Montague Arms: Best Pub in the Country?

Big splash in tonight's London Paper with the headline 'The best pub in the country is in... New Cross'. The story goes:

'An eccentric local boozer in New Cross has been named best pub in Britain. The Montague Arms - whose bizarre decor includes a human skeleton perched on the bar and an embalmed zebra peering out from a horse-drawn carriage - tops the list in a new book, the Rough Pub Guide: A Celebration of the Great British Boozer.

Aiming to put the spotlight on the few genuine pubs that have not been shut down, replaced by theme bars or by Gordon Ramsay-style gastropubs, the tome pinpoints a total of ten London hangouts which it says we cannot afford to lose. The Montague has been run by landlord Peter Hoyle since 1967, when it was "full of gangsters" before he reinvented it as a community local with lots of live music. Even Sir Paul McCartney once played an impromptu gig there and New Year's Eve celebrations include live renditions of London classics like The Lambeth Walk... The Rough Pub Guide by Robin Turner and Paul Moody will be published by Orion on 16 October.'