London regional focus: Still going strong

THIRTY YEARS ago the Palm Tree was closed and facing the demolition ball. Now, thanks to the couple who rescued the freehouse and still run it today, it has been named the best pub in London by reviewers for Fancyapint.com.

Described by the judges as "a great, traditional East End boozer" the pub has quietly built a reputation for cask beer, live jazz and omelette sandwiches that stretches well beyond the streets of Bow.

Yet if it wasn't for Alf and Val Bennett - and, ironically, the closure of London's docks in the 1970s - it's likely that the Palm Tree would have been a forgotten victim of the developers.

Alf was one of many dockers who used their redundancy money to get into the pub trade. He and Val bid for three different freehouses - and made a decision that still seems to surprise them.

"The Palm Tree had been closed for a year, it was derelict," says Val. "People laughed when we said we were going to take it over.

"We had to do a lot of work on it just to get it running, and for the first six months we hardly got any customers. But slowly the business built up. And once we introduced the music nights it just went on from there."

The last 30 years "have gone by like five minutes," she says. "You have got to like people in this trade, and we have a lot of lovely customers. They come a long way for the music. We have the old jazz standards and even the youngsters enjoy that."

Val also boasts the pub makes "the best sandwich in London", an omelette sandwich which has found a particular following among the local climbers - an unusual clientele for an East End pub - but there is a climbing wall nearby.

Alf, meanwhile, enjoys his cask beer and keeps the offer alive by constantly rotating brews from all over the country. "It keeps up the interest," he says, and his cellarmanship has been rewarded this year with the Palm Tree being chosen Pub of the Year by City & East London Campaign for Real Ale.

The listing on Fancyapint.com has also helped attract customers from further afield. "We get a lot of nice comments on the internet," says Val.

Last year the Bennetts had a scare when an unexploded 500lb Second World War bomb was discovered out the back. Trade was temporarily suspended while the pub was evacuated for three days.

But you get the feeling it's going to take more than that to beat Alf and Val...