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2024 Capital Arrows updates

First off, the bad news. Three pubs have left the guide this year, all of which I've played or coached in: Prince William Henry near Blackfriars Bridge, where most of the photos on this site were taken; White Horse & Bower, for many years the closest darts pub to...

PDC World Darts Championship 2024 – the force was with them

Now that the rest of the world seems to have written something about the Luke Littler darts tournament PDC World Championships, here are my thoughts on the recent record-breaking Ally Pally event: Luke Littler was astonishing. It wasn’t a surprise that he was good, or...

The state of London’s darts

Just occasionally, someone else shows an interest in what's going on in darts in London - and in this case it's The Guardian who noted that London is barely represented in the 31 English-based players at Ally Pally for the PDC worlds this year. London's darts pubs and...

2023 Capital Arrows updates

I've managed to visit about half of the pubs listed in Capital Arrows in 2023 so far, and the good news is that for once there seems to have been little change in the overall number of central London boozers with dart boards. In fact, we only seem to have lost the...

2022 Capital Arrow updates

First the good news. Despite a global pandemic, huge increases in costs, a lack of staff, and pre-existing challenges for the pub industry, there are still plenty of excellent pubs where you can play darts in central London. Indeed, two new venues have recently been...

May 2021 Capital Arrows update

The day came when pubs in England were allowed to open indoors again, and some, it seems, allow darts. The picture is one of much confusion, but here's some stuff worth knowing: Some venues are definitely allowing darts to be played (not least Flight Club, which is...

July 2020 Capital Arrows updates

Central London's darts pubs were allowed to reopen on 4 July 2020. Whether many have remains something of a mystery - traditional darts pubs are not best known for keeping everything up to date, and some will struggle with the current regulations for opening. We hope...

May 2020 Capital Arrows updates

All central London's darts pubs have been closed since Friday 20 March this year, which means that, for the first time in a century, you can't play darts in a pub in London. There were 80 pubs on the Capital Arrows list when the lockdown started. The worry now is how...

May 2019 Capital Arrows updates

So it's not all bad news. I was told to pay a visit to the Moretown Belle round the back of St Katherine's Dock, and when I did I found a fantastic new darting venue. I also popped in to the Sir Sydney Smith, which I'd never previously heard of, and on the same visit...

City of London Darts Association

Following a coaching session last week I bumped into the City of London Darts Association finals night, with a main and a handicap event being played simultaneously at the now cavernous Spots & Stripes. It's been several years since I attended a COLDA event, but...

October 2018 Capital Arrows Updates

So the news isn't great (and neither is the frequency of these updates). The number of central London dart pubs has dropped below 90 for the first time, and we've lost some special ones - notably the Champion in Wells Street, and Aldgate's Still and Star and Duke of...

May 2017 Capital Arrows updates

Four new venues have been added to the guide recently. In the Aldgate and City area we've welcomed City Sports Pub and Grill, and the Old Tea Warehouse. In Kings Cross, the loss of the Carpenter's Arms (where I once hit 3 with the first three darts of a cup match) has...

August 2016 Capital Arrows updates

Two recent additions to the list: Steam Wine Bar in the City - an interesting multiple board newcomer to darts - and an old-fashioned boozer south of the river, the Kings Arms in Kennington. The only recent casualty is the Globe in Borough Market, which has been...

Happy 90th Birthday to darts

Ninety years ago today the very first darts tournament played under codified rules took place in London. There was a sharp rise in interest in darts in the early part of the twentieth century, so some darting heroes led by a guy called Ted Leggatt got together in...

May 2016 Capital Arrows updates

It's been all fairly quiet on the London darting front recently, with the only known casualty the Red Herring, which appears to have shut for good. On a more positive note, a board has been put up at the Newman Arms in Soho (Fitzrovia really) - a fine pub. To make up...

February 2016 Capital Arrows updates

Two new additions to Capital Arrows this month - the Wood Street Bar in Barbican in the City, and the Temple Bar in the Covent Garden area. Both have a lot going for them and are worth knowing about, particularly for locals. Two casualties also. The Duke of Wellington...

Last orders looming for darts in pubs in London

The new Capital Arrows launches today with the news that one in three of London’s pubs have removed their board or disappeared completely in just five years. Darts as a spectator sport is booming in London. The recent Professional Darts Corporation World Championship...

Happy New Site

With the haste of a best of 11-setter between Dennis Priestley and Justin Pipe, my new website has arrived. If you hadn’t noticed, it’s [nearly] all about the pubs. Whilst the sport flourishes, the pub game in London is dying, so I’m hopeful that the new, refreshed,...

Flight Club: the future is blue for central London darts

London’s newest darts venue opened its doors on the edge of the City this week promising to preserve the tradition of darts, whilst 'completely blowing the doors off it'. So far, Flight Club seems to have delivered. On Wednesday night each of the twelve boards were in...

Green shoots

Whilst the trend for London's dart pubs remains downard, a few green shoots have sprung early in 2015. The White Lion reopened in Clerkenwell, the new Parcel Yard in King's Cross station put a board in their games room, and sisal was discovered south of the river at...

London’s dart pubs continue to decline

It's been a bad couple of months for London's dart pubs. At the end of May 2014 the Porter's Lodge in the City finally closed its' doors for good. It was an ugly pub which was in desperate need of new toilets (!), but it had been one of London's very best dart pubs...

Bunting’s switch trims BDOs green shoots

The announcement from the PDC today that Stephen Bunting has, somewhat belatedly, accepted a Tour Card for the next two years is a major blow to the BDO, and in particular to the new World Trophy tournament taking place in Blackpool in February.In what was already...

The BDO faces a crucial twelve months, once again

The changes made to the Lakeside World Darts championship last year gave the BDO the opportunity to shine, and someone somewhere seems to have turned the lights on – the 2014 iteration was a qualified success.Despite the BBC entirely ignoring the opportunity to...

PDC world final – a new darting star is born

At 4-0 down the commentators in the press tent were scrambling around looking for stats about the biggest defeat ever. Peter Wright had won just two of the first 14 legs and was already 4-0 down to Michael van Gerwen in the race to 7 to become the new world champion....

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