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 in the knowledge that all they required was some 30 feet of clear space, ideally free from obstacles such as tables and customers, the skittles team set about creating something from nothing in what is now the well appointed upstairs games room.

An upstairs alley like the one shown here at the Three Crowns is certainly not unique. I've seen a similar, much lengthier and roomier alley at the Old Kings Head in Belper for example. The skittles players at the Three Crowns were certainly up against it though, their ingenuity pushed to the limit due to the fact that the upstairs games room falls short of the full alley length by a few crucial feet. Even this wasn't considered an insurmountable problem though, with players forced to throw from outside the room to achieve the minimum distance required for league play. That's what doorways are for I guess, and it's on the landing at the top of the stairs that you'll find the line on the floor indicating the throwing point for the game. A sturdy caged safety door contains the action during a match, and an arrangement of rubber sheets protect the walls from damage at the business end of the alley. Thankfully, drinkers and diners in the cosy bar area are not inconvenienced by the match-day clatter of hardwood, since the games room is located in a separate building to the main pub.

The games room also houses a Pool Table and Darts Board, and the alley is usually available for play outside of match nights, just ask at the bar.

The impressive trophy collection is crammed onto the mantelpiece of the bar. It's no surprise there's so much silverware on show, the pub field teams in numerous local leagues, including Darts, Pool, Long Alley Skittles, and no less than four teams in the Leicestershire Pétanque Association summer league. Pétanque is strictly a summer game in the UK, which at the Three Crowns saves players from the fear of falling Bramleys during the Winter off-season.

Read More

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 have been doing for generations.

It's the widespread blandness evident in modern pub design and decor, and the relative paucity of those which have retained a vestige of their heritage intact which makes pubs like the Pattenmakers special. Largely unspoilt Edwardian pubs like this are not nearly as common as they once were, and sadly are becoming rarer still with every closure and crassly insensitive refurbishment.

Etched and colourful stained glass windows at the Pattenmakers act to diffuse the bright sunlight in a way now frowned on by our current crop of pub designers. An attractive mix of original quarry tile, parquet, and mosaic flooring has survived throughout the pub, and the entirely un-radical use of carpeting, curtains, and other soft furnishings helps to absorb sound. It's the curse of modern coffee house style pubs and bars, that even when only moderately busy the cacophony of conversation and general noise can rise to unpleasant levels. All the result of the current trend for bright hard surfaces at the expense of old-fashioned comfort.

So the Pattenmakers is a pub full of genuine heritage and character, comfortable and cosy, and with a great reputation for beer and a friendly welcome. Which makes it even more sad that at the time of writing, the pubs owners Enterprise Inns are to set to reward the hard-working licensees of the Pattenmakers with a doubling the rent. Such is the reward for success in the licensed trade these days, particularly under the yolk of near-bankrupt pub companies such as Enterprise, and it could be that the pub will change hands in the near future. I wish the licensees the very best with their negotiations. I can only hope that going forward Enterprise might treat the pub with more sensitivity and respect than they have the licensees.

A traditional local like the Pattenmakers is naturally home to a range of traditional pub games. Dominoes is popular, as is Darts and Long Alley Skittles, both of which are played in local leagues.

A skittle set resides for safe keeping under the pool table of the bar. The alley is located in the car park, overlooked by a small beer garden which is ideal for spectators to view proceedings on a warm summer evening. This alley features floodlighting, and a rain-proof scoreboard so that play can continue in the Belper & District League even through the very worst English summer weather.

Read More

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 the smart new livery, and it seems unlikely to have survived the refurbishment.

The Wheel was until quite recently a well supported community local where traditional pub games would have been popular. On one of the last occasions I popped in for a drink, I recall seeing a dozen or more Domino sets and Cribbage Boards stacked in an alcove, sadly underused and gathering dust by this time. Note also the presence of an 'Innovative Shulbac' at the pub, a game I never actually saw when the pub was in its prime, but which presumably refers to the Dutch disc-sliding game of Sjoelbak. Sadly the pub had become seriously neglected in the years before its short closure, to the point where the skittle alley was being used as a storage space, virtually unusable for play. I hope to visit the newly refurbished Wheel again soon. Perhaps I'll be surprised, perhaps the alley has been brought back into service!

