The original idea for the Sam Smiths Challenge was conceived by myself, my ex-wife Anna and Rich. We had all recently read Yes Man by Danny Wallace, and were intrigued by the idea of doing a 'stupid boy project' (as coined by Danny's then-girlfriend). Having a drink in every Samuel Smiths pub in London seemed a perfect fit for this. So we set to work, finding out all the pubs in London and arranging them so that we would have to crawl the minimum distance!

We took a picture of each pub, and wrote notes as we progressed. The challenge took us longer than expected, partly because on some days we couldn't drink as fast as we had expected, but mostly because we had managed to miss out a few pubs! We finally completed the challenge on 8th March 2008 with a pint in the Duke of York on New Cavendish Street.

The original version of this page was first created in 2006. I entered it into 34SP.com's Pub Mashup Competition and was awarded one of the runners-up prizes.

This website was created using the following:

Some code was taken from Matthew James Taylor to help with the layout.

Updates

Updated: 12th March 2023

Updated the site to work with PHP 8.

Updated: 23rd March 2022

The site hasn't worked for a while due to HTTPS issues which have now been resolved. I've moved a few things around. I've not been able to receive any messages for a while but the contact page has now been updated and I'll receive any future messages without issues. The information here has not been updated for a while - I'll get on to doing this soon.

Updated: 2nd February 2018

Wow, it's been quite a while since my last update! I'm actually planning how to update the site now, if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions please let me know via the Contact page.

Update: 30th November 2015

The site has moved to a new host so should be a bit quicker to load. I moved the ad to the top, hope it's not too inconvenient but it helps pay the server costs! An overhaul of the site is near the top of my to-do list...

Update: 7th July 2015

Thanks again to Bitterboy for letting me know that the Fitzrovia is undergoing refurbishment and will be closed for the best part of a year. I hope to update the site properly in the near future. Thanks everyone who has clicked on adverts recently as it has helped to pay for the web hosting fees!

Update: 9th February 2015

Thanks to Bitterboy for letting me know that the Duke of York on Cavendish Street has been closed for a few years - I've removed this from the map. Thanks also to Jesal and Tom for getting in touch, I do enjoy hearing about other people attempting the challenge or from those who simply enjoy a good Sam Smiths pub!

Update: 19th January 2015

Will this be the year that I finally find the time to update the site? Fingers crossed. Many thanks to the people who have clicked the adverts, it really does help with the server costs!

Update: 14th June 2014

I've added The Gazebo, The Rose of York and The Town Wharf to the map, as suggested by Phil Goodman and James Victor - thanks for your emails! It's obviously been a while since the site has been updated, but I am planning a newer version 'soon'. If anyone else knows of any missing pubs please let me know :-)

Update: 16th January 2013

I'm reliably informed that The Robert Browning has now changed it's name back to The Eagle - I've updated the map with this information.

Update: 13th December 2012

Almost a whole year without updates, where did my free time go? Oh yes, parenthood, that's right. I've had an email from Appshh about a new iPhone app they've developed to find Sam Smiths pubs in London, check it out on the App Store.

Update: 13th October 2011

I've added an ad banner at the bottom of each page to try and help with hosting costs. I hope it's not too obtrusive for anyone.

Update: 21st September 2011

Here are over 400 photos of Sam Smiths pubs taken by Ian - he's had a drink in 214 Sam Smiths pubs, I think I've only been to 50 so am very impressed by this! I've also updated the name of The Cardinal to The Windsor Castle (hat tip to DarkieBoy).