It’s been a quiet year in the history of central London’s dart boards, with the on-going TV darts boom seemingly doing little to boost the traditional pub game in the capital. There have been three additions to the guide in the last year:
- Cock Tavern in Soho – weekday afternoon vibes, and another Sam Smiths pub seeking more customers
- Windmill in Lambeth – a fabulous addition, and seemingly something of an oversight, as I’m told it has had a board for years
- Three Crowns in Old Street – confusing and very narrow, added for the vibes
Three pubs with eight boards between them have been removed from the guide because the buildings are currently boarded up – Feeney’s in the City, and the Sheaf and Katzenjammers in different parts of the Hop Exchange building in Borough. The Barley Mow in Horseferry Road finally took down its board (although I don’t think anyone had used it for the best part of a decade), and the Temple Brewhouse became Daly’s Wine Bar and Beer Hall with two digital dart boards.
Seeing the traditional game stagnate in central London would have been a major positive just two years ago, but now, given darts moment in the sunshine, it feels a little disappointing that more pubs have not put boards up. The reason, of course, is that traditional darts doesn’t directly generate income. However, digital darts does. And it is booming. Following on from the original Flight Clubs, you can now enjoy interactive darts at Oche, Bat & Ball, Boom Battle Bars, Balls Brothers 180 Club, Daly’s Beer Hall, the Lucky Goat, Nordic Bar, Rocket Room, Roxy Ballroom – and no doubt many other shiny load venues which are more than capable of doing their own marketing.
The ultimate indignity is at Kerb Social in Spitalfields, where two lonely traditional dart board sit unloved in the street, whilst the gals and guys inside lovingly play digitised killer, each throwing three darts every 15 minutes, and having a great night out. <sighs>
