The Bell Inn, Murrow, Cambridgeshire

There are many factors which can make the difference between success and failure in the licensed trade. Some a licensee may have little control over, whilst other aspects will be very much in their own hands. Sadly not every pub can thrive on hard work and ingenuity alone, but it's sad and disappointing to see a pub fail which may well have succeeded in better hands.

No-one could accuse the licensees of The Bell Inn of neglecting their duties to make a success of the pub. This really is one the very best examples of what can be achieved when a committed team take the helm of a relatively isolated, and slightly neglected village local. Clearly a great deal of work has been put in by licensees Andy & Dawn in the three years since they moved to the pub, and all with the full approval of the locals by all accounts. Sounds obvious doesn't it, but so often the locals are the last to be considered when it comes to change at the pub.

It's hard to imagine how a pub could be more at the heart of its community than the Bell, and it really shows when you walk into the bar, even on a weekday afternoon. The place just feels so welcoming and right. It's the kind of local that most people would want, but particularly those with a desire to get involved in their community, which is surely what village pubs should be about rather than merely upmarket foodie destinations where the locals are barely tolerated.

Needless to say, games play an important role in the success of the Bell Inn. Perhaps the jewel in the pubs gaming crown is the immaculately maintained Bowling Green at the rear, overlooked by a smart patio and a positively plush smoking shelter, furnished with the original banquet seating from the bar. Bowls is played on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the season, and I can't think of a more pleasant place to spend a Summer evening, following all the action with a pint of something good from the nearby Elgoods Brewery.

Inside it's Snookerette (otherwise known as Bar Billiards) which provides the gaming interest, with a vintage 'Sams' table available to play whenever a match in the local Gedney Hill & District League is not in progress. The pub is proud to field both the current winning team in the Winter League, as well as holding the Wooden Spoon for the up-and-coming 'B' team. A good mahogany Shove Ha'penny is also available in the bar, though you may need to provide your own coins. All in all, it's a very fine pub, go play!

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Snookerette - The Gedney Hill & District League

The external signage on the Black Bear in Wisbech advertises the pub game staples of Pool and Darts, no surprises there, but notice also that something called Snookerette is on offer at the pub. Now that's a game that not many will have heard of, although locally it's quite common, played as it is in a league of up to nine venues in the Gedney Hill & District League. So what might Snookerette be?

As you'll see from the image below, which was taken in the single large bar of the Black Bear, Snookerette is in fact the same (or very similar) to the much more commonly found, and almost universally named game of Bar Billiards. So why the curiously different name in this small part of Lincolnshire?

The cue game that we now know as Bar Billiards was effectively an import from continental Europe in the early part of the 20th century, where the game was known in the french speaking regions as Billard Russe, or Russian Billiards. The London firm of William Jelkes was the preferred manufacturer of the initial crop of tables in this country, and since a more palatable, less 'Soviet' name for the game was needed, Bar Billiards was chosen. More crucially, the name was also registered for use by Jelkes alone. The game proved to be popular, and inevitably a number of other manufacturers began to produce their own tables, often subtly different in design or dimensions, and all by necessity bearing a different trade name. The company of Alfred Sam's & Sons of Hertfordshire produced a four pin table (most are three pin models), and it's this model which is now found throughout the Gedney Hill & District league. Sam's appear to have chosen the name Snookerette for their tables.

Time has moved on since the early days of the game, and the term Bar Billiards is now almost universally used. But for some reason, the name Snookerette has persisted in the Gedney Hill area (and possibly elsewhere), such that you will be politely corrected by the locals if you make the mistake of referring to the game as Bar Billiards!

Match nights in the Gedney Hill & District League are usually on Thursdays, and there are Summer and Winter leagues, the latter slightly better supported. Needless to say, the tables are available for play outside of league match nights.

All the tables in the local Snookerette league carry the logo of the now defunct National Bar Billiard Association. The All England Bar Billiard Association now regulate the game, though the Gedney Hill & District Summer and Winter leagues are not affiliated to this body.

The Butchers Arms is located in one of the more attractive Fenland villages of Parsons Drove. The bar is a traditional drinking and gaming space with ample room for both Pool and Snookerette tables. The pub also acts as the unofficial licensed clubhouse of the adjacent Parsons Drove Bowls Club. The many trophies on display in the bar include the magnificent Shield shown below, which is still in use, with some of the older badges being replaced with new winners names when necessary.

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Medbourne & Hallaton, Leicestershire

The villages of Hallaton and Medbourne in Leicestershire are perhaps best known for the annual Bottle Kicking tradition. The game has strong links with the three remaining village pubs, acting as unofficial headquarters to participants, and as the focus of fundraising activities for the event including the many charities it supports. The pubs are also good places to find images and artifacts from previous years of this important local custom. There are other games associated with these village pubs, including one perhaps not usually associated with the pleasures of drinking and pub-going

Flat Green and Crown Green Bowls have a long association with pubs. In addition to the many municipal and private members bowling greens, there would have been quite a few pubs with their own greens at one time. Indeed the number of pubs still bearing the Bowling Green moniker is a good indication of how many of these greens there would have been, though sadly few have survived the demands of more recent development. Some have survived as unusually flat beer gardens (a good example of this can be seen at the Station Hotel in Loughborough, Leicestershire), whilst others would have been sold off for development or tarmacked over to meet for increasing need for car parking space. So pubs which still have associated bowling greens in regular use are now rare indeed. The only one I've visited personally is the Newhampton Inn, a splendid Victorian boozer in suburban Wolverhampton.

The beautifully maintained Bowling Green shown here is located at the front of the former grade II listed Horse & Trumpet pub in the village of Medbourne. When trading as a pub, the Horse & Trumpet was regarded as an unspoilt gem, and listed on CAMRA's Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. Sadly, since the death of the last licensee several years ago, the pub is now trading as an upmarket restaurant, though a 'vintage' Watneys Red Barrel sign hanging at the corner of the building gives a clue to its former existence. More happily, the bowling green's future has been secured for the future, and is now in the hands of the Parish Council for use by the Medbourne Bowls Club. The markers along the edge indicate the separate 'lanes' used in the 'flat' game.

The Bewicke Arms is an attractive and historic pub, located in an equally attractive village. In common with many village pubs, the Bewicke is largely given over to dining these days, but it's still very much a pub, and one where locals and visitors alike are welcome to simply drink and socialise.

The Bewicke is also a great place to examine images and relics of the local Bottle Kicking tradition, with numerous clippings and photographs decorating the walls from past events. Day-to-day gaming at the pub revolves around the Darts Board located in the smaller of the two bars. The pub team play in the local Welland Valley Darts League, which is a Winter league made up almost exclusively of rural village pubs. The nearby Harborough & District League accommodates the larger villages and town of the Market Harborough area.

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