The Hurdler, Stamford, Lincolnshire (updated October 2020)

The Hurdler is one of only two classic estate pubs which remain in the upmarket town of Stamford (the other being the nearby Danish Invader, the Drum & Monkey and Northfields both having closed since this was originally posted in 2012) A large, open-plan locals pub with a central bar that I've no doubt would have been multi-room originally. Built to serve the needs of the post war housing which surrounds it, and like most pubs that are firmly embedded in their local communities, the Hurdler is a sport and games pub through and through. In fact the pub is named after a local sporting hero David Cecil (Lord Burghley), gold medallist at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. A sprightly hurdling gentleman on the pubs swinging sign commemorates his athletic prowess.

Cribbage, Darts, Dominoes, and Pool are the principal league games played at the Hurdler today, but the pub also field a team in Stamfords unique Pushpenny League. The league is currently running with just six pubs/clubs, a parlous state for any pub game league to be in. Let's hope the pubs of Stamford can keep this game going where others have sadly fallen by the wayside.

Update October 2020

Another sparse post from the early days of this blog, featuring a pub that I've been meaning to revisit for some time. In fact I have revisited The Hurdler a couple of times since then, just not with a camera in tow. So, what's new at The Hurdler?

Well it's had a bit of a refurb, though nothing too drastic. In fact I didn't notice any changes at all until I compared these photographs, so think more spruced-up than knocked about. As seems to be the case throughout their estate, Everards have ditched their familiar green livery for a slightly less 'corporate' blue, though thankfully they haven't gone the whole hog and painted everything pastel grey!

The most noticeable changes to the Hurdler on this most recent visit were the alterations for social distancing. The most notable being the ugly (and now entirely unnecessary given that the rules have changed to table service only!) Perspex screens across the bar servery, as well as a bit of floor tape around the sensibly spaced tables. The way things are looking at the moment, these are here to stay, though hopefully not for ever. It's a roomy pub inside anyway and with plenty of front and back garden space, so social distancing was hardly an issue on the late-Summer afternoon when I popped in for a pint. The recent 10pm curfew and enforced table service had been confirmed that day and was much more of a concern to the licensees. Wet-led estate pubs like this do more trade than most in the run-up to last orders, and the feeling was that this will hit their crucial weekend trade very hard indeed.

As you can see from these images, the Hurdler might be regarded as Stamfords premier games pub. In far better times than these the pub fields teams in all the local leagues, with match nights occurring throughout the week. Womens Darts and Pushpenny feature on Tuesday nights, Pool and Cribbage on Wednesday, with Mens Darts and Dominoes filling the Thursday slot. Needless to say, none of these leagues are currently operating, a particularly tough situation for pubs like the Hurdler which rely on the steady weekday trade that games bring throughout the year, particularly during the Winter months when the attractive garden to the rear of the pub is out of action.

I'm not entirely sure whether Darts and Pool were still being played at the Hurdler at the time I visited. Certainly not on a quiet midweek afternoon with just a small group of locals holding court near the bar. With table service now the rule, even these non-contact games are effectively barred from the pub, putting the three Dartboards at the Hurdler out of use for the time being.

The following images are from the original post back in 2012. At this time there were a couple of Pushpenny Boards in the bar, and of course the local Stamford Pushpenny League was up and running from around Autumn until early Summer. The league is currently defunct owing to social distancing rules, but has shrunk even further since my original blog post. The 2019/20 league fixtures (above) show the league running with just four teams from three pubs in the town, which by any standards represents a traditional pub game on the verge of extinction, a sad situation given that the Stamford League is one of only two for the game of Pushpenny in the country. Whether it will survive this latest setback remains to be seen.

