Pub |
Recommended
Beer
|
Visit
Date |
Comments |
Score |
Waggon |
Youngs Ordinaire, Sambrooks Pale Ale
|
28 Dec 2018 |
Two questions to be answered: (a) Is it
possible for trained athletes to be on the links in the morning
and the oche in the evening? (b) Would Dave’s putting patsies
lead to darting yips? Answers: (a) yes (b) sadly, no. This is one of those mid-xmas
days when most punters have had enough of boozing and going out;
consequently, the pub clientele comprised just old geezers (no
women). Never mind,
the Sambrooks is excellent and the dart standard was quite
reasonable – the occasional shout of joy following dart
success ensured that the old geezers stayed awake. (KS) Singles:
K1-7, D-3, B-3 |
9 |
Willy
(and on a plane at Luton Airport) |
Hobsons Best, Binghams Vanilla Stout, Exeter
Brewery Darkness
|
21 Dec 2018 |
With Brian diverted to Luton due to the
‘Gatwick Phantom Drone Attack’ we were rather restricted in
numbers so after watching football (Wolves 0 Scousers 2) and
testing out some excellent guest ales the end of the evening was
declared at 11pm in order to get ready for Xmas.
A much improved festive atmosphere in the Willy (KS)
Darts Singles K2, K1 – No enthusiasm and hence noplay. |
7 |
Lee Valley Velopark Bar |
IPA
|
14 Dec 2018 |
A great change from the Willwychwaggon
darts with an Olympic swim and a world cup cycling event at the
Olympic velodrome. A
good attendance and the beer was OK.
I think we need some more ‘events’ like this. (KS) |
10 |
Wych |
Pride, Seafarers. ESB
|
7 Dec 2018 |
‘On the 3rd day of Christmas
my true love sent to me 3 Brians-a-belay, 2 climbing Keiths and
a Glennmalcolmndavee’ – yes, the annual Xmas climbing curry
comes round again – a good evening in the Wych with absolutely
no possibility of refusing to play darts, because the pub was
rocking. (KS) Doubles: no play |
10 |
Waggon |
Tribute, Youngs mixed
|
30 Nov. 2018 |
Last weekend Van Gerwen and Anderson
completed 20 games in 30 minutes; for the second Friday on the
trot we managed just 3 games in 3 hours – lack of commitment
and a preference for chat. At least the Waggon is a decent pub for a chat and has a
decent crowd including women!
Excellent beer in the Waggon as usual. (KS) Singles:
K1-2, D-1, K2-0 |
9 |
Willy |
Four Grains, Harveys Sussex, Twickenham?
|
23 Nov 2018 |
Pretty desperate stuff.
K2, following a boozy spell in Halifax was not really
into the beer, some dodgy golf was on the big screen and they
attempted an amputation of my right thumb by giving me a very
sharp cracked glass. About 5 oldish blokes (no women) left in the pub when we
departed at 11.15. Good
venue for darts but we couldn’t really be bothered. (KS) Darts
Singles K2-2, K1-1 |
5 |
Wych |
Pride, Dark Star, Liberation, Bengal Lancer
|
16 Nov. 2018 |
Pete made a good effort to force us to play
darts but we refused. An
excellent evening in the Wych where we sampled some of the other
very nice beers on offer, and we managed to chat the whole
evening without one single mention of Brexit that was in the
news all day. (KS) Singles: no play |
8 |
Waggon |
Sambrooks Pale Ale
|
9 Nov. 2018 |
A large crowd when we first arrived but
this soon disappeared leaving the way open for some reasonable
darts including some excellent 2-dart finishes (I managed a 68;
18,Bull) especially from Brian.
A very wet and windy evening but well worth it for the
Sambrooks Pale ale, a pleasant drop. (KS) Singles: B-8, K2-4,
K1-2 |
8 |
Willy |
Arbor Shangri-La,
Binghams Macchiato, Coastal Cornish Porter,
Downton Pumpkin Ale, Long Man Scary Man, Windsor and Eton
Canberra, Exeter Avocet, Bristol Fortitude ....and other
|
2 Nov 2018 |
The Halloween Beer Festival with a great
selection of generally good beers.
