Red Lion, Kegworth, Leicestershire

Wonderfully traditional in appearance, the Red Lion is a multi-roomed Georgian village pub, and noted ale house featuring a wide range of real ales. In common with many genuine 'locals' pubs, traditional games feature strongly. These include Dominoes and Cribbage, as well as league Darts, and Pétanque in the Summer months. There is also a seperate Skittle Alley/Function Room, though sadly this is now rarely used for skittles.
http://www.kegworthredlion.co.uk/

The cosy front bar of the Red Lion, one of three distinct areas which surround the servery, this one housing the well used Darts Board. 

  

The match play Darts Board is only used for league fixtures, the board shown here is available for casual play. The main body of the board has been rotated, and the wire scoring ring re-fixed to even out wear. The original position of the 20 bed, target of the most arrows, can now be seen as the 14 bed, although the licensee did suggest that the 1 and 5 had actually seen the most wear!



The Skittle Alley at the Red Lion is housed in a former store, a separate building adjacent to the car park. Since there are no leagues in play in the Kegworth area, the alley gets little use these days.

The pins are of a kind most often seen in the Derbyshire area. The distinctive metal bands around the bottom of the pins, and the presence of a hatted 'Kingpin' (which more correctly should be at the front of the diamond pattern) are typical of a game which is often played outdoors during the Summer, with the 'alley' often sited in the car park.

 

Three beachwood balls (bowls) are used in this version of skittles. In the traditional game the balls are delivered as a 'full toss', though allowed to bounce once a short distance in front of the nearest pin. I'm not sure how practical this would be in the Red Lion's alley.



Scoreboards and Rakes, the paraphernalia of Pétanque



A basket of Boules