Plough Inn, Hereford

When pubs were forced to close way back in March, there was a great deal of uncertainty around how, or indeed 'if' many of them would ever find a way to open again. Even now, and allowing for the ongoing threat of local lockdowns, some pubs have of course not reopened. Sadly some may never reopen. Of those that have, it's far from certain how many are trading at anything like a profitable level, which is worrying given the widely held belief that things may take a turn for the worse, particularly as Winter approaches and beer gardens start to lose their appeal.

From a customer perspective, safety is probably the biggest single issue determining whether people are happy to return to the pub. Everyone deals with risk differently, and it's perhaps inevitable that some are putting caution ahead of the resumption of their drinking pleasure at this time. Perhaps the biggest uncertainty for pub-lovers like myself ahead of reopening was how the necessity for social-distancing was going to work in such a highly social environment. Just how good an experience would going to the pub actually be when so much of the casual human interaction that makes the pub special is effectively denied to us! Well many pubs have been open for a few weeks now, and those of us who feel safe to do so have had a good opportunity to see how things look under the new guidelines.

I have to say that for the most part it's been an entirely positive experience. Of well over a dozen venues that I've visited recently, from village inns, to town-centre locals and micropubs, the systems in place have worked well. Customers are for the most part following the rules, and it has been possible to socialise, albeit at more of a distance than most of us would like. Of course traditional games of all types, and the leagues that support local competition have sadly all-but disappeared from pubs for the time being.

Most pubs are still very quiet of course, and whilst the media continue to hawk for advertising with the usual sensationalist reporting around anything to do with alcohol, examples of over-crowded pubs and people ignoring the rules are few and far between in my experience. Most people seem to understand that if pubs are to remain open, they really do need to follow the rules no matter how onerous they are, or what their opinion of them might be. This very welcome 'Indian Summer' of pub-going remains a fragile thing that could end at any time, which makes it doubly important that we get out there and safely enjoy the pub experience while it lasts.

One thing I haven't had much of a chance to test under the current restrictions is the ease, or otherwise, of finding new material for this blog. I think that many of us envisaged there would be quite strict controls on personal movement within pubs. Certainly no hanging around at the bar or wandering about between socially distanced groups. With all that's happened, and all the changes and preparations required to reopen safely, how would already stressed licensees and bar staff react to a polite request to take a few photographs in their pub, perhaps even explore parts of the building that are currently not in use? I have to say, I was expecting to receive, and fully prepared to accept a firm but fair 'No!' in this regard.

But that's to forget that most licensees work in the hospitality industry for a very good reason. They are, for the most part, eminently hospitable people! Of the hundreds of pubs and clubs I've visited over the years, only a couple of licensees have flatly refused to allow me to take pictures, and the vast majority are more than happy to show-off their pub, and keen to chat about the trade and their own part in it. It helps of course that I choose my time carefully, usually aiming to visit at the least busy times of the day when staff are less rushed and there's less likelihood of startling the locals with my camera. As an aside, this is why so many of the photos on this blog are of seemingly empty pubs.

The Plough certainly wasn't empty when I popped in recently, it's just that it was an absolute scorcher of a day in Hereford, and the garden has many shady and attractive corners for a cool pint and a natter. It's in the garden that you'll also find the pubs creeper-clad Skittle Alley (right), one of the principle reasons for my visit of course.

Now the first time I attempted to photograph the skittle alley and interior of the Plough was around 5 years ago. Unfortunately, on that occasion new licensees were in the middle of moving in to the pub, and in no position to give me a tour, so I thought it best not to ask. I took a quick photo of the then creeper-free skittle alley (left) and determined to return another day. So given the current difficult situation, with many pubs only recently reopened and finding their feet, I was just a little more apprehensive than usual when I finally got to return to the Plough. I really needn't have been though, because the welcome was warm, and the licensees happy to accommodate me and my roving camera.

The Plough sits a short way out from the town centre, a pub I'd describe as something between suburban community local, and modest roadhouse on the busy main road out of Hereford toward Wales. The current mock half-timbered corner pub was built in the 1930's by the Hereford and Tredegar Brewery replacing a much older Inn of the same name. The original layout of Public Bar and Smoke Room has been opened out somewhat, but still survives to the extent that two distinct areas remain. One of these is now effectively a games area with Pool Table, Dartboard, and until recently a traditional Quoits Board, now relocated to the skittle alley (see below). Sadly both the mens and ladies leagues for Quoits in Hereford folded quite recently, and I think it's been a while since the Plough fielded a team in competition anyway. Nevertheless, it's good to see that the board is still at the pub and available to play on request, though you'll have to bring your own Quoits as the pub currently has none available. The Plough seems to have had a skittle alley from before the 1930's rebuild, but whether the current one is in the same location I'm not entirely sure.

One thing that's become apparent to me over the last few weeks is that during the run-up to reopening, many licensees have not only prepared well for the new social distancing rules, but also taken the opportunity to give their pubs a bit of a spruce-up. This has clearly been the case at the Plough Inn which is immaculate throughout, and I'm pleased to say that the licensees were not merely happy to show me the pubs skittle alley, they were positively keen to show off their recent handiwork. It's often the case that during the off-season, skittle alleys can look a bit tatty and unloved, frequently used as storage space for garden furniture and the like. The alley at the Plough is as tidy as you'll find anywhere, freshly painted and ready for play whenever that might finally occur.