These two Pushpenny Boards were kept in the bar when I visited back in 2012. Needless to say there's no sign of them now. The nearest was in regular use, made from a single piece of Mahogany and with a beautifully polished surface which is typical of these locally made competition boards. The other board is a little more workmanlike, and is in fact the reverse of a commercial Shove Ha'penny board (below). The principle difference between a Pushpenny Board and the more common Shove Ha'penny is the spacing of the nine beds, significantly wider in Pushpenny to accommodate the larger Pennies used in the Stamford game. The sloping run-off at the rear of this Pushpenny board can be clearly seen in the image above, a feature rarely seen in Shove Ha'penny but typical of these handmade Stamford boards.

Pub Game Trophies & Medals - Pt.2

Alley skittles, as played in the West Country and much of Southern England and Wales, is perhaps the most popular of all regional and local pub games played today. In fact it's always been a popular game, such that skittles in all its myriad forms would have been ubiquitous in pubs and clubs throughout the country at one time. As such, winners medals and other silverware for the game are very common, perhaps second only in number to the '(inter)national' game of Darts. Common enough then, and for the most part the images used on these medals and trophies are quite similar in design, usually a man, delivering a ball down an alley at a set of skittle pins.

This slightly over-polished base-metal disc would have originally been mounted on a shield or trophy, so the lack of league and winners details (and possibly hallmark) that you'd expect to find on a medal makes it difficult to date. The main interest for me is that the image depicts a woman in the act of Skittles play, something I've rarely seen on a medal, trophy or shield for traditional pub games. Which is not to say that 'silverware' for women's teams and leagues doesn't exist, it's just that the images depicted are usually either standard depictions of men at play, or a genderless representation of the game itself such as a Dartboard, Cards, or Dominoes.

Now I'm certainly no expert on period dress, but the woman depicted here seems to come from another time altogether, perhaps a vintage representation of the game at the very least. The pins are slightly problematic for skittles, looking as they do more like a set for 10-pin bowling than our native 9 pin skittles. However, I've seen more than enough genuinely old skittle pins to know that they come in all shapes and sizes, indeed the Hereford Leagues have been using re-purposed bowling pins like these for many years. It is of course worth reiterating that the games depicted on these medals and trophies don't necessarily reflect the one that it was awarded for. But women have been participating in traditional games at the pub for many years, so it's nice to see their gender represented correctly on the silverware for a change.

There's perhaps no better indication of just how popular and widespread the game of Steel Quoits was in the late 19th and early 20th century than the existence of medals like this one. Silverware for Football and Cricket is perhaps the most common of all 'sporting' fob medals, but this one is slightly unusual in that it indicates the Dewsbury & Savile Cricket & Football Club had a Quoits Section alongside the more familiar national sports played at the club.

Around the time this Fattorini & Sons medal was made, Quoits was played throughout the country, and in some areas would have been the equal of Football for spectator interest, if not actual participation. Quoits Pitches and the larger Quoits Fields suitable for spectating the sport were numerous and often associated with pubs, but they were also an important aspect of multi-discipline sports clubs like this one. The Dewsbury & Savile Club eventually merged with Whitley Lower Cricket Club, later to become the Hopton Mills Cricket Club. The old ground was surrendered to the council, though it's doubtful whether the Quoits Pitch still existed at this time as the game went into rapid decline in the post-war years. There's a bit about the famous old Cricket Club online, not so much about the Football, and needless to say there's nothing much at all about the Quoits Section!

In 1935 when this medal by Thomas Fattorini Ltd of Birmingham was presented, it would have been standard practice for skittles leagues to seek, or be offered sponsorship from local brewers. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement given the thirsty custom a thriving skittles league would have brought to their pubs. Georges Brewery (latterly part of the Courage, Barclay and Simonds group) was a Bristol based brewing concern, and therefore the game on this medal is correctly represented as alley skittles, a game which is still popular throughout the West Country and beyond.

