Sticky carpets, pickled eggs and pints for a fiver: why there’s life in the old-school boozer yet

Pubs are closing at an alarming rate, but a new list of London’s best reveals a preference for traditional ‘wet-led’ venues, with Irish music nights and seat-stealing catsIn the Palm Tree pub, east London, barman Alf is taking only cash at the rattling 1960s till. The building, which is Grade II-listed, stands in the middle of Mile End Park, and Alf has worked here since 1976. “It’s a wonderful pub,” he says.It is also ranked fifth in Time Out’s 50 Best