Update: (4/12/13) - I've now had a chance to pop in to The Wheel, and can confirm that the current licensee is planning to bring the skittle alley back into use some time in the new year.

The impressive 1930's roadhouse that is the Oadby Owl was listed as having '...no fewer than four bars and a skittle alley' in the local CAMRA pub guide of 1979. Re-styled as a Hungry Horse family dining venue some years ago, it seems unlikely that the alley has survived in anything like playable condition. If by some miracle it does, I'd have to say that the owners are keeping it very quiet as there's no mention of the game anywhere that I can see.

An alley which has survived, and in perfectly playable condition albeit currently missing a set of pins and cheeses, is the one at former Banks's Brewery pub the Black Dog. This historic building is yet another of Oadby's once thriving village locals which has struggled to adapt to changing tastes (and the opening of cheap beer specialist JD Wetherspoon in the village!). The Black Dog is now in the hands of local brewers Everards, and it's hoped that plans for a much needed refurbishment will help to revitalise this historic pub. From my own perspective, I also hope that the historic skittle alley will be preserved and promoted as an asset for the pub, particularly as it may well be the last one left in the village.

The alley is housed in former stabling at the rear of the pub (there are still a number of the original tethering rings on the wall). I was informed by the current temporary licence holder that the alley has listed status, though more likely to refer to the bricks and mortar than its actual use. The alley is looking a bit dusty at the moment, the result of the home team, who play in the Tom Bishop League, upping-pins and moving to the Shakespeare pub in Braunstone. I can only apologise for the quality of these images. Strip lighting and no natural light make for challenging photographic conditions. The collecting box for cheeses at the end of the return chute, shown below, is slightly unusual, and indicative of the amount of play this alley would have once seen at the height of the games popularity.

The main bar has the basic, tile-floored, and somewhat utilitarian appearance common to many Banks's pubs. Note the leather upholstered bench seating though, which even in their current well-worn state add a certain sumptuous quality to surroundings. There are currently three separate rooms to the pub, including the Pool room shown here. This is likely to change following the forthcoming refurbishment by Everards. The wall currently providing the anchor for a Darts Board (below) is understood to be going in the forthcoming refurbishment, leaving a single 'U' shaped bar area in place of the current separate Public and Lounge bars.

Next door to the Black Dog is Everards Brewery's original pub in Oadby, the Fox Inn (below). A cosy traditional boozer with a warming open fire for winter, and with Darts and Pool available to play.

Read More

Crown & Anchor, Northampton

The eastern side of Northampton town centre, an area broadly known as Abington, has always seemed to me to have an unusually high number of pubs. Perhaps even more unusual is that so many of them are still open and appear to be trading reasonably well.

This area is a classic mix of high density terraced housing and small businesses. Well serviced by restaurants and takeaways, and yet close enough to the town centre to be considered a part of the 'circuit', which all adds up to busier than average pubs I guess. There's a good mix of pubs, including several wet-led and largely traditional 'locals'. The Crown & Anchor, located just off the main Wellingborough road, is one such example, and like many back-street locals, maintains a strong gaming interest.

Indeed the website of the Crown & Anchor suggests that the name of the pub derives from an old dice game of the same name. I don't know how accurate this is, I've certainly seen other suggestions for the origin of this pub name, but the connection is reinforced in this case by a fine example of a Crown & Anchor gaming board which can be found displayed on a wall of the bar (above).

The game of Crown & Anchor is a simple gambling game using three specially marked dice. Believed to have a naval origin, but also a popular pub game at one time, though strictly speaking not a legal one so the game would have been played furtively if at all. Players stake money on one or more of the six symbols, with the payout determined by how many of the three dice come up favourably. Needless to say the odds are stacked firmly in favour of the banker. These days the game is usually found as part of a compendium which includes other dice games such as Poker Dice and Shut The Box.

Games which are still played at the Crown & Anchor include Darts, Pool, and Bar Billiards. The pub currently field two teams in the Northampton Bar Billiards League, and I believe this is the closest pub venue for the game to the town centre.

