The Seven Stars is a historic pub in Redcliffe, with its own Wikipedia page and history section, largely about its role in the abolitionist movement. It also has a lineage of landlords since 1660. Fascinating stuff, but this is a dartboard review; we won’t bother ourselves with thoughts of all the people that have wandered in and out of the pub over the centuries, and stick with the little ones like is the board the correct height? (spoiler: not quite…). I have sporadically visited the Seven Stars in my time in Bristol. Mostly as a stopping point before gigs at the Fleece, but also to have a pint or two with mates that work in the many modern office buildings which now surround it.

There were four cask beer options, of which I sampled a couple, with no complaints but no standouts. My opponent for the afternoon was favouring something dark and fruity, not Strongbow but black and blueberry from Beowulf. I’ll describe it as interesting and leave it at that. There was also a Kölsch from Bristol Beer Factory that caught my eye. I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure what the Kölsche Jung would think.

The dartboard is on a small stage which the pub uses for gigs. The last time I played here the game was cut short by a band arriving and wanting to set up their kit. Fortunately, the most recent visit was live music free for the couple of hours we were there. The board itself is a pretty aged Winmau Diamond Plus, although I suppose on the scale of the lifetime of the pub it’s brand new. These boards have slightly chunkier wires than the blade series, as well as staples, meaning more bounce outs. You can also see in the image below that the wires are a little wonky, no longer following exactly the dyed sisal segments, particulary around what is not the three segment. If you find yourself in this situation, it is useful to know that the rules of darts specify the score is where the dart enters the wire section, not the colour it lands in.

The doors of the cupboard housing make for chalkboards for scoring, with chunky chalk present. The board was about 10cm too low using me as a measuring stick. This may have been compensated for by the oche being slightly too far away. I was only joking about bringing a tape measure in future when I reviewed the Dame, however, the board did look too far away when poised at the oche. Possibly just a skill issue - it didn’t seem to lead to any worse darts than usual. The oche itself was clearly marked, and slightly raised but not quite enough to push a foot against. There was a table blocking the right hand side of it, but as a central thrower it wasn’t in the way, and it would be easily moved if you prefer the extreme right.

I wasn’t paying much attention to the vibe of the pub, which probably means it was fine. It was quiet apart from a few regulars when we arrived for a Thursday post-school chuck. In throwing my hands aloft to celebrate hitting the bullseye to end an overly long warm-up game of round the clock I hit the woodwork around the top of the bar, knocking the final dart from my hand to land sticking in the ground quite close to my foot, much to the amusement of a couple sipping their pints within view of the game. I will definitely be back to get more of a feel for the place in the not-too-distant future.