Small Bore or Miniature Rifle Shooting is one of those sports that flies well below the radar for most of us. Yet this too was very popular from around the war years as both a recreational pastime and a way of improving shooting proficiency in the civilian population at a time of conflict. That this branch of shooting should have found a natural home in the pub might seem odd, and yet entirely unsurprising given it was targeted at the working classes, and for many the pub, clubs, and the village hall were the only indoor venues available to shoot over a range of 15-25 yards. The sport is still practiced at the pub, often making use of the Skittle Alley.

This 'white-metal' medallion is slightly larger than a typical fob medal, and originally had a chain ring screwed into the top edge. So a true 'medal' to be worn around the neck if so desired. Made by Pinches of London, a highly regarded medallist established in 1840, now part of the Franklin Mint. From the position of the gentleman cueing at the table, there's the suggestion of three balls on the table in this image. Possibly deliberate given that the medal is probably for the earlier 3-ball game of Billards rather than Snooker.

The 'pushing' and 'shoving' games rarely seem to feature on fob medals or trophies. Perhaps for most players, these bar-room games were regarded as more of an afternoon pleasure than serious competition, though it's certainly true that there were numerous leagues for the games of Shove Ha'penny and Pushpenny throughout the 20th century, a handful of which survive to this day. This is the closest I've managed to acquire of this once very popular game, a slightly novel spinning medal that would have originally been mounted atop a trophy of some sort. We might cautiously conclude from the image that this was for the rarer 3-coin game of Pushpenny rather than the 5-coin game Shove Ha'penny.

Shoving Games

Many of the traditional pub games we see now have developed as scaled-down versions of much larger competitive games. Usually it was simply a case of miniaturising for the convenience of play in pokey Tap Rooms and Parlour Bars. Often too it was a way of bringing outdoor games such as Quoits and Skittles indoors, maintaining play during the inclement winter months.

Shove Ha'penny is a good example of this, a miniaturised version of a game known as 'Shovel Board' which was once highly fashionable amongst the gentry. Shovel Board was a fairly simple game which involved sliding metal or wooden 'pucks' up a highly polished, often very long table. The aim was to land your puck as close to the end of the table without overshooting and sliding off the end. Points were scored, and wagers were commonly placed on the outcome.

Shovel Boards, like the one shown above in the 'Audit Room' of Boughton House in Northamptonshire, were by necessity games of the larger country houses and stately homes since nowhere else could easily house (or afford) such a huge piece of carpentry. Inevitably, what was a fashionable game of the wealthy filtered down to the masses, and smaller versions of the game, measured in feet rather than yards, became popular in the drinking establishments of more common folk. Several Shovel Boards survive in the stately homes of England and Wales, but these smaller 'Tavern' tables are very rare indeed. Of those that have survived they are often only distinguishable from ordinary farmhouse tables by the lines scored into them for play, but they do occasionally surface in the antiques trade.

Smaller they may have been, but they were still bulky and expensive fixtures of a public house, so further miniaturisation of the game to that which we see now was perhaps inevitable.

An afternoon game of Pushpenny at the Organ Grinder in Lougborough

Pushpenny is the rarer, and possibly earlier cousin of Shove Ha'penny. Old English pennies are used in the game of Pushpenny, smoothed and polished on one side and with a slight bevel on the edge to stop the coin 'digging in'. The board is similar in size to a Shove Ha'penny, but the nine beds are wider to accommodate the bigger coins. The rules are similar, though only three pennies are shoved up the board as opposed to the five of Shove Ha'penny.

Old Pushpenny boards like the one shown here occasionally surface in the antiques and collectibles trade, particularly in those few areas where the game is still played. This board is a classic Stamford Pushpenny, the Lincolnshire town being one of only two places in the country where the game is still played at league level, the other being the Hastings area of Sussex. This Stamford board has been made from a fairly slim piece of highly polished Mahogany, most likely recycled from a redundant piece of furniture. There's a shallow dip in the surface at the end of the board to receive over-hit coins, and a vertical end-stop. The lead-in is barely wider than the beds, which is uniquely the standard for the Stamford game. These Pushpenny boards are also characterised by having extremely smooth polished playing surfaces, the lightest touch required to score in the first bed, and all too easy to overshoot the last one.

