This was my first ever trip to the Dame, having had to run some chores on North Street, which provided an excuse to nip in for a look. It’s a dive bar a la Bell, with a very dark interior, lots of graffiti, and a telly playing skateboard videos. It offers no cask beer, but several local favourites on keg alongside the staple bigger brands. I also spotted cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the fridge behind the bar. I have been wanting to try it since watching Dennis Hopper deliver the line “Heineken?! Fuck that shit, PABST BLUE RIBBON” in Blue Velvet.

The board was excellent: a pretty new Winmau Blade 6, just approaching the time when it should be rotated to prevent the treble 20 region becoming noticeably more worn than the rest of the board. It also had a great lighting set-up, essential for a pub with such a gloomy interior.

The cupboard it was in was pretty battered. Could this be to fit the grunge aesthetic? Just as the Bell’s dartboard cupboard looked like Rampage Jackson had recently been through it in a bad mood. Or are they just made of the cheapest MDF, meaning 22g darts have the effect of rods from God? However, the cupboard is very inconsequential to the actual game of darts.

The oche lets the set-up down a bit. I think the line itself was scratched into the floorboard intentionally, but I’m not 100% sure, it’s also clearly part of the grain of the wood. It was roughly the right distance from the board, although I need to start bringing a tape measure to double-check. At least the board was the right height, using me as the measuring stick.

The oche also backed up against the end of the bar. Although not a serving part, it was still a thoroughfare, leaving not quite enough space for easy passage when someone was throwing. Although this doesn’t matter much when casually practicing, it is off-putting when playing 501. I also had a couple of people go to walk in front of me as I was about to throw, which of course could end in disaster.

We were there on a rainy Saturday afternoon and, although it was quiet when we arrived at about 3pm, it was quite busy when we left an hour and a half later. The crowd seemed mostly student-aged, which I assume is the core clientele of the pub, but not uniformly so. I got a few legs in against some friendly blokes who came in. Crushingly, I came out worst off, although we were pretty evenly matched. All in all, the Dame has a decent darts set-up and I enjoyed my time there, although it’s not everything I look for in a pub.