| Pub |
Recommended
Beer
|
Visit
Date |
Comments |
Score |
|
Wych
Elm
|
Pride,
ESB
|
29th
December 2006
|
With
K2 winning the first 3 games, me the second 3, and K1, fuelled
with ESB, the next 3 there was nothing to choose between us. As
usual, high scores were matched by as many 2's and 3's. At least 2
genuine attempts at 180 just about kept up the interest but as concentration
waned K1 somehow got to 8. It then all changed with an 11 dart
finish from which I went on a run of games to take the last MVP of
2006. (D-10, K1-8, K2-4)
|
9 |
|
Waggon/Kellys
|
Pride
|
22nd
December 2006
|
John
having lazed around all day was in sparkling form winning 7 out of
9 games where as I who had spent most of the day in the Pub and
Brian who had got up at 3am in Qatar were not. The score tells the
tale. Fortunately the dart board in the Waggon was occupied so we
could waste time reversing the hyperspace from last week. (C-11,
J-7, K1-4, K2-2, S-2, B-0, D-0)
|
7 |
|
Kellys/Waggon
|
Bombardier
|
15th
December 2006
|
A
group of youngsters prevented play in the Kelly's so a hyperspace
to the Waggon was necessary to save us all from falling asleep.
Once installed with a pint of Bombardier the darts flew thick and
fast. Brian raised the bar a few notches with heavy scoring and
fast finishing. No longer was 40ish a good score and failing to
finish was unerringly punished. Brian seemed to be able to pull
out a ton at the crucial moments to leave K1 an I trailing in his
wake. Hopefully he will be back on normal form next week. (B-14,
K1-9, D-7)
|
8 |
|
Waggon
|
Bombardier
|
8th
December 2006
|
At
last Brian has mastered the art of partner selection. His encouragement
even when his partners darts missed completely resulted in a well
deserved win. Mad Mark gave it his best shot but the scoring and
dart playing proved too challenging on this Friday night. More
practice required I guess. I managed to finish 4 games despite
forgetting my glasses. Should I forget my darts as well next week?
(B-12, D-7, K1-6, M-6, K2-5)
|
9 |
|
Woodies
|
Hogs
Back, Advent, Pride, Ordinary
|
1st
December 2006
|
As
always its not the guy that finishes who wins it the guy who
chooses the right partner at the right time. Brian finished 10 out
of 10, John 5 out of 14 buts who finished the evening MVP? Maybe
the saying should be "Doubles for show, partner selection for
doe". (J-14, B-10, D-7, K1-4, K2-1)
|
8 |
|
Wych
Elm
|
Pride,
Chiswick
|
24th
November 2006
|
There
was only one winner from the start this week. K1 was somehow
inspired by the painful extraction of a tooth during the week to
produce some truly outstanding finishing. A few attempts
at 180 were a mere cameo as the games came thick and fast. (K1-14,
D-8, J-8, K2-8, B-4)
|
9 |
|
Kellys
|
Best
|
17th
November 2006
|
Its
always a mistake to encourage the local drunks and unfortunately I
made the cardinal sin of engaging one in conversation only to
regret it. It did encourage me to finish my first game but it
wasn't worth the resulting groan of "Come on Dave" for
the rest of the evening. (K2-11, D-10, B-10, K1-7, C-6)
|
8 |
|
Waggon
|
Guinness, Mixed, Ordinary,
Red Wine
|
10th
November 2006
|
After
a couple of weeks away it was good to get back to darts despite
the regulars obstinacy. Once they had moved from their position
next to the ochee play began. The standard was erratic to say the
least but as usual careful partner selection was the key and Brian
got it right this week. (B11, K1-6, K2-6, D-5, J-4, S-0)
|
8 |
|
Willoughby
|
Rebellion
Mutiny (4.5), Daisy Cutter (6,1%)
|
3rd
November 2006
|
There
was no such thing as a pint of crafty shag so we had to stick to
last weeks selection. This was just as well as without my glasses
I was guessing the names of suitable beers. When my memory had
faded I ended the evening with the a pint of Daisy Cutter which could
have been a mistake at 6.1%. Pity I didn't follow Brian's lead by
going home early.