This heavyweight Shove Ha'penny gives a good illustration of the condition that many of these old boards are in when found in the antiques trade. Liberally smothered with the very worst kind of sticky oil and wax finish, in a pointless effort to 'age' what is already quite clearly an item of some vintage. Bees Wax and oil based finishes like this effectively make the board unplayable, and need to be carefully removed. A jar of White Spirit and a lot of elbow-grease will eventually remove the worst of the wax, and help reveal the beauty of the old wood as shown here.

This is a slightly unusual board in that the beds are quite wide for a Shove Ha'penny, though narrow for a Pushpenny. Older boards like this probably pre-date the commercial production of Shove Ha'penny boards by Jaques, Wisden etc. which may explain why the spacings and dimensions are often slightly different to later examples, a vestige of how the game would have been played when more local rules applied. This is a very high quality board, the scoring zones at the side are made of slate, and there's a good quality Brass end rail at the curved end.

Just a few of the many different 'coins' which have been shoved up polished wood in pubs and clubs over the years. From left: Victorian Penny, smoothed and polished on the 'Brittania' side for Pushpenny. Also shown is a set with the Monarch side smoothed off, regarded by some as something of a heinous crime! Half Penny, this one a George VI but many others are used including the earlier Britannia design. Again, these have had the monarchs head smoothed off. St Georges Series, a silvered brass shove ha'penny token manufactured in tandem with various boards, probably post-war or later. Trumans Tap Bitter, brewery advertising tokens for Shove Ha'penny. Half Penny Tokens, based on the 'ship' half penny design, but blank and with a raised-edge on the reverse. Jaques London, manufactured tokens by the famous London games retailer. French 5 Centimes, there are two of these along with three Victorian half pennies. These were given to me by a friend, and were originally used by his father, and possibly grandfather who operated a pub in London. These coins have been smoothed on the reverse, and are wafer thin from decades of use and polishing.

This Slate Shove Ha'penny is one of the cheaper (possibly later) variations on the 'Challenger' board, supposedly issued for play by the Shove Ha'penny Control Association. The design is identical, the cast metal end stop replaced here with a plastic version carrying advertising for a popular cigarette brand.

My recent visit to the Albion Brewery Tap in Northampton was principally to view the Northamptonshire Skittles Table and Bar Billiards. I was later informed that the bar also has this Shove Ha'penny available for play.

A Collection of Shove Ha'pennys

The almost limitless variety to be found in manufactured and home made Shove Ha'penny boards is a dangerous thing for those of us with a penchant for collecting. Putting aside the relatively common and quite similar boards which were manufactured by Jaques, K&C, Wisden's etc. it seems that from my own observations almost every carpenter, cabinet maker, joiner, and sundry other craftsmen would have knocked up a few boards for sale locally. Add to this the literally thousands of handcrafted boards made by locals and hobbyists, and clearly it's not a collection anyone is ever likely to complete.

© John Penny

Of course, when I use the word 'variety' in the context of Shove Ha'penny boards, I'm referring to quite subtle differences in what is essentially the same basic form. To the untrained eye, one wooden Shove Ha'penny might look much the same as another, but it's these subtle differences which make it hard for the enthusiast to resist acquiring yet another piece of highly polished timber or slate whenever one comes up for sale.

The slate shown on the right is from fellow enthusiast, and keen Dorset/Somerset skittler John Penny's collection. I don't know how many boards John has, but I do know that pub games are a passion, and I hope to feature more from his collection in future posts on this blog.

This example was made by Alfred Merewood of 36 Surrey Street, Portsmouth. Cabinet maker? Games Manufacture? I've been unable to find any details of the business online. The slate itself is similar to the more commonly found 'Imp' Shove Ha'penny boards, which were embellished with a cheaper and less attractive plastic end stop than the fine wooden one on this board.

