Capital Arrows

May 2013: There are currently 112 central London dart pubs in the main guide and 47 Outside the Centre in 33 different areas.

The latest addition is the Whitesmiths Arms in London Bridge & Borough, but don't hold your breath, having just re-opened it looks unlikely to last this year. The latest casualty is the Griffin in Hoxton, where there were presumably too many twats in stoopid hats to justify throwing some arrows. My most recent visit was to the Seckforde Arms in Clerkenwell, which remains a lovely place to chuck some arrows.

It is 85 years since the first ever official darts competition took place - at the Red Lion in Wandsworth, South West London. The dart boards of London have been disappearing ever since, but these pages contain details of more than 100 pubs in and around Zone 1 London where a dart board can still be found.

Locating a board does not, however, guarantee being able to play darts - many are obstructed by furniture, people or private functions, and some, of course, are already in use. This guide therefore clusters available boards into geographical areas, so if a board is busy, blocked, or binned, alternative options should be within walking distance.

London is a big place, so Capital Arrows concentrates on the central London area - with the pubs listed in the main guide generally within 2 miles of Charing Cross. Each area contains a small map or you can check out the larger version. There is also a page of Lists, giving suggestions for the best boozers for joining a league or holding an event, a page about London's darts leagues, and, in response to demand, a list of some pubs Outside the Centre of town. The unique London 'Fives' board quite rightly gets a special page.

Capital Arrows is by no means complete, and whole dart-less areas remain, such as Mayfair and Knightsbridge. Corrections, updates and additions are welcome - please use the Suggest a Central London pub form on the relevant page or email mail@justinirwin.com.

Smallprint: this guide was first published in 2009; regular updates have been made since, with an annual refresh of all data. Every effort is made to publish and update correct information, but it only takes a minute to remove a dart board, so no responsibility can be taken for mistakes and changes. The opinions about pubs are all my own.