A Compendium of Pub Games Images - Pt.8

The Priory in Grantham is a substantial estate pub, set amongst a large expanse of mostly post-war and more modern housing, for which this pub was presumably built to serve.It's a tidy, well maintained and friendly pub, and features Pool and Darts in the bar to the left-hand side. Until very recently the pub also had a Bar Billiards table and Shove Ha'penny, both of which were unfortunately sold when the previous licensee left. Perhaps these games...

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Pub Games at CAMRA Beer Festivals

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) have many strings to their campaigning bow, but perhaps the most visible sign of the work the many volunteers turn their hands to are the numerous beer festivals which take place throughout the year. Virtually every major town or city hosts a CAMRA festival, and whilst the principal aim of these popular events is to introduce people to the wide range of real ales, ciders and perries which are produced in this country,...

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The George, Desborough, Northamptonshire

Another attractive and well maintained ironstone pub in the Northamptonshire village of Desborough, and another venue for the classic Northants pub game of Table Skittles (also known as Hood Skittles, or occasionally Cheese Skittles outside of the area).The skittles table at the George is located in its own separate alcove within the bar area (see below). This serves two important functions. Reducing the impact of rattle and clunk on the ears of...

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A Compendium of Pub Games Images - Cribbage Board Special

I think it's safe to say that Cribbage Boards are entirely functional items, having little or no value outside of their basic use, which is the scoring of games, and pub games in particular. However, looking at the small selection of Cribbage Boards shown below, and others I've featured on this blog, it's perhaps easy to see why they might stimulate the latent instinct for 'collecting' which lies in the heart...

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The Village Inn, Twyning, Gloucestershire

Western Skittles is a slightly misleading catch-all term encompassing all manner of subtly different games. Geographically, this category of skittles is played in a very wide area, including the West Country and across to the Cotswolds, South Wales and its English border counties, and even as far as Coventry. The common denominator is the use of nine skittles and three balls, bowled at speed down a (usually) wooden floored indoor...

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Coach & Horses, Lubenham, Leicestershire

I've passed the Coach & Horses dozens of times over the past few years, yet never felt it was a pub I needed to stop and visit. Perhaps the unique attraction of real ales and Thai food further along the road in Walcote had a role to play in this longstanding neglect, or maybe a mistaken belief that the Coach & Horses was predominantly a food driven pub, with little else to interest me.The pub itself is an attractive...

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Butcher's Arms, Eldersfield, Gloucestershire

Variously known as Step Quoits, Table Quoits, Dobbers, and Evesham Quoits (in the Evesham area not surprisingly); this traditional pub game can be found in a broad swathe from Evesham to the Welsh Borders. A handful of leagues still exist, but even where the game is not played so competitively, Quoits Boards still appear to be quite common in the areas pubs. I recall playing on an old quoits table at the Maesllwch Arms Hotel at...

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A Compendium of Pub Game Images - Pt.6

This Ring The Bull is at the Salisbury Arms in Cambridge. The nearby Blue Ball Inn at Grantchester also has a Ring The Bull, making this a (very) minor hot-spot for the game. Indeed a World Championships has been held at the latter pub!The bar area of the White Lion in Oakham, with Darts Board tilted against the wall so that players don't have to throw over the piano.This league standard Devil Amongst The Tailors table was on display in the...

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Prince of Wales Feathers, Castor, Peterborough

The Prince of Wales Feathers is a pub much altered over the years. The current layout incorporates what was once a small shop and an adjacent cottage, presumably the expansion was to take advantage of the huge increase in traffic on the original Leicester - Peterborough road in the years before the village was eventually bypassed in the early 90's. The village may well be much quieter now, but the pub is still a thriving...

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