The Willy is quite eccentric; the Sports Bar is basically
an adult kindergarten for the ‘guys at the bar’, and got
cold when Rick left the door open; the pool room is relatively
sensible with a group playing pool; the back bar is bonkers –
a folk group is groaning away for their own benefit with no
audience because there is no room for an audience; the front bar
is reasonably sensible for punters wanting a drink and a chat.
In the past with more punters we would have
attempted to go through the beer card where somebody would have
had to drink a pint of Euphoria (10%)! (KS) Darts: boards
covered up |
9 |
Waggon |
Sambrooks Wandle and Pale Ale
|
26 Oct. 2018 |
The last chance for a doubles match for
quite a while as some players are taking a holiday.
Despite eyesight problems and some trouble with
bounce-outs K2 romped to victory in a frankly low-quality match;
there is no doubt that some more practice is required.
The beer was good and the general opinion was that the
slightly stronger Pale Ale is more tasty than the Wandle.
Better music in the Waggon for a change. (KS) Doubles:
K2-8, D-6, B-6, K1-6 |
9 |
Waggon |
Sambrooks Junction
|
19 Oct. 2018 |
Just settling in to a long high-pressure
fraternal singles match when we are forced to accept a
challenge. We raced into a 4-1 lead and then the wheels fell off –
particularly annoying as the opposition specialised in the
tennis double fist bump. As
it was late we refused to play the decider and avoided the
inevitable defeat. (KS) Singles: B-2, K1-2;
Challenge: Rejects-4, Fistbumpers-4 |
7 |
Bell and Jorrocks (sometimes known as
the Gel and Borrocks), Frittenden |
Harveys all
the way
|
28 September 2018 |
A tough evening following 50 miles in the
saddle and an excess of food (full English breakfast and
excellent evening curry kindly provided by Jenny and Rob).
A great decision to play some tactics rather than risk
the desperately poor finishing of 2017; following a brief (30
minutes) explanation of the rules there were two exciting games
and a satisfactory overall draw – any thoughts of a decider
were rapidly dispelled due to general tiredness and JR’s
totally out-of-character inability to finish his first pint.
An excellent evening, an integral part of the Tour de
Kent (and a bit of East Sussex). (KS) Tactics: K1, D, Mike, Rob - 1
: K2, JR, Malcolm,
Jenny
-1 |
10 |
Willy |
Weltons (ran out), Sussex (ran out), ‘Pint’
(not good)
|
21 Sept 2018 |
A decent game of singles in the Willy with
two decent beers and one that Dave decided was not so good. (KS)
Singles Tennis: D beat K1 3-2,3-1,0-3 |
7 |
Waggon |
Tribute
|
14 Sept. 2018 |
A case of ‘bad play stops light’! The barman, upset with our ‘short’ interlude from play
turned the dart light off until we resumed play which, of
course, we never did. I
am afraid that the opportunity to chat is currently proving more
popular than the arrows. Anyway, Dave had 100% success before we lost interest. (KS)
Singles: D-3, K1-DNF, K2-DNF, M-DNS |
8 |
Wych |
Pride
|
7 Sept 2018 |
A wise decision to make a late change to
the Wych where Pete ensures that darts is compulsory.
Hence, an evening of much chat and some darts. Amazing to see that the pub was effectively empty before 11pm
– times have changed! (KS) Singles: K2-4, D-3, K1-2 |
9 |
Waggon |
Cups of TEA
|
31 August 2018 |
It’s the last day of summer and it’s
GAME ON – finally the arrows are unsheathed! A quiet unhurried
singles match of variable quality in a pretty empty public bar.
The TEA proved to be an excellent brew this week. (KS)
Singles tennis: D beat K1 3-2, 3-1, 1-3 |
7 |
Willy |
Citra (tasted as it sounded), Sussex
|
24th August 2018 |
Again no real excuse – after the end of
Friday Night Football the boards were free and awaiting action
– however, after some procrastination rather amazingly two
guys turned up and decided to play and even erased some of our
ancient scores. Darts
is definitely not a summer game, especially if the peloton has
been on the road in the morning. (KS) Doubles or singles:
D,K1,K2,M - no play yet again |
7 |
None |
None
|
17th August 2018 |
Those not on holiday or without some other excuse just stayed at
home. |
0 |
Willy |
Seafarers, Mosaic
|
10th August 2018 |
Welcome to the start of the new Premiership
season and Friday Night Football – I’m not that keen as it
interferes with the more important Friday Night Darts.
