This Cat is the cream of locals

I'm long enough in the tooth to remember when pubs were proper pubs - grotty, dingy, unkempt establishments where customer service was just a figment of the marketing man's imagination. Nobody bothered to complain because there was nobody to complain to, and we accepted complacency as it was uniform throughout the industry - it was little better than Hobson's choice for punters way back then.

Then along came the chic tragedies of All Bar Nonsense, Slag & Mattress and Pitcher Of Pathos which sent the industry spinning into a frenzy, suddenly saturating our high streets with so-called 'designer' bars. Complacency once again set in - such venues were not so much founded on common sense or reason, but were the building blocks for compromise.

And more and more punters are now laying wreaths at the door of what once was their nasty little local. And locals, on the face of it, don't come in a more wonderfully nasty fashion than the Cat's Back, which has survived both the Blitz and the more recent threat of property developers who are dragging this Wandsworth riverside location stratospherically upmarket.

The owner, Roger Martin, bought this freehold site eight years ago and has steadfastly refused to acquiesce in any changes. So it stands alone, a gloomy looking pub, while all around it shines squeaky clean. There's a disused petrol pump at the door, and all manner of other junk littering the pavement - so much so that you'd be forgiven for thinking you were about to enter Steptoe's yard.

But walk inside and you'll find a marvellously kitsch riposte to the current trend of style bars. The place is, quite literally, filled with junk. The furnishings are a mish-mash of items picked up at antique sales and probably the odd car boot sale, and a couple of dogs of the canine variety always seem to bag the best seats in the house on the squashy sofas or by the fireplace on colder days.

A more warm, welcoming environment will be hard to find anywhere in London. Being a freehouse, Martin takes his ales very seriously and at the time of my visit was offering O'Hanlon's Blakeley's Best and the summer ale Yellow Hammer (both brewed in Devon), Slater's Bitter (from the Eccleshall brewery in Staffordshire) and Young's AAA.

And the grungy clientele are happy to sit back and drink gallons of the stuff and listen to the CD-driven retro music. Food is served at lunchtimes only (not Saturdays) and includes a decent range of sandwiches (from £2.20), an English breakfast (£5), beef bourgignon (£6.90) and a Thai red chicken curry (£6.50). And on Sundays you can choose from roasts of pork, lamb or beef for just £6.95.

There is no blueprint for a pub like this which has broken so many rules of style, and a purist would probably suggest that everything about this place is recklessly inadequate. I would say that this is one of the best finds I've come across in recent years (for all the wrong reasons), and one that makes my job a sheer joy. But don't all rush down at once - it really isn't big enough to cope with large gangs of folk who are capable of objective, independent thought.

The Cat's Back
86 Point Pleasant, SW18 1PP