Atmospheric and unspoilt village local the Fox & Goose has featured briefly on this blog before. It's a pub worthy of a repeat though as the licensee has recently added a fine pair of Shove Ha'penny Boards to the more obvious attractions of good beer and conversation. Both boards are solid and weighty, only needing a little additional polish through regular use to be worthy of serious afternoon competition. The pub also has a small Devil Amongst The Tailors, ideal for children to play, as well as Darts, Dominoes, Cards, and Table Tennis! Traditional pub games will also feature at the Fox & Goose during the annual Onion Sunday event on the 1st September.
The Ship Inn, March, Cambridgeshire
Thatched, Grade II listed riverside pub the Ship Inn is all chocolate box loveliness on the outside, yet smart, modernised, and open-plan within. It still retains a good deal of its original character though, and remains a lively and popular venue with an excellent reputation for its range of real ales. The games corner has numerous sets of Dominoes and associated Crib Boards, as well as this well-played and well-worn old Shove Ha'penny Board.
The Exeter Arms, Easton-on-the-Hill, Lincolnshire
It's unusual to find a Shove Ha'penny Board in any pub these days, but perhaps even more so at the Exteter Arms. Firstly, the Exeter is quite an upmarket and foody 'destination' pub, though not exclusively so as a proper bar area has been retained. The other factor is the pubs close location to Stamford, home of the similar but really quite different game of Pushpenny. Perhaps the owners couldn't find a Pushpenny for the pub. Whether this board has been located in the bar simply as an attractive bygone I couldn't say, but it's a perfectly serviceable playing surface, in need of a bit of a polish for sure, but nice to see anyway.
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