10 Jan 2026
St Albans’ award-winning pub The Mermaid had the honour of being the final venue on one man’s momentous mission to visit all 4,429 boozers featured in the 2020 edition of the Good Beer Guide.
Retired engineer Peter Hill, who began his challenge six years ago, arrived at the pub to raptuous applause from members of South Herts CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale founded in St Albans in 1971 and the publishers of the guide, and St Albans MP Daisy Cooper.
A long-standing CAMRA member and beer judge, Peter had spent the day supping at various other pubs across the city, including The Horn, The Victoria, The Snug, The White Swan, The Waterend Barn, The Beech House and The Peacock, so was understandably a little on the tipsy side by the time he got to The Mermaid.
Local CAMRA chair Ian Boyd said: “Today we have here a pub legend. Peter has gone through every pub in the 2020 Beer Guide. CAMRA publishes the guide every year, and only 10 per cent of pubs get into it by serving excellent beer, and The Mermaid is a prime example of a pub which has been in the guide every year since the current landlords [Mark Powell and John Bosworth] took it over in 2013.
“This pub is Peter’s final stop on his whole tour because he loves Oakham Citra, and we’re proud to have a representative from Oakham Brewery here today! Peter has visited 4,429 pubs in the last six years, and in honour of his great trek around the whole country, we’d like to present Peter with a very special certificate.”
MP Daisy handed over the certificate, and gave a lighthearted speech about his achievement: “Peter, your reputation precedes you, and we were very excited to hear you were coming here to St Albans. When I heard you were starting your pub crawl at 12 I was worried that you weren’t going to make it to The Mermaid at 6 o’clock, and I was even more worried when this afternoon I was driving up Alma Road and saw you standing in the middle of the traffic taking a photograph of The Horn!
“Unbelievably you have completed a six hour pub crawl in St Albans this afternoon, you have visited every single pub in the 2020 Good Beer Guide, and you have nearly visited 25,000 pubs in your lifetime, and that is a life goal if ever I heard one! Congratulations!”
Since 1984, Peter has visited 24,424 pubs, drunk 57,775 pints, travelled 400,000 miles and raised £35,000 for charity through minimum £1 donations from landlords, including 69 pubs on islands around the UK coastline.
Dudley local Peter said: “I’ve got to say I thought the last pub I visited would be very low key – but I’ve got to say the local CAMRA branch have done an unbelievable job and it’s been one of the best days of my life!”
The Mermaid in Hatfield Road has won numerous awards, including multiple South Herts CAMRA Cider & Perry Pub of the Year titles, and was recognised by The Telegraph as Hertfordshire’s best pub in early 2025.