© John Penny

Smooth and durable Slate seems to have been the preferred material for Shove Ha'penny boards in pubs throughout the West Country, with many still in existence in their natural home.

The one shown to the left is located a little further east of this at the White Lion Inn, Wherwell, Hampshire. It's a very serious chunk of slate, not the kind of thing that wants moving around too much but ideal for pub use. It also features five handy recesses in the wooden end stop for the coins.

John has speculated that this may in fact be a Pushpenny given that the recesses are a good fit for old pennies. It's all in the bed depth though, which is hard to gauge from a photo. Perhaps John will have a game the next time he visits.

© John Penny

The detail on the wooden Shove Ha'penny shown above (and below) is a beautifully made, and very neat solution to the safe storage of coins or tokens when not in use. This board was made by John's great uncle, obviously a skilled craftsman, and is certainly pre-war in date.

Of course any half decent collection of Shove Ha'penny boards requires an accompanying collection of Shove Ha'penny Tokens. Here we have examples from the St Georges Series, the Shove Ha'penny Control Association, and assorted plain brass and silvered discs. Judging by the examples shown here, tokens for the game are also an area ripe for the collector.

© John Penny

I think it's true to say that the examples shown above represent the most common materials used for Shove Ha'penny boards, though I've also seen Marble and Granite used on occasion. But every now and then something truly unusual comes to light which makes the point that any hard smooth surface will do for the game, and of course there's really no reason to stick with natural and traditional materials. The board shown below was recently acquired from a snooker club in Cheltenham which was having a clear out. It's very heavy, very smooth indeed, and made from what appears to be some form of man-made resin or laminate such as Paxolin.

It's an unusual board in other ways. It's hard to imagine this would have been 'manufactured', and yet the lines have been precision cut in a way that suggests it was machine tooled rather than cut by hand. The end stop is made from some kind of industrial plastic capping which is effective but quite rudimentary and lacking elegance, and the bracing baton underneath is an off cut, still with vestiges of the paint from its previous life.

The design of the playing surface is unusual too, with a semi-circular 'D' zone, and two inexplicable circles in the end zone. Quite a mystery, and given that I still haven't managed to find out the true purpose of the more common 'D' zone, not one I'm likely to solve to be honest.

Pushpenny and a Government Issue Shove Ha'penny!

The Shove Ha'penny Board shown here was a recent inexpensive acquisition from a vintage stall in Gloucestershire. No information on its origin was forthcoming from the dealer, which is a shame but usually the case.

At first glance it appears to be little more than a cheap homemade board, very similar in appearance to another inexpensive board which has already featured on this blog. Both are constructed from three planks of tongue and groove timber, and both have a similar three piece end stop arrangement. In fact the timbers are thinner and longer on this board, and it's probably made from a better quality hardwood, but nevertheless, the design is essentially identical.

The main difference between the two boards, and what makes this one slightly more interesting than most, is only noticeable on closer examination of the edges and underside.

The stamped mark shown above can be found on one edge of the playing surface, and seems to me to represent most of the lettering of London games manufacturer Jaques. As you can see, there is more lettering above this, but it's position on the very edge of the board makes it too indistinct to read. If we assume this is a Jaques board, it suggests that the company would have made a whole range of different models, from their usual top of the range Mahogany and Brass boards, down to this cheaper, more workmanlike version. Interesting? Well maybe not. Jaques have been around for a very long time, so it's hardly surprising they would have made numerous different models for different markets. There may have been another explanation for a cheaper model like this though, which brings me to the other, much clearer mark located on the bracing baton underneath.

The symbol shown on this image appears to be a Government property stamp with an associated number 56, the purpose of which is not entirely clear but could have been a stores number. Known as a Broad Arrow, this mark was stamped onto all manner of items, military issue equipment and sundries in particular. At first it might seem strange to find a government property mark on a Shove Ha'penny board, but in fact the game seems to have been very popular, and very widely played in the forces at one time. Not only have I seen one or two supposed ex-RAF Shove Ha'penny boards for sale online (for appropriately sky-high prices it must be said), but there are also several photographs from the second world war era showing RAF personnel playing the game as a way to relax between missions (see here and here for example).

