The Luke Humphries effect, as absolutely nobody calls it, is real. I keep finding new darts pubs.
If you have been reading these annual updates over the last decade, maybe you need to get a life. But you will have spotted that darts has been declining in central London right up until last year, when there were shoots of a recovery. This year, again, the number of dart boards in central London has increased.
It is, of course, possible that I know of more dart pubs as more people are telling me about them, and it’s also true that there are a handful I’ve not visited recently. Either way, it seems certain that darts in London is on the up, in response to the increasing demand – no better evidenced than by the Horse & Groom in Great Portland Street where a board has been put back up a full decade after it was removed. There are now more than 400 players in the main central London singles league (COLDA), which often means finding a board to book is increasingly tricky. I am officially excited (and wondering if my work is done!)
For the record, the only venues removed from the guide in the last year are the Sports Bar & Grill in Farringdon (which now only has excellent augmented reality darts), the Small Beer taproom (which is barely open and not really central), and, sadly, the Prince Arthur in Old Street which had been a permanent fixture since Capital Arrows started, and had previously, when run by the legendary Dixie Dean – former boxer and star of This is Your Life – been one of the very finest dart pubs in all of London town.
Additions over the last year as are follows:
- Barley Mow in W1 – which has had a board, and its own league, for years (apologies)
- George & Dragon in W1 – great for practice
- George, friendly, locals, down south on Tower Bridge Road
- Horse & Groom near Oxford Circus – putting a board back up after several years
- Katzenjammers by Borough Market – beerhall with 5 boards
- Lucky Saint in W1 – new pub (previously Masons Arms), new board
- Rosy Hue in Elephant – new board
- Tokenhouse in Moorgate – fairly new board
In other news, the Wood Street Bar has moved from one board to three, Spots & Stripes seems to have re-focussed on darts, and I rmust visit Camden as I have no idea what’s going on there darts-wise. Until next time.