Read More

Long Alley in Long Eaton, Derbyshire

The Derbyshire town of Long Eaton has for many years been at the very centre of the Long Alley Skittles tradition. Until relatively recently, Tuesday evenings would have been alive with the clunk and clatter of highly competitive skittling, such was the popularity of the game with the (mostly male) locals. From my own observations in the town, practically every pub and club must have had an alley at one time, indeed most still do, though sadly many are no longer in regular use. Even so, there is still an active Long Alley Skittles league centred on Long Eaton, with perhaps half of the towns venues hosting games in the Summer league.

One of the unique features of Long Alley Skittles as played in the north Midlands is that it's predominantly an outdoor game, often played on alleys which double as car parking outside of match nights. It's this durable and semi-permanent aspect to the alleys which has helped preserve many of them from loss, in stark contrast to the many indoor alleys and other traditional pub features which continue to be lost following changes of ownership, or over-zealous refurbishment.

The alley shown above is at the rear of the New Inn, a lively, fully modernised bar in the centre of town. It's a typical outdoor 'Summer League' alley of a type found throughout Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Despite being very well maintained, this alley doesn't appear to be in league use at the moment (the skittles shown here are my own). The New Inn team are still active, but appear to have moved up the road to Brennan's. This is quite a common occurrence in league play, sometimes the result of the home pub closing, or simply a change of ownership mid-season. Note the sectional concrete return chute on the right. Built to last, thoroughly functional, and yet somehow a more elegant solution than the modern plastic pipe returns commonly seen.

Meanwhile, the alley at the rear of the Tiger Inn (right) could do with a good sweep, and the return chute has certainly seen better days. A neglected skittle alley like this one is quite a sad sight, but at least it's still there, and it wouldn't take too much to bring it back into use at a future time.

The Corner Pin is a typical town centre bar, popular with a younger crowd and not noted for its skittles play, though presumably it once would have been. There are many Corner Pins dotted around this part of the Midlands (and a few elsewhere), the name usually referring to the local skittles game.

The alley shown below is another neglected example, this one at the rear of the currently closed Royal Oak. The pub stands on a large plot with an extensive car park and Long Alley area. The feeling in the town is that the Royal Oak is unlikely to escape the developer, so this alley may well be lost along with the pub in the near future.

The Stumble Inn has a Long Alley at the rear of the pub, but as can be seen in the image above, it is no longer in use. The 'throw' for this alley is now home to a tidy new decking area, so is unlikely to come back into use any time soon.

It's not all pub game archaeology at the Stumble Inn though, with active Pool, Darts, and Domino competition in evidence. There's even the relatively rare sight of a Pinball in the games area, a game which has ebbed and flowed in popularity over the years, mainly I think due to the high maintenance costs of the tables. It's also a game which has been around long enough in this country to be tentatively considered a traditional pub game!

Read More

Evesham Crib League

I recently spent a day exploring the pubs in the Worcestershire town of Evesham. The day was a simple pleasure trip for the most part, but I was also hopeful that if I went a little bit off the beaten track I might be lucky enough to find that most rare of pub games, an Evesham Quoits or Dobbers Board. Sadly, that goal proved fruitless, it really does seem that the once popular game of indoor Quoits has disappeared entirely from the pubs of Evesham, though it's quite likely a few boards might still be in situ gathering dust in the loft. The only pub in the town listed in the current Good Beer Guide had nothing interesting to offer this blog, it is a Wetherspoon after all. I do wonder whether there are any Wetherspoon bars in the country with even so much as a Darts Board to play. Perhaps someone will tell me if there is, I don't make a habit of drinking in this chain of bars to be honest.

What I did find in Evesham, still thriving, particularly in those pubs located a little way out from the town centre, was the card game most strongly associated with pubs and clubs, the game of Cribbage. Crib is not an easy game to master. It's a game where you really have to keep your hand in to play at anything like league level, and that involves a level of time and commitment which many people simply can't give these days. It's therefore one of the traditional pub games which is perhaps most likely to struggle or even disappear in the near future. I've only very rarely seen the game played by younger pub goers, and the recent trend for Poker in pubs and clubs is likely to put even more pressure on the survival of Cribbage as a league game.