|
7 |
|
Willoughby
|
Pumpkin
Ale 4.2%,
Finchcocks Original 3.5%,
Black
Eagle Special Pale Ale 3.8%, General Wolfe Maple Ale 4.3%,
Sussex Bitter 4%,
Tribute 4.2%,
Gold 4.2%,
Crane Sundancer 3.7%, Autumn Blaze 4.4%, Nyewood Gold 5%,
Signature 4.4%, Hampshire Rose 4.2%, Shere Drop 4.2%, Dark
Destroyer 4.7%, Reg's Tipple 5%, Hair of the Hog 3.5%, Rip Snorter
5%
|
27th
October 2006
|
With
our collective eyesight degrading rapidly it was difficult to read
the menu even with the aid of glasses but a blind man would have
guessed that Dark Destroyer was going to be a heavy dark ale. Such
in depth knowledge has obviously been gained from years of experience
at these excellent events. Who's back next week for a pint of
Crafty Shag? The menu says its not to be missed!
|
9 |
|
Kelly's
|
Best
|
20th
October 2006
|
Talk
about bad partner selection. The score
says it all! K2 got it right and ended the evening MVP! (K2-12,
B-11, K1-8, C-8, D-1)
|
8 |
|
New
Prince
|
Butser,
Red Wine
|
13th
October 2006
|
With
red wine at £2.40 a glass in had to be a special occasion to
drink it. Fortunately it was Shelia's birthday curry so she was
allowed a couple of glasses while the rest of us stuck to the
Butser. When the conversation started heading towards bike lights
darts got under way and K1 managed to finish as MVP.
|
8 |
|
Woodies
|
Seasider,
??
|
6th
October 2006
|
A
slow start but once we started I began to think the board was
closer than usual. High scores and spectacular finishing were the
order of the evening. The best being 4 darts from 190 which I
rounded off with a bull finish. A pity its not like this every
week. (D-6, B-6, JR-6, K1-3, K2-3)
|
8 |
|
Kellys
|
Best
|
29th
September 2006
|
A
late appearance by Glenn gave him his first game of the series.
Double 16 was causing some problems with K2 finishing with two x
8's. This was followed by my x7 and x9. (B-8,
D-7, K1-6, K2-5, C-5, G-1)
|
7 |
|
Waggon
|
Guinness,
Ram Rod, Mixed, Ordinary
|
22nd
September 2006
|
Interestingly
it was the two who started with a pint of Ram Rod (5%) who
maintained their concentration throughout the evening and finished
on top. K1 used the old partner selection trick to team up with K2
and JR when they were playing well to ensure he was MVP once
more. (K1-13, J-10, K2-6, B-4, D-3)
|
7 |
|
Kellys
|
Courage
Best
|
15th
September 2006
|
Loads
of punters but only two playing darts.
Brian had two solid attempts at 180 (140 and 174) but the
old adage still applies; score for show – doubles for dough! Really knackering with just the two of us (KS) (K1-10, B-6)
|
5 |
|
Waggon
|
Guinness,
Ordinary
|
8th
September 2006
|
Without
Keith's darts and a roof to bounce them off K2 was lost. Despite a
serious attempt at 180 it was the consistency and finishing that
let him down. Is Teletext coverage of the cricket the only
explanation? (B-14, K1-9, D-9, K2-4)
|
8 |
|
King
William IV
|
Shere
Drop, Ranmore Ale, Tea
|
1st
September 2006
|
How
when you forget your darts and are too tall to throw your darts
without hitting the ceiling do you finish the evening without
chalking? Maybe it was the 1 mile trek though treacherous countryside
to get to the pub or the thought of the return journey in the dark. Maybe it was the
promise of one of JR's hot curries. Only
K2 knows.
(K2-10, K1-7, JR-4, D-2, B-1)
|
9 |
|
Kelly's
|
Best
|
25th
August 2006
|
Twenty
games of darts couldn't separate us before all wobbled home. K2 found
the journey a little more difficult than usual as his peddles
had fallen off. Don't ask. (C-13, K1-9, K2-9, D-9)
|
9 |
|
Woodies
|
Brains
SA
|
18th
August 2006
|
The
lure of a surprise beer festival couldn't lure us away from the darts
and the Brains SA was good enough not to temp us to stray further.
(K1-7, J-6, K2-5, B-4, D-2)
|
8 |
|
Waggon
|
Special, Ordinary
|
11th
August 2006
|
Beer,
darts, curry. Both Shelia and Frances threw some excellent darts
to show that their is no point in practicing and Brian on his 50th
birthday outing deservedly finished as MVP following some good
finishing. (B-8, K1-7, F-4, S-2, D-2)
|
8 |
|
New
Prince
|
Pride
|
Friday 4th August 2006
|
The
new Kinston Wheelers cycle kit provide entertainment for at least
1/2 an hour before the midges sent us inside for a game of darts.
