Local difficulty

To find the best locals, you need to look hard. City or country, the pubs that really capture the essence of local are rarely found on the high street or at the busy crossroads, brightly lit and shouting for trade, but need to be sniffed out down murky lanes and silent streets inhabited by cats and old shopping bags. It takes work, but when you do find one, like the Sultan in the dark depths of South London, you know why you bothered.