In much better times the Plough Inn field teams in the Hereford & District Invitation Skittles League, the towns principal skittles league for over 100 years. Seasoned skittlers might wonder why the Hereford league use 10-pin bowling style skittles rather than the usual stubby pins of the West Country game. Initially I thought this was a relatively modern convenience, reusing redundant pins from bowling alleys. Since then I've seen numerous team photos from the very earliest days of the league around the turn of the century which clearly feature this unique style of pin. It seems that Hereford folk just do things differently when it comes to pub games.

Coach and Horses, Derby

Derby and its pubs rarely feature on this blog, which is perhaps surprising given that it's been one of my most frequent pub and beer destinations of the last 30 years! The self-styled 'Real Ale Capital of England' has always had a good reputation for its traditional pubs, but came to prominence as a serious beer enthusiasts destination around the time the Brunswick Inn reopened as a specialist alehouse in the late 80's. This at a time when pubs that were truly free of tie and able to offer a wide range of beers were something of a rarity, the market dominated by regional and national brewers. The later addition of a micro-brewery at the Brunswick, as well as the revival of the nearby Alexandra Hotel by the Tynemill group (latterly Castle Rock) would only increase the attraction of Derby to boozy day-trippers like ourselves.

Derby remains an essential destination for beer and pub fans, boasting several small breweries and dozens of specialist beer pubs, as well as some great traditional old boozers if you know where to look. What it lacks though is a strong local or regional pub games tradition. Not an unusual state of affairs for one of the Midlands larger cities of course, traditional pub games continue to be pushed to the fringes of towns almost everywhere. It's disappointing nevertheless, particularly given that Derby lies at the heart of a skittles tradition which is still popular throughout much of the county as well as the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

I've searched long and hard in the Derby area for pubs where the local skittles game is still played, sadly with little success up to now. Long Alley Skittles, as it's known in this part of the East Midlands, remains predominantly an outdoor game, played through the summer months and in all weather conditions on alleys located on the car park or beer garden of pubs. Which is why the car park is often my first port of call when visiting pubs in an area where Long Alley is still played.

Because even where the game hasn't been played for a good few years, the distinctive metal 'frame' that the skittles stand on, and sometimes the foot-sized depression which marks the throwing point, can often still be found in the grounds of the pub. Not so in Derby though! I've yet to find a single pub where an original skittle alley survives, least of all one where the game is still actually played. That is until my most recent visit to the city, albeit this is not in fact a surviving old skittle alley. Rarer still, this is an entirely new one!

The Coach & Horses is a large locals pub situated just a short walk from the town centre in the leafy suburb of Chester Green. This part of Derby is probably best known to beer enthusiasts for its micropub, The Little Chester Alehouse, the first of its kind in Derby, and as it happens the first micropub I ever visited shortly after it opened in 2012. There are one or two other pubs nearby, though sadly the nearby Garden City appears to have closed for good, a pub that had an example of the rare traditional pub game Ring The Bull. So the Coach & Horses fights the corner for more traditionally styled pubs in the area, a substantial two-roomer with the pub staples of Darts and Pool in the smaller public bar, and a busy schedule of league Dominoes in the plusher lounge bar.

It's not at all clear whether skittles was ever played at the Coach & Horses prior to this most recent revival, or indeed whether there was a Derby league for the game, but the pub now fields a team in the Belper & District Skittles League, probably the nearest Summer league available to the pub. In fact it was a casual match at one of the venues in the Belper league that inspired locals to set up a skittle alley at the pub in the first place.

At first glance you might think there was a long history of skittles play at the Coach & Horses given the evidence of not one, but three separate 'frames' on and around the car park at the rear of the pub. The truth is that none of these are more than a few years old, and the game has only been established at the pub for a few seasons. The diamond-shaped concrete frame shown below, and the small indentation in the tarmac below that, mark the position of the first skittle alley created at the pub. For reasons known only to the pubs keen skittlers, a new frame was then created further out on the car park, the position of this one indicated by a diamond of steel circles set into the tarmac. These frames are necessary in Long Alley Skittles to give a firm flat footing for wooden pins that are taller than in almost all other skittles traditions, and somewhat top-heavy as a result.

The most recent, and presumably final position of the skittle alley at the Coach and Horses is on a purpose-built raised platform at the edge of the car park (left & below) seen here during the leagues off-season, a convenient home for some of the pubs outdoor seating. This slightly elevated position is much less prone to interruption from vehicles coming and going at the pub, but it also affords the opportunity to install a permanent ball-return pipe down the length of the adjacent wall. Note that the alley has been christened 'CJ's Alley' in memory of a popular local at the pub who passed away recently.

This new alley had only recently been completed when I visited the pub early last year, and I fully intended to return and observe a league match when things got going in the Summer. Unfortunately time, and the national lockdown that has forced all pubs to close and most league games to cease, got the better of me. Pubs are now reopening, but it's unlikely that social games like skittles will resume until next year at the earliest. When skittles does eventually resume, I'll certainly be aiming to revisit the Coach and Horses for a pint or two of the excellent Draught Bass, and a ringside seat at the new Skittle Alley one fine Summer evening.