Table Skittles in Nottingham

The Newshouse, Nottingham. The Skittles Table is set up ready for play in the bar, but the pins and ball are kept behind the bar for safe-keeping.

The classic ball-on-a-string skittles game Devil Amongst The Tailors (also known as Table or Bar Skittles) was once as popular and widespread in British pubs as Darts or Pool is today. It's one of those traditional old games that most people above a certain age readily recall, even if they haven't played it for decades. Small 'toy' examples were equally common, indeed I had one myself, but the game is perhaps most strongly associated with pubs and clubs where highly competitive leagues for the game would have existed, particularly in areas with an established 'alley' skittles tradition.

In the East Midlands the game tends to crop up in the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Long Alley Skittles areas, the Northamptonshire side of the region having a very different Table Skittles tradition. In these areas it would have originally been an indoor winter game for when predominantly unheated or outdoor skittle alleys would have lost their appeal. Sadly all but one of the leagues for this form of table skittles in the East Midlands has ceased competition, the Newark league being the most recent to fold. Only the Nottingham & Arnold Table Skittles and Domino League remains, a competitive league so diminutive as to be virtually invisible outside of the handful of pubs and clubs which compete in its single division.

In Nottingham itself I know of just three pubs with a Devil Amongst The Tailors table available for play, and of these only one competes in the Arnold league, the bulk of those venues being private members clubs. The Newshouse has a good 'league standard' example, as does the Nags Head and Blacks Head, both in the suburb of Carlton, an area that was once a hotbed of Long Alley and Table Skittles play.

The Skittles Table at the Blacks Head is a classic Jaques model, and is usually set up ready for play in the smaller left-hand bar. The pub was refurbished to a high standard in 2015, but has retained its traditional public bar as well as a lounge and small snug at the rear. This pub doesn't currently compete in the local league, though the licensee is keen to get a team together at some point.


 

The nearby Nags Head has also had a recent refurbishment, and thankfully it too retains its traditional multi-room layout which includes separate Pool and Darts rooms off the main bar area. Two Pool teams play from the Nags, and the licensee is hoping to attract a Darts team soon. This is one of only two pubs that field a team in the local Table Skittles and Domino league, the other being The Plough at Keyworth.

The Skittles Table, another slightly older Jaques model by the look of it, is tucked away towards the rear of the bar, and has its own dedicated scoreboard. The pins are kept behind the bar for safe keeping.