Actually there was no excuse as the darts could have
kicked off quite happily at 10pm when the football changed to
the Willy’s favourite of Friday Night Golf.
No excuses – we couldn’t be bothered and preferred a
chat over some excellent beer. (KS) Doubles or singles:
D,K1,K2,B,M - no play |
8 |
Waggon |
Sambrooks IPA (good), TEA (not so good)
|
3rd August 2018 |
Ten minutes with Like and Clive is often
good value; half an hour is really stretching it.
On a very warm evening Fran made a rare appearance on the
oche but failed to trouble the scorer (my fault really) but it
was all square after a few games of singles.
I think darts is really a winter game. (KS) Singles and
doubles: K1-4, D-4, K2-4 |
7 |
Willy |
Whitstable (not recommended), Grandstand
|
27th July 2018 |
The world cup bunting was down and the
dartboard free; unfortunately due to the recent heatwave and some
upcoming cycling events the players did not have the energy to
play. After a very
dubious beer from Whitstable we settled down for a chat with some
pints of Grandstand. (KS) Doubles or singles: D,K1,K2,M - no play
|
8 |
Waggon |
TEA, Doom Bar
|
20th July 2018 |
The heatwave is affecting the darts – after
a quick singles match we accepted a challenge of a doubles match
but, after second thoughts, we decided to retire and allow the
‘opposition’ to play singles.
The morning ‘three hills’ cycle may have made some
contribution to the lack of energy and enthusiasm. (KS) Singles:
K1-1, D-1
|
7 |
Wych |
Pride
|
13th July 2018 |
Still suffering from England’s rather
meek exit from the world cup, a toughish ride out to Leith Hill,
K2’s infected thumb and an excellent Djokovich/Nadal Wimbledon
semi on the box there was very little chance of the darts
commencing. No
problems -on a very warm summer evening the Pride tasted
particularly good; due to antibiotics intake K2 took the
doctor’s advice on drinking – he had 3.5 pints rather than
the customary 4! (KS) Singles or doubles: No play |
9 |
Waggon |
Sambrooks IPA
|
6th July 2018 |
An excellent evening in the Waggon after a
morning Polesden cycle, looking forward to Saturday’s world
cup clash with Sweden. Rather
surprisingly after some punters went home a short darts cameo
kicked off at 11.20 and Dave recovered from his previous poor
performance in the Waggon with a convincing win.
Excellent Sambrooks beer on offer. (KS) Singles: D-3,
K1-DNF, K2-DNS |
8 |
Wych |
Summer Lightning, El Toro Wheat beer, Pride
|
29th June 2018 |
A really boiling evening and so most
punters outside. After
a long chat and beer appreciation the darts got underway at
10.45. Some
reasonable play and an exciting evening with K2 taking the
decider with a 3-darter and D11. (KS) Singles: K2-5, K1-4 |
9 |
Waggon |
Youngs light and bitter,
Sambrooks, IPA
|
22nd June 2018 |
For the 3rd week running the
3-man morning peloton reconvened for evening refreshment and
this week found the energy for a game of arrows.
Excellent warm summer evening and some good beer to go
with it. (KS) Singles: B-8, K1-6, ? |
8 |
Willy |
Harvey’s Sussex, Avocet
|
15th June 2018 |
The Friday peloton plus K2 reconvened in
the Willy for evening refreshment and a game of arrows again
forgetting that world cups/Euros means that the dartboard is
covered in flags rendering dartplay impossible.
Never mind, the earlier world cup match was a classic
(Spain 3 Portugal 3), the weather was very pleasant and the beer
tasted good. (KS) Doubles: Flags stopped play |
8 |
Waggon |
TEA
|
8th June 2018 |
For the 3-man Friday peloton it’s cups of
tea at Box Hill in the morning and reconvene for pints of
excellent TEA in the Waggon in the evening.
A very pleasant summer evening with a reasonable number
of punters in the pub and absolutely no enthusiasm for playing
darts. (KS) Singles: K1,D and M could not be bothered |
8 |
Willy |
Harvey’s Sussex
|
1st June 2018 |
A nice warm evening to bring in the start
of summer and a slight increase in the number of punters
venturing out. After
a couple of beers al fresco the darts commenced and Dave won the
match 3-0, 3-0 but generously agreed to play a 3rd
set and let me clock up a few late finishes – I lost count of
the number of ‘1s’ that I hit but there was certainly quite
a few fish. The
beer was particularly tasty. (KS) Singles: D-8, K1-3
|
7 |
Caveau de l’Ami Fritz and the Streng Bar
(PMU), Ribeauville, Alsace |
Various wines and beers
|
25th May 2018 |
As usual you have to go away to get a
decent turnout for the Friday Night Drinking – in this case
our first night in Ribeauville.