The standard was as low as it gets with numerous complete misses
of the board. Surprisingly K1 was not main culprit. Brian
deservedly ended the evening as MVP. (B-6, D-5, K2-5, K1-3, S-3)
|
8 |
|
Kelly's
|
Best
|
Friday 28 July 2006
|
With
numbers down due to the holiday season you would have expected a quiet
night but then nothing seems to proceed as expected these days.
Once we had discussed the guilt of Floyd Landis and the other news
worthy items of the week we had already reached the optimum number
of beers to play darts and to be honest the darts in the first few
games were the best of the evening. I as usual choose my partners
carefully and was MVP without finishing a game before JR left for
the train. (D-8, C-7, J-4, K2-3)
|
9 |
|
Waggon
|
Guinness
|
Friday 21 July 2006
|
A hat tick of Waggons
and with only K1 and I to contest the darts it was back from holiday
with a thumping. A 10-1 thumping to be exact. But the excitement
didn't finish there. A domestic saw a men run into the bar at
closing time followed by a manic throwing bricks. Luckily the old
bill came along quickly to restore normality.
|
7 |
|
Waggon
|
St George’s, Light
and Bitter, Red Wine
|
Friday 14 July 2006
|
Bastille Day – the World
Wimbledon Cup well finished and hence an outdoor discussion on Le
Tour and bicycle components in general.
Darts commenced promptly at 10 pm and the throwing was
erratic to say the least. A typical sequence from K2 went something like 26, 7, 22, 11,
180, 29, 15 – yes an absolutely no doubt rock solid 180 out of
the blue. Final
scores K1-7, K2-7, B-6, S-2, a score not fairly reflecting some
excellent darts from Sheila who was badly let down by her
partners. An
excellent evening but, with the summer season in full swing,
who’ll be there next week for the Waggon hat-trick? (KS)
|
9 |
|
Waggon
|
Ordinary, St
George’s
|
Friday 7 July 2006
|
The start of the summer
season and poor attendances.
A garden discussion on the current sporting event – the
FIFA World Tour de Wimbledon Cup.
The conclusion was that Tracey Austin would have made a
better coach than the fraudulent Swede, especially if she had
stayed off the performance-enhancing drugs.
Darts kick-off time was 10.00 pm and twenty rapid fire 301
singles gave a final score of B-8, K1-7, K2-5 and some pretty high
quality arrows. As
the old saying goes “It’s better to be in the Waggon than
‘on the waggon’”, so we’re going there again next week for
a repeat session! (KS)
|
9 |
|
Willoughby,
Wych
Elm
|
Bombardier,
Pride, Discovery
|
30th
June 2006
|
With
the world cup in full swing the evening had to start with a beer
in the Willoughby watching Italy beat the Ukraine. A hot dog also
went down very well. Boss Hogg and friends ensured the dart
board was out of bounds so a hyper space to the Wych Elm saw some
darts action. The early signs were not too good with yours truly
getting 3 on two consecutive throws ablely assisted by Brian with
a 3 and an 11. Needless to say we lost that game but towards the
end of the evening the standard improved and K1 and I finished as
MVP's. (K1-8, D-8, K2-7, B-5)
|
9 |
|
Woodies
|
St Georges
|
23rd June 2006
|
Once
France had squeezed past Togo and the locals had been cleared from
under the dart board, battle commence. Strangely JR kept winning
despite some truly awful darts and at the end of the evening had
chalked up 7 victories of which he had finished only one. (D-1, K1-6,
K2-3, JR-7, B-1)
|
8 |
|
Waggon
|
St Georges
|
16th June 2006
|
With Joao Ricardo pulling of miracles to keep Angola's world cup hopes
alive it needed something special to keep the audiences. Up next
was a classic Friday night darts match. Tension, tantrums,
gamesmanship, poor scoring, sledging (of own team members) were
littered through the proceedings and strangely the darts weren't
bad either with some very respectable finishing for a change. JR
rightly took the MVP.
|
8 |
|
Fox & Hounds
|
Courage Best, milky TEA
|
9th June 2006 |
Good to return to old hunting (get it!) grounds.
Negatives; the TEA was milky, the big screen lacks focus,
parts of the building have terminal dry rot and the view is of the
road rather than the river. However,
this was a summer’s evening when any pub is good, Ecuador vs.
Poland couldn’t keep us inside the Best was better and we
finished (maybe the wrong word) the evening with some arrers.
A return is probable.