You have to venture a short distance out from the town centre, over the river to Port Street to find The Bear, a popular multi-roomed corner pub. The multi-room bit is important, it means there's a space for everyone at The Bear. There's a smart, recently refurbished corner lounge bar, a more basic but tidy front bar (below) where the Ashes cricket held sway, and a larger lounge bar (above) which is where the locals gather to throw Darts or play Cribbage. The image above shows a Saturday afternoon game in progress.

The Angel Vaults, also on Port Street, is the kind of unassuming single room corner local you might easily pass by, but I found it one of the friendliest boozers in the town and well worth popping in for a pint. The trophy shown below is for Cribbage, as indeed are most of the trophies on display in the town. This one is the Bill Harris Secretarys Cup, which is played for in the Evesham Crib League. There's a Pool Table in the front part of the tidy traditional bar.

The Railway Hotel (below) close to the station has recently been given a sensitive refurbishment after several years of neglect. Sunday afternoon is Cribbage time, and as can be seen from the blackboard in the bar, lessons are available for beginners.

This trophy cabinet at the Coach & Horses, Harvington near Evesham, has all manner of cups, shields and engraved glasses on show, but once again they are mostly for Cribbage. This pub is one of the few in the area which still has an active Skittle Alley, and this will feature in a future post on the pub.

Some more examples of the limitless variety to be found in Crib Boards.

Read More

Bat & Wickets, Northampton

The current licensees of the Bat & Wickets have recently celebrated their first year at the helm of this traditional back-street local. I'd have to say that the last time I passed this way, the pub looked pretty uninviting from the outside, but a lot has changed since then. A fresh paint job, new bespoke frosted glass windows, and attractive new signage, all of which are thoroughly in keeping with the age and traditional character of the pub. The landlord has even sourced a couple of vintage Burtonwood Brewery pub lanterns for the frontage of the pub, conveniently liveried 'BW' to match the pub name.

Work is also progressing at a steady pace inside the pub, sensitively refurbishing and modernising the neglected interior without destroying any of the essential character of the place. The patio beer garden at the rear has also been given a freshen-up, and is now a delightful space for a Summer afternoon drink. Pub games still play an important role at the Bat & Wickets, and I'd highly recommend a visit to the pub if only to give the Skittles Table a work-out. This traditional Northamptonshire game has become very scarce in pubs this close to the town centre.

The games area is very well appointed, with Darts, Pool and a fine W T Blacks Skittles Table tucked into the corner. The locals are active in a number of leagues, including Ladies and Mens skittles, and a Thursday Pool league. The pub also supports local football, and hosts a very active Golfing crowd.

The pub's slightly unusual name apparently derives from its close proximity to the Racecourse Public Park, where Cricket and other team sports have been played since the post-war years. The main sporting interest at the Bat & Wickets now is the game of Golf. Several competitions and trophies are competed for at the pub, which includes the largest collection of Wooden Spoons I've ever seen in one place! One corner of the bar, shown below, is devoted to numerous golfing trophies and a series of wall plaques which record individual honours dating from the late 80's.

Read More

A Pair of Pubs in Milton, Cambridgeshire

Waggon & Horses

The village of Milton lies to the North of Cambridge, and seems unusually well served with pubs for its size. The Cambridge area, and Milton in particular, is one of several minor hotbeds of the game of Bar Billiard.

This is perhaps a legacy of the city's large University population, since Bar Billiards (and of course Table Football) were once very popular with students. Indeed a good few of the tables now found in other parts of the country will have originated in Students Union Bars or pubs which were popular with students. The Bar Billiards at the Swan & Rushes in Leicester is an example of a table which had previously been played and serviced in the university town of Oxford.

The Waggon & Horses and White Horse in the village come fully equipped with Bar Billiard tables, and field teams in the two divisions of the Cambridge & District League.

A Devil Amongst The Tailors at the Waggon & Horses is small by pub standards, but of good quality and probably made by Jaques as it resembles their larger 'League Brand' table in all but size. These tables were available to licensees as part of an initiative to 'Bring Back Pub Games!' by the then owners of the Ruddles Brewery brand. Three games were available, including a brewery branded Shove Ha'penny which occasionally crops up in pubs, and a garden Quoits set, more of a family amusement than a true pub game.

Dominoes, fine Elgoods Ales, and Cassels Cider are also available at the pub, as is a Shove Ha'penny, though the licensee couldn't track it down on my visit.

The White Horse

Read More