham.

He has calculated 13 pubs a day must be visited, but with regulars like Kevin Cassidy he should have no problem.

"Kevin is dedicated to the cause. He's already clocked up 47 real ale pubs in just over a month. He's covered Strathclyde."

"We have another guy called Willy Peel. We don't even know who he is, but he's sending stuff in from Weston-Super-Mare."

Even The Northern Echo's own Eating Owt columnist Mike Amos has agreed to help.

He is down to visit one of Britain's most remote watering holes, The Old Forge Inn, at Inverie, in the Highlands of Scotland accessible only by an occasional ferry or by walking 15 miles over the hills.

Mr Amos informs us that he is likely to wait for the ferry.

* Follow the challenge on the Ship Inn's website at www.wearvalleycamra.co.uk/shipinn.htm