(KS)
|
8 |
|
Kellys
|
Best
|
2nd June 2006 |
Some of the worst finishing in memory can only be explained by the
week off. Brian was the benefactor and went on to become MVP.
|
8 |
|
|
|
24th May 2006 |
Alps Cycle Trip
|
|
|
Woodies
|
Bombardier
|
17th May 2006 |
A soaking on the way to the pub resulted in some of the worst
darts in living memory. That is until K1 decided enough was enough
and finished with a bull. The standard then slowly improved but K1
maintained his lead and finished as MVP. He then celebrated by
getting soaked again on the way home.
|
8 |
|
Waggon
|
St Georges
|
12th May 2006 |
Numbers were swollen due to John, Mike & Evan's birthday curry
which happened to coincide with the 20th anniversary of 20 years
of visiting a different pub every Friday night. After the usual
cycling conversation the darts began. The normal round robin was
enhanced with some late guest appearances and the evening ended in
a 4 a side game of 501. Somehow (probably by throwing the most
accurate darts) K1 went home MVP but from the picture of him at
the curry
house it looks like he was well past caring.
|
9 |
|
Kellys
|
Best
|
5th May 2006 |
I was due some bad luck but not this much all in one evening. In the
end the frustration and the second playing of the liquidator got
to me and I couldn't hit a barn door. Two close finishing opportunities
from 96 and then 98 only reinforced the saying a miss is a good as
a mile. I trust everyone else had a pleasant evening. (K1-9, K2-9,
B-9, J-8, D-2, E-1)
|
3 |
|
Waggon
|
St Georges
|
28th April 2006 |
With a swell in numbers due to Keith postponed birthday curry
the darts was a little chaotic. Despite the confusion the drama
continued and Keith left for his birthday curry as MVP. (K1-7,
J-6, B-3, D-3, K2-1)
|
8 |
|
Willoughby
|
Archers: Spirit of St George
Adnams: Explorer
Downton: Brunel's Birthday Special
Downton: Firedraught
Grand Union: Special
Grand Union: Best bitter
Hepworth: Iron Horse
Hepworth: Pullman First Class
Hepworth: England's Glory
Hepworth: Hair of the Hog
Surrey Hills: Ranmore Drop
St. Austell: Tribute
Tripple FFF: Moondance
Tripple FFF: Alton's Pride
Titanic: England's Glory
Twickenham: Spring Ale
Twickenham: Original
Twickenham: Advantage
Welton's: Old Cocky
Welton's: Sussex Pride
Young's: St George's
|
21st April 2006 |
With numbers down this year at least we got a seat but the
atmosphere was lacking. We could almost of had a game of darts.
Let's hope the Halloween festival is better advertised so the
traditional beer festivals continue.
|
8 |
|
Woodies
|
Best Bitter
|
14th April 2006 |
With a half 10 closing it appeared that we spent more time
ordering beers than playing darts. K2, despite arriving late,
walked off as the MVP while everyone else was struggling to hit
the doubles. (K2-7, D-5, J-5, K1-3)
|
8 |
|
Kellys
|
Best
|
7th April 2006 |
The early games were won by John who achieved the poor
mans 180 in the process. Later with numbers swollen by locals
Clive and Steve the evening took its normal course. The lack of
music almost went unnoticed as the volume increased due to
excessive beer mixed with wild darts. A 111 finish and an attempt
at a 142 finish all added to the drama. K2 was beaten as MVP in
the last few games by your truly thanks mainly to Steve's stabilizing
influence. (D-9, K2-8, S-8, K1-6, J-6, C-3, B-2, I-2)
|
9 |
|
Danny's
Bar (Flanders) WigWam (Gran Canaria)
|
Kwak 8%
Schmucker 5%
|
31st March 2006 |
With the boys sent on secret missions all around the globe to
investigate the strength of foreign beers the winner was deemed as
the last man standing. Mark clearly failed in his
mission. Meanwhile those remaining played darts...
A low attendance night commenced with a one hour conversation,
ending when Sheila detected smoke in the 'no smoking' area. A quick fire
darts tournament allowed Brian to chalk up another champion performance
with some excellent finishing and Sheila to claim one famous
victory before retiring with fatigue. Your reporter threw some
really wild darts, maybe put off by the torrential downpour
outside; fortunately this abated before throwing out time and
hence did not add to the misery of a puncture. (KS)
|
8 |
|
New
Prince
|
Butser
|
24th March 2006 |
What a way to see out my first half century. Good beer, a good curry
all washed down with a game of darts surrounded by good
friends. (B-4, M1-3, K1-3, J-3, D-3, K2-2, M2-2) |
10 |
|
Kellys
|
Best
|
17th March 2006 |
Brain won the first and last 4 games of the evening to leave Dave (who played awful darts
all evening but somehow managed to motivate his partners to keep
him ahead) wishing he had gone home with JR after the fifth beer.
