When April 6th, 2016 marked my 5th anniversary in the UK I thought I should do something special.

I don’t know if you have seen the movie The World’s End but I liked it a lot. Inspired by the Golden Mile concept I saw in that movie, my decision was to have 5 pints in 5 pubs in the neighbourhood. 1 pint for each year. It may sound unsustainable in the long run but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to that. Without further ado, here’s the pubs I picked for my first annual celebration:

…and the winners are

The Dacre Arms

This one is definitely my favourite pub in the area. It has a very cosy and warm environment. It’s not on the main road so almost felt like discovering a hidden gem when I first noticed it. In the past it served as a nice harbour to get away from my loud and obnoxious neighbour and collect my thoughts and maintain my sanity.

Duke of Edinburgh

I don’t watch football games in pubs a lot but when I do this is my go-to pub. Nice big screen TVs all around. The last game I saw didn’t bring much joy though.

I remember Arsenal smashing Fenerbahce 3-0 in 2013 without even breaking a sweat. Part of the reason why I don’t watch football in pubs: no need for public humiliation!

The Old Tiger’s Head

The way I remember this one was it was quite spacious with a pool table and a lot of tables to sit. I used to come here a lot to wok on my blog. Although I can’t tell the difference, I’ve been informed that this was an Irish pub. I stopped by on one St. Paddy’s day a few years ago and there was quite a colourful celebration going on. I guess that’s one way of identifying whether a pub is Irish or English!

This visit was a bit disappointing though as the whole layout has changed. Pool table was gone and my favourite booth was removed. Oddly enough there were a few bookshelves and there was even a family with two toddlers inside. It felt more like a cafe than a pub.

The Swan / The Rambles

My 4th stop was The Rambles. Actually it used to be a pub called The Swan which was the first pub I ever visited in the UK. It was run by two kind and nice ladies. When you move to a different country and try to settle in there’s a lot of challenges you need to tackle initially and it can be overwhelming at first. The Swan was a nice refuge for me at those times to wind down and relax.

Unfortunately it closed down a few years ago and now there is bar / comedy club named The Rambles. The club doesn’t mean much to me except I’ve been there once before to see a comedy show but in remembrance of The Swan I went there anyway. As it’s bar now they open and close much later than a pub so I was the first customer there! So it might be a good place to work in quite and have a cold one if I’m looking to change venues.

Princess of Wales

I love Blackheath! It’s on a hill and a bit windy but it has a nice little lake and a great view.

I remember the Bonfire Night a few years ago which had a great fireworks show. Princess of Wales is a nice pub by the lake with a great view and I enjoyed my pint there quite a bit.

Same time, next year!

I don’t know if I should try the same path with adding a 6th one to the end of the chain or start with a brand new set or even I’ll be in the mood to do a pub crawl but I’ll decide that later. After all it’s just one of those nice problems to have!