The group, all now in their early eighties, reckon they've scarcely missed two dozen meet-ups since 1968.
The pub trips started with then students Ken and Paul, who used to take advantage of free study periods to play golf and have a crafty pint afterwards. The habit quickly morphed into an immovable tradition, with Ken joking that a school-style written note of absence is necessary for anyone who dares bail without good reason.
The group's numbers have changed over the years, as friends, colleagues and neighbours came and went. The conversation too has moved with the times. "We once talked about soccer and sex. These days it's more prostates and pensions," Peter jokes, surrounded by his friends in the pub about five miles south of Sheffield, in northern England.
Even a global pandemic couldn't drive a wedge between them as Thursdays became a virtual pub night over Zoom for several months during 2020. Although a departure from the norm, it meant that for the first time in years former group members who had left South Yorkshire for new climes as far flung as Australia, Canada and England's south coast could properly catch up with their old pals on a regular basis.
"We still do Zoom once a month, because we didn't want to drop them after Covid," Ken explains.
In 56 years there hasn't even been an argument about whose round it is.