Quite whether this board is ex-military issue, or for how long the government would have continued to list Shove Ha'penny boards in its extensive store inventory is hard to say. My best guess is that this board formed part of an order placed by the government to Jaques of London, possibly some time around the second world war. Perhaps this was a special 'war standard' Shove Ha'penny, explaining the cheap and cheerful construction of the board by a company usually noted for the high quality of its numerous games.

Update (23/09/13) - I've now had confirmation from Jaques that this board was indeed a government issue Shove Ha'penny, dating from some time around the second world war. The board will now be joining Jaques own games collection.

Pushpenny

The Pushpennys shown here include a small homemade board (left) which is now part of the fixtures and fittings of The George in Ashley, Northamptonshire. The larger board (right) came in a job lot of junk at an agricultural auction in Melton Mowbray. It was in very poor condition, missing its end-stop, and as can be seen in the image below, had suffered from the attentions of Wood Boring Beetle at some point. I thought it was worth a few quid and set about treating and restoring it to active service. Although similar in most regards to a classic Stamford Pushpenny board, there are a couple of crucial differences likely to preclude this board from serious league play.

The playing surface of a Pushpenny Board is usually made from a tight grained hardwood such as Mahogany, sometimes with a softer wood used for the scoring and end pieces. The board shown here is unusual in that the timber for the playing surface is a fairly smooth softwood (possibly Pitch Pine), with a deep brown, tight grained hardwood used for the scoring strips. A matching piece of hardwood also forms the start of the playing surface. A good deal of work has gone into the construction of this board, including beautifully inlaid hardwood strips to mark each of the nine beds, so it's perhaps surprising that a more suitable wood wasn't chosen in the first place for the playing surface. After some work with fine sandpaper and steel wool, the playing surface has come up to be quite smooth, but I don't think it will ever be as 'fast' as a hardwood board. Maybe it needs a bit more work, or maybe it will get better with a bit of play. It's also worth mentioning that the spacings on this board are a little wider than other Stamford boards I've seen.

Detail of the end stop and side bars on the Pushpenny Board at the George, Ashley.

A Compendium of Pub Games Images - Pt.17

The smiling chap in the Monks Habit on these Playing Cards is a reference to the Benedictine Monks who reputedly discovered Burton-on-Trent's highly regarded Gypsum-rich brewing waters. Marston's Brewery also used the image for their strong Merrie Monk Mild, as well as for a number of pubs including the now closed Merrie Monk in Dunton Basset, a former Leicestershire Table Skittles venue.

A well used brass Put & Take, a game which was very popular with servicemen during the war years, and seemingly purpose made for surreptitious gambling in pubs thereafter. The idea of Put & Take is that a Banker holds the stake, and depending on the fall of the spinner, either pays out or takes money from those playing. Needless to say the odds are always in the bankers favour so this role would be rotated throughout play. Put & Take pieces like this one can still be bought today, though it's hard to say just how much play goes on in the pub or elsewhere, given the relative ease of all manner of gambling pursuits nowadays.

Medals for Dominoes and Northamptonshire Table Skittles. Like most medals, cups, and shields, these are made from base metal these days rather than the Silver or Silver Plate of earlier, more handsome trophies. The skittles medal has quite a nice rendering of the game, the table located in the corner of a bare-boarded bar, as most indeed are. It was originally presented to a gentleman who played the game in pubs throughout Northampton town, for success in either the 'Pepper League' or 'Pepper Cup' competition. The Pepper family have a long association with the game, John Pepper being the last known maker of the traditional Boxwood skittles and cheeses of Northamptonshire Table Skittles.

