Three Crowns, Wymeswold, Leicestershire

The Long Alley at the Three Crowns could be said to represent a triumph of skittling ingenuity over the apparently insurmountable issue of there being no existing alley at the pub! Even more so given that there appears to be nowhere convenient to create one, the tidy Pétanque terrain in the garden being well and truly ruled out.Skittlers, and those from Wymeswold in particular, are nothing if not tenacious in pursuit of their game though. Confident...

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Leicester Table Skittles

The Skittles Table at The Tudor pub in LeicesterThe Leicester version of Table (or Hood) Skittles is unique and almost entirely local to the city which gives it its name. This makes it very much rarer than the more widespread Northamptonshire game, which is found in several counties adjoining Northamptonshire (including Leicestershire itself), and which it resembles in many ways.One of the great attractions of a pub game like skittles is the wide...

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Cherry Tree, Catthorpe, Leicestershire

The Cherry Tree is a warm pub in every sense of the word. The welcome from licensee Phil Cartwright was certainly warm when I popped in on a Saturday afternoon recently. The open fire in the cosy bar was if anything a little too warm, but welcome nevertheless on a cold Winter afternoon. Another fire was being set in the games/function room as I snapped off a few of these photos, ready to help warm up the local 'Shoot' along with a few pints of local...

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The Case Is Altered, Fiveways, Hatton, Warwickshire

The vast majority of pubs in England and Wales are owned by breweries or pub companies, run as either managed or leased businesses with widely varying degrees of autonomy. This makes The Case Is Altered near Warwick something of a rarity. In fact it's that rarest of all pubs, an independent, family owned and run free house. This means it's free from the interference and unreasonable demands of pubcos, free to sell ales from whichever breweries the...

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A Collection of Shove Ha'pennys

The almost limitless variety to be found in manufactured and home made Shove Ha'penny boards is a dangerous thing for those of us with a penchant for collecting. Putting aside the relatively common and quite similar boards which were manufactured by Jaques, K&C, Wisden's etc. it seems that from my own observations almost every carpenter, cabinet maker, joiner, and sundry other craftsmen would have knocked up a few boards for sale locally. Add...

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Pattenmakers Arms, Duffield, Derbyshire

If it wasn't for the fact that so many good pubs have had so much of their character and history 'refurbished' away in recent years, a pub like the Pattenmakers Arms would perhaps be regarded as a largely unremarkable backstreet boozer, and in many ways it is. It's a friendly and welcoming locals pub for sure, and certainly noted for serving a good pint, but going about its business in the unfussy and unpretentious way that backstreet pubs like this...

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Oadby, Leicestershire

The east Leicestershire village of Oadby would have been quite a hotbed of Long Alley Skittles play at one time, with at least three pubs in the village known to have had an alley, almost certainly more if we include clubs.The image shown to the right is now probably of historic interest only, as The Wheel has recently received an extensive makeover. I haven't had a chance to visit for a drink yet, but I can see no mention of a skittle alley on...

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