The Thinking Drinkers are out on the town in Swindon tonight enjoying a pub crawl through the ages - and the drinks are on them!

Writers Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham are The Thinking Drinkers. They will be celebrating drinking establishments through the ages, and revealing the impact that the watering holes of the past had upon our culture.

Tom said: “In the symposiums of the Greeks, through sitting around sipping wine, thinking and talking, they came up with the idea of the Olympics. In the Wild West it was the saloon that was the hub of the county. The first crisps were introduced in a saloon by George Crumb.”

Tom is the former editor of Class, a spirits and cocktails magazine, editor of the award-winning World’s Best Cocktails, and columnist with a number of newspapers including the Daily Telegraph and a regular on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch.

Ben is also a columnist and triple crowned winner of British Beer Writer of the Year. They both have a mission to stop the decline of the pub culture in Britain.

Tom said there were 52,000 pubs that have closed in the UK in recent years. “People would go to their local to meet a mix of people, it was a place away from the workplace and a better social life for everyone,’’ he said.

Both writers endorse their Drink Less Drink Better policy of enjoying alcohol not abusing it.

Tom says his favourite cocktails are gin based, and he is delighted with the flurry of interest in specialised gins that has grown up over the last 10 years and he promises a special one when they come to Swindon tonight.

“We always get a good audience in Swindon, lovely people which is why we are coming back, and we are bringing some Four Pillars Gin to try,” he said.

The Thinking Drinkers will also be tempting palettes with some special rum, craft beers from America, luxurious vodka and even some Jameson’s Irish whiskey.

Tom and Ben have taken their shows to the Edinburgh Fringe for the past eight years and have performed in London’s West End at the Soho Theatre.

“This year we were in the Leicester Square Theatre,’’ said Tom.

The pub crawl is at 8pm in the Swindon’s Arts Centre, Devizes Road, Old Town. Tickets are £17.50 from 01793 524481 or visit www.swindontheatres.co.uk - Flicky Harrison