These 'Darter's Luck' cards were printed for the Darts Club of the Alexandra Arms in Kettering in the 1950's, a pub already featured on this blog for its fine Northamptonshire Skittles Table. These cards were used as fundraisers for the team, passed around the pub, and paying out Four Shillings for a minimum Two Pence stake. The system has proved to be very durable, with almost identical 'Football Cards' still doing the rounds at pub game matches throughout the country. Indeed I was lucky enough to win the modern-day Four Shillings (more like £10) on the Ladies Skittle Team card at the Queen Adelaide, Kingsthorpe last year.

The chances are, if you spend time in a pub which is still frequented by a diverse range of locals, you'll come across a game of Dominoes being played. The game is certainly not as popular as it once was, it's a 'thinking' game of a type which doesn't seem to appeal to younger drinkers, but the game persists nevertheless. The chances are that unless you're in the Bolton area, you're unlikely to see anything other than the common six-spot dominoes in play.

Of course there's no reason why domino sets shouldn't come in other denominations to the standard six, and anything up to twelve spots is known. The higher the number of spots employed, the greater the number of tiles in a set, and in theory the greater the number of players in any one game. In practise though, most leagues in the UK and beyond stick with the tried and trusted six spot option. All except those leagues which operate in the Bolton area, where nine spot Dominoes like those shown above are the norm.

This large Mahogany Pushpenny Board is certainly showing its age. Pitted, scratched, and with a significant crack at the top end of the board. Nevertheless, it plays very well indeed and is a good example of how even with this level of wear, ageing, and even damage, a good quality hardwood Pushpenny or Shove Ha'penny can still be perfectly serviceable.

This board has almost identical spacings to a Stamford Pushpenny board, and the two-piece construction and thick copper stop bar suggests this has been homemade locally from a redundant piece of furniture.

A Vintage Pushpenny Board

Pushing Pennies on a Saturday afternoon in the bar of The George, Ashley, Northamptonshire

The game of Pushpenny differs markedly from its more common sidekick Shove Ha'penny in that the boards used for play seem never to have been manufactured. This means that no two Pushpenny Boards will ever be quite the same, in fact they can vary considerably in design and the all important spacings and measurements. The Pushpenny shown here is one of the oldest I've come across, and despite being purchased in Stamford, Lincolnshire, it differs in several respects to the boards currently in use in the local Stamford League.

The most obvious difference is the overall size. This is a large piece of Mahogany even by the standards of the Stamford league where boards are commonly longer than a standard Shove Ha'penny. The run-in is deeper than usual, the playing surface that little bit wider, and perhaps most important of all, the bed depth is significantly shallower than a Stamford board. This all adds up to a particularly difficult board to play, particularly as the surface has been polished to an exceptionally smooth finish, requiring the lightest of touch to avoid overshooting the board.

The original varnish/lacquer which would have originally covered this piece of Mahogany can clearly be seen in this image, and is a good indication that this piece of wood had a very different life before being recycled as a pub game. Only the playing surface and semi-circular end zone has been stripped and polished back to the bare wood. Also of note is the smaller semi-circle above the ninth bed, presumably a scoring option but one which I've yet to find rules for. On this board I've decided to use this additional 'bed', which is quite difficult to score in, as a kind of Joker. Landing a penny in the semi-circle gives the player the opportunity to score once in any bed of their choice.

The three holes shown here are repeated at the other end of the left-hand edge, and may well have been where a pair of hinges were originally located. Perhaps this piece of Mahogany was originally a cupboard door or desk top. Perhaps a cabinet maker may have a better idea. Whether the end piece of wood was contemporary with this is hard to tell. It has been very firmly jointed to the board with tongue-and-groove, and there are useful indentations for pennies and chalk on either side.

The chalk scoring areas are very unusual, being made from strips of inlaid slate screwed onto the surface. This is a feature I've only very rarely seen, and marks this out as being quite a highly crafted board, certainly on a different level to the usual manufactured or home-made pub boards.