Unfortunately one team member was down with the
thr’pennies but a turnout of eight is still commendable.
Following an excellent meal and drink at the L’Ami
Fritz restaurant those punters with some energy transferred to
the local PMU where we could have played babyfoot, pool or
pinball but frankly we could not be bothered.
An excellent evening with a more restrained attitude to
booze than some notorious earlier trips! (KS)
|
10 |
Willy |
Weltons?, Grandstand
|
18th May 2018 |
A quiet evening to discuss the upcoming
cycle tour of the Vosges. A
few games to interfere with the chat and K2 coming out on top
– the pub was virtually punter-free. (KS) Singles: K2-4, K1-3,
D-1
|
7 |
Waggon |
Sambrooks Junction
|
4th May 2018 |
Some early discussion of Vosges cycle
routes using an old-fashioned paper map; then a reasonable darts
match with Dave showing finishing expertise and winning five on
the trot. The beer was so good that I can remember that Dave won but
have no idea of the scores – they were still up on the
following Wednesday but I forgot them again! (KS) Singles: D- , K2- , K1-
|
8 |
Wych |
Pride
|
27th April 2018 |
We keep saying that Friday evening is for
beer and darts and Saturday afternoon is for football....but
nobody’s listening. After
a rather unpleasant damp ride to Fulham it was great to recover
and rehydrate in the Wych with a starting time of 10.30.
Friday night is not an appropriate time for football!! (KS)
Football: Fulham 2 Sunderland 1, Darts Singles: K1-0, K2-0
|
7 |
|
|
20th April 2018 |
|
|
Akbars/Willy |
Cobra, Kingfisher, Weltons and others
|
13th April 2018 |
A quick hat-trick of birthday curries
following a year’s curry drought (or famine); this one
celebrated my imminent passage to OAPdom and Dave’s 35th
wedding anniversary. I thought that my ruby was especially tasty.
Some noisy (according to Fran!) darts in the Willy and
naturally no finishes for the birthday boy, who relied on the
generosity of others to notch up a few wins.
Why did we go a whole year without a curry?! (KS)
Doubles: D-5, K1-4, K2-4, M-4, B-3 |
10 |
Berry |
Greene King St Edmunds
|
6th April 2018 |
The Berry was the call to allow all Fulham,
Aston Villa and Wolves fans to watch Cardiff be defeated; there
was no disappointment and two Cardiff missed penalties in injury
time added to the enjoyment.
It would have been nice to have had a couple of games of
arrers to celebrate the life of the Crafty Cockney who checked
out at 60 this week; unfortunately, since the pool tables were
removed, darts is very popular with the locals and a game is
unlikely. No worries – the Berry is a good pub and the Greene King
beer was excellent. (KS) No Darts:
Football: Cardiff 0 Wolves 1 |
9 |
Waggon |
Youngs Ordinary and Mixed
|
30th March 2018 |
After the wettest Good Friday on record it
was good to join the few punters who could be bothered to go
out. The darts ended (good!) when some other punters wished to
play and an early bed was the call. (KS) Singles: B-3, K1-2 |
7 |
Akbars/Willy |
Cobra, Kingfisher, Pride, Seafarers
|
23rd March 2018 |
Just like London buses birthday curries
come along in pairs. Another
excellent curry for Dave’s birthday followed by a session in
the Wych Elm where darts are compulsory as Pete rolls out the
oche whether you want it or not.
Not great quality darts but at least everyone finished a
game. (KS) Doubles: K1-3, K2-3, D-2, M-2 |
10 |
Waggon |
Tribute, Doom Bar
|
16th March 2018 |
The match always seemed to heading for a
‘beast’ finish (6,6,6) but in the end Dave raised his game
and took yet another win. Much
more lively in the Waggon and some really excellent Tribute –
when the Tribute ran out the replacement Doom Bar was very
bland. (KS) Singles: D-7, K1-6, K2-4 |
9 |
Akbars/Willy |
Cobra, Kingfisher, Grandstand and others
|
9th March 2018 |
K2’s curry dragged out some old Friday
night regulars with guests appearing from Surrey, Kent and
Sussex. An
excellent curry was followed by a trip to the Willy where John
demonstrated yet again that practice counts for nothing at all
– he even had two really good attempts (140) at a 180 that
would have been ridiculous.
