Arthur Taylor (dec. July 2022)

(Image c/o John Penny)

Whilst this blog remains mothballed for the foreseeable future, I felt it was important to acknowledge the recent passing of writer, historian, musician, and pub games enthusiast Arthur Taylor. (pictured right 'Spinning' with Mary Ashby, licensee of the Rose & Crown, Bradford Abbas, Dorset)

Arthur was both the inspiration and primary knowledge source for this blog, particularly in the early days when my own enthusiasm for Pub Games was in no way matched by my knowledge or experience of the subject, one which Arthur had researched, written, and enthused about for decades.

My first 'almost' meeting with Arthur was back in 2010 as a hopelessly inexperienced player in a midweek 'B' team for the local game of Northamptonshire Table Skittles, playing at the (now closed) Red Lion pub in Middleton, Northants (left). For reasons I'll probably never know (1), Arthur had decided to visit the pub on a Friday night to observe a match in the Market Harborough League, a match that I regretfully failed to attend. This was toward the beginning of research for a proposed new book on Skittles, and the Red Lion was to represent a chapter on the venerable Northants game. At this time Arthur also wrote occasional pieces for The Telegraph's weekly Pub Guide feature, and rather thriftily he used the Red Lion as material for the July 23rd column (2).

So I missed the man on this occasion, but as it happens his visit had coincided with the recent publication of his new book, 'Played At The Pub - The Pub Games of Britain', a copy of which he kindly donated to the then licensees Kevin & Fiona Barby. This would be quite literally a game-changer for me.

Up until this point I'd been dabbling with a short-lived blog journalling my experiences of playing Northants Skittles in the pubs and clubs of the area. Not one of my greatest work it's true, but I was already considering expanding it in an attempt to document all of the old Skittles Tables and their venues in the area. Arthurs book inspired me to go one step further and attempt to cover the much broader subject of traditional pub games in all their myriad forms, resulting in the near 10 year project documented on this blog.

Arthur would have first come to public prominence during his days as a lecturer in Manchester, taking occasional extra-curricular jobs as an Extra in Granada Television productions (3), one of which was a notable scene in Coronation Street, playing a diner in Wetherfield’s first Italian Restaurant in the early 60's. This connection would eventually lead to a lengthy career as producer and director for Granada, a career which took him all over the country, and indeed the globe, and offered ample opportunities to indulge his passion for Brass Bands, Pubs and of course Pub games.

His first book on the subject, 'Pub Games', was published way back in 1976, the much expanded and revised 'Guinness Book of Traditional Pub Games' arriving in 1992. Other than important early works by Timothy Finn, and numerous more general publications on sports and games, these books can be regarded as pioneering studies of a subject that's so deeply ingrained and taken for granted within pub culture as to be virtually invisible. Whilst writers continue to find value in mass participation sports such as Football and Cricket, pub games of all types have long been regarded as unworthy subjects for non-fiction.

That Arthur's next book on the subject, 'Played At The Pub' (below), is still regarded as the definitive work on Pub Games, is testament to both his deep knowledge of the subject, and his skills as an entertaining and informative writer. It's also a slightly sad indictment of the inexorable decline of pub gaming in our collective conscience that there appear to be no new books on this absorbing subject on the horizon. Where will the next book come from if not from a man like Arthur Taylor?

The world of pub games enthusiasm is a very small one it has to be said, this despite the fact tens of thousands of folk enjoy the pastime on a daily basis. As such it was inevitable that I'd soon find myself in correspondence with Arthur, as well as a handful of other writers and advocates of traditional gaming. I eventually met up with Arthur at the historic Skittles On The Green event in Thrussington, Leicestershire (left), another proposed chapter in his planned book on Skittles. Sadly Arthurs health was such that he was unable to take part in the games themselves, but we enjoyed pints in both the Blue Lion and Star Inn whilst I demonstrated my lack of skills in yet another version of skittles, Leicestershire Long Alley. In common with all pub games enthusiasts, Arthur was also a keen collector of games, and I was delighted to present him with this Stamford Pushpenny board from my own small collection, which I hope enjoyed playing at some point.

We parted with every intention of meeting up again, and though this sadly never came to pass we remained in contact as writing and research continued on his (sadly unfinished) book on Skittles. Indeed Arthur commented with great warmth and kindness when I came to make the final post on this blog, such was his continued interest in the subject.

Notes

1. In point of fact Arthur may well have chosen the Red Lion simply because a photo of its antique skittles table is used to illustrate the Northants game on a traditional games website, titled (incorrectly) as being at the Red Lion, Corby: Table Skittles, Devil Amongst the Tailors - Online Guide (tradgames.org.uk)

2. Northamptonshire pub guide: The Red Lion, Middleton, Northamptonshire (telegraph.co.uk)

3. There's a very good interview with Arthur about his time at Granada here: Arthur Taylor – Granadaland