What Brian was doing between the start and end of the evening is
anybodies guess. (B-11, D-10, K1-8, J-8, K2-5) |
9 |
|
Lamb
|
Spitfire
|
10th March 2006 |
It was kind of the bar staff to keep the pub open for us as we
were pretty much the only punters there. Not surprising since
the decor dates back to the early 50's and the stereo has a TV
in one ear and a Jukebox in the other. Even the beer pump was on
its last legs as it took a age to pull a pint. The dartboard
still functioned though so we were able to organise ourselves
and generate enough atmosphere to blank out the pub deficiencies.
(D-10, K1-8, B-8, K2-6, J-5) |
7 |
|
Woodies
|
Six
Nations
|
3rd March 2006 |
Some truly awful darts interspersed with some inspired
finishing and random high scores kept the outcome open until the
very last game. So much so that JR left 5 minutes late to catch
the train home. With the bar staff serving up 30 nations at a
time it was all too much excitement for a cold Friday evening.
(D-9, K1-8, J-8, K2-4, B-3) |
8 |
|
Waggon
|
Ordinary,
Guinness
|
24th February 2006 |
A three way tie and a birthday curry
sent almost everyone home happy. The darts however where erratic
to say the least. A 111 finish, a very close attempt at a
180 and numerous darts completely off the board. What is
happening? I guess age is starting to tell although it was the
50+ player who finished the evening on top. (K1-7, K2-7, J-7,
B-6, D-5) |
8 |
|
Kellys
|
Best
|
17th February 2006 |
With the cycling curry proving more of a pull that a night at
the Kelly's, numbers were down. Ian was drafted in and immediately proved his worth with
some unexpected
finishes which helped K1 become MVP once again. (K1-10, J-9,
D-6, I-4) |
8 |
| Woodies |
Bombardier, Ordinary, Pride, ? Down
|
10th February 2006 |
K2 is back. A stunning 10 minute 3-0 victory over the Shepherds
in the first set restored K2's confidence and there was no looking
back. (K2-10, K1-8, D-7, B-7) |
8 |
| Kelly's |
Best, Pride
|
3rd February 2006 |
Another close game with some impressive finishes especially from
Brian who finished all but one of his 12 victories. If only I
could have finished from 180 with 3 treble twenties instead of
two treble twenties and a treble 5. (K1-13, B-12, D-11, K2-8) |
8 |
| Waggon |
Ordinary,
Guinness, vino tinto, water
|
27th January 2006 |
Three issues to report:
- Rob
failed to appear for his own curry – event postponed.
- Beware
Dave – Team Scaffold shown the red card for excessive
volume (and probably excessive Anglo-Saxon).
- Evan
turned up lateish, stripped off many layers of clothing,
threw some wildish darts, stepped up to the oche and pinged
in an absolutely rock-solid 180, and then returned to
throwing some rather wildish darts again – marvellous
stuff. (KS)
(JR-9, B-7,K1-4,K2-3,E-2,S-1) |
9 |
| Woodies |
Hook Norton Golden Bitter? Bombardier, IPA
|
20th January 2006 |
Top class darts for a change in a close
competition with numerous attempts at a 180. Yours truly came out
on top with some impressive 2 and 3 dart finishes inspired by
thoughts of Jelle Klaasen I guess. (D-10, K1-8, B-8, J-6) |
8 |
| Kellys |
Best
|
13th January 2006 |
With John arriving late after an
afternoon drinking Guinness at the boat show there was no chance
of a repeat of last week. Instead K1 decided to show his prowess
and ended the evening as MVP despite drawing a blank at
finishing last week. John2, a unsuspecting member of the public,
summed up the evening and every evening with the passing comment
"I'm usually much better than that". Aren't we all?
(K1-12, B-9, D-7, K2-5, J2-4, J-3) |
8 |
| Waggon |
Guinness, Ordinary
|
6th January 2006 |
Once we considered the scafolders had
become too drunk or too bored to continue their game of darts we
crept over to the board and the darts competition commenced.
Eight game later John and I were still playing having defeated
all comers in all combinations (including the scafolders). The
dream team were back. A late rally by Brian and K2 and an early
train for JR meant I was MVP for a change. (D-10, J-8, B-3,
K2-3, K1-2) |
8 |
