I have been going to the Prince of Wales since 2014, but only in the last year or so for the darts as well as the session. It changed hands somewhere in between the beginning of my darts obsession and the set-up was given a serious upgrade. I have searched through my pictures for a snap of the original board, which had a huge lump in the 11 segment and was mounted a foot too high. Alas, I failed to find one, but I’ll update this post if I do. The new landlords are part of craft union pubs. It wasn’t just the dartboard that got an upgrade; the whole pub got a lick of paint, and every wall got a telly/advertising screen. I also think the age range of the punters has increased, from previously being a very studenty pub to now featuring a coterie of older regulars.

There are plenty of options at the Prince of Wales. However, in my experience they have always had problems with the cask beer. This has ranged from a faint whiff of something being off to being served a pint of vinegar. I took a punt on a pint of London Pride. Although drinkable, I thought it was on the turn and moved on to Guinness. This may form part of a vicious circle, where not enough cask beer is shifted, meaning the selection is stale and fewer people drink it and so on.

The board, a Target TOR, is coming up to a year old but still in great nick, other than issues with the spider. It is possible it’s not played on much, I have never encountered anyone else playing on it. That said, the number ring around the board has taken a battering to the extent that some are difficult to read, so it must have seen a fair amount of action. The image below shows the mentioned issue with the spider (metal bit that separates the segments). As darts land they cause vibrations which, over time, can lead to the spider wiggling its way out of the board. It’s relatively easy to fix, just hammer it back in, but it is an annoying hassle.

The oche is the classic mat, not much more to say about it other than they often work their way towards/away from the wall, something to keep an eye on when throwing. At least the board is the correct height using my bonce as a measuing stick as usual. For scoring there is a touch screen just below and to the right of the board. I think there is a full autodarts set-up present in the light mount, it has 4 cameras in the arms of the mount pointed at the board. However, it isn’t currently linked to the screen, and I don’t know how to set it up. Also, I’ve never played a game of 501 in the Prince of Wales.

The total space for the oche is quite small, sandwiched behind a high table, making rotating play difficult. If people are sat there it’s too tight to play. It’s also awkward to play if people are watching sport on the telly behind the oche, although you only block the bottom left corner and there are plenty of other tellies within view. This means it’s only possible to play darts at quiet times, and even then not reliably. That said, there’s not a better spot in the pub for a board without sacrificing quite a lot of seating.

All in all I enjoy having a throw in the Prince of Wales, it’s a convenient spot at the bottom of Gloucester Road if I have half an hour to spare. Although they have invested some money in their set-up it’s definitely not a focus for the pub.