A really good evening that shows that curries should be
more frequent than once per year. (KS) Singles: B-6, JR-5, K1-3,
D-2 |
10 |
Wych |
Pride
|
2nd March 2018 |
Braving the ‘Beast from the East’ plus
snow and ice I was fully expecting a two-man shoot-out in an
empty pub; big mistake as the Wych was full and buzzing –
probably punters whose home heating was not coping and they
needed to warm up and self-anaesthesise.
No problem – an excellent evening with Holly and
Malcolm and a slight thaw detected on the way home. (KS)
Singles: K1-0, K2-0 |
9 |
Waggon |
TEA, Youngs ord
|
16th Feb 2018 |
After a night off last week the team got in
one last session before players set off for various warm weather
training blocks. Some
very wild darts were thrown but yet again Dave came out on top.
(KS) Singles: D-8, B-7, K1-5 |
8 |
Nowhere |
None
|
9th Feb 2018 |
No interest in beer |
0 |
Wych |
Pride, Seafarers
|
2nd Feb 2018 |
Great to get back to the Wych after many
months’ absence – On Thursday evening I ‘booked’ the
dartboard and Pete, rather than rolling out the red carpet,
rolled out the oche upon our arrival. Nice and warm, good beer and a mixture of some good darts and
some truly awful play – Dave’s double fish, my finish of 23
(17, D8!) and Brian’s attempted finish of 35 (3, D16!) –
darting and mathematical ability both sadly lacking. An
excellent evening. (KS) Singles: B-9, D-5, K1-2) |
10 |
Waggon |
Youngs, Tribute, Courage Best
|
26th January 2018 |
Great to see Courage Best on the menu –
Now concentrate folks! Best
is now brewed by Marstons in the Charles Wells Eagle Brewery in
Bedford. Not sure
it was really Courage Best but it tasted OK and did not produce
a hangover. The
darts started late but was generally of a higher standard and
Dave, probably with the assistance of beer, forgot his worries
and came out the evening’s deserved winner. (KS) Singles: D-5,
B-3, K1-3 |
8 |
Willy |
Downtons Drink Responsibly (3.5%),Weltons Pale,
Grandstand
|
19th January 2018 |
I hope Malcolm has not been put off darts by
his many near misses and a failure to finish a game – we have
all been there and Dave is a specialist.
The normal fare in the Willy with a promising increase in
the number of punters and the standard excellent selection of
beers....and the golf was on! (KS) Singles: K1-7, D-5, K2-4, M-0
approximately
|
8 |
Waggon |
Youngs, TEA
|
12nd January 2018 |
Back to the Waggon for another year of top
darts, starting off with a 4-person singles challenge with a
chalker and talker in reverse order.
K2 was seriously hampered by a day of removals but
otherwise a reasonable standard. Dave kept the locals awake with some loud celebration
following special 1-dart finishes such as D2 or D3 or any double
for that matter. Excellent
TEA and, when I looked out of the window, unusually it wasn’t
raining!! (KS) Singles: B-8, K1-7, D-5, K2-2 |
8 |
Willy |
Weltons Pale, Weltons Xmas Maximus (7.4%) and
some others
|
5th January 2018 |
Happy New Year and a big welcome to any new
readers (however unlikely).
One has to love the Willy when it’s
buzzing – a proper pub with an excellent selection of beer and
a whole range of activities available; two simultaneous FA Cup
matches on the big screen followed by the traditional televised
golf, some decent loud music, a choice of pool, two dartboards
and some kind of disco upstairs.
The recent discussion about the benefit of beer to darts
is nonsense – of course beer assists; everyone knows that.
Once I started on the Xmas Maximus there was no looking
back and the evening was concluded with a 3-dart 101 (17, T18,
D15) – however, the strong beer has caused some memory
problems – beers and scores! (KS) Singles: K1-7, K2-6, D-5
approximately |
9 |