Rose & Crown, Bradford Abbas, Dorset

If Bradford Abbas is the archetypal sleepy English rural village, then the Rose & Crown certainly fits the bill as its typical English village pub (though far from sleepy when a skittles team are at home). A 14th century boozer of mellow local stone, firmly planted at the centre of the village in the shadow of the parish church. In fact the Rose & Crown is a proper old 'Inn' with several letting rooms, a long rambling bar and dining area, attractive beer garden, and entirely typical for a Dorset pub, a historic and very well-used Skittle Alley. I didn't see it myself, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were 'Good Stabling' available at the pub too, such is the timeless feel of the place.

My first, and thus far only visit to the 'famous' Rose & Crown was over four years ago now, part of a whistle-stop tour of towns and villages in beautiful Dorset. It also marked my first, and quite probably last truly competitive game of 'West Country Alley Skittles', the traditional game played at pubs and clubs all through the West Country and beyond. This version of skittles is the countrys most popular and well supported by some degree, but it's one that I have little experience of, and even less skill at playing if truth be known.

I spent an eventful night at the pub in August that year, playing skittles for the home team at the behest of my Dorset skittling buddy John Penny, a man who's even more enthused by traditional pub games than I am, if that's possible! John has captained teams at the Rose & Crown for longer than anyone cares to remember, playing Summer and Winter in the local Yeovil Skittles Leagues. A good player by all accounts, though clearly a very poor judge of form given that he was happy to sign me up as a reserve player for the 2016 Summer league. This bad judgement continued when he actually picked me to make up the numbers for a Division 4 league match, playing in the middle order for the 'Merkins' at the business end of the Summer season! I guess that even in the skittling hotbed of Dorsetshire, there's more to playing the game than merely winning, and I was delighted to accept the challenge.

So there's John (above), showing his best side and setting the pins for a few practice rounds on the Rose & Crown alley ahead of the big night. As it was I didn't entirely embarrass myself, though the team charitably offered me a bye on the bewildering array of big-money forfeits that come with top competition like this. Missing the pins entirely, missing your 'spare' etc. I think I managed all of these, transgressions which usually carry a hefty fine. As a rank novice though, I managed to escape the skittle alley that night with almost all my pocket money intact. All the more loose change to lose in the hotly contested game of Three Card Brag in the bar later!

The Merkins, including the nights hard-working 'Sticker-Up' at the front

In fact we won the match that night, thanks in the main to consistent if unspectacular scoring from all team members. Other than myself of course, who scraped to a thoroughly average total of 40. But with just 7 points deciding the winners, I was simply relieved that I hadn't missed the pins entirely and thrown the whole match. As a former Northants Table Skittles player I must say that I found the etiquette of the game slightly odd. The whole team leaving the alley and decamping to the bar whilst the opposing players set their score is not what I'm used to. Of course that meant there was less scrutiny from the opposition, and hence a little less pressure to perform, which undoubtedly helped me with my debut game. The only barracking in Dorset Skittles seems to come from your own team mates!

I describe the pub itself as being famous, and famous it most certainly is, albeit amongst a fairly small circle of games and pub enthusiasts. The image shown here (right) is from one of two 1930's British Movietone films which feature the 'Old Men of Bradford Abbas', including four elderly gentlemen whose combined age of 357 seemed to present no obstacle to regular trips to their village local. Nor indeed a few 'hands' of skittles in the pubs ancient skittle alley or on the Devil Amongst The Tailors (below). Images of these 'Lads of the Village' were used in promotional material by Dorset brewers Eldridge Pope in the 60's and 70's, so it's quite possible you may have come across them before and wondered at their origin.

The 'Athletics' film features the 'Lads' throwing a few balls down the stone-walled alley, and it's thought that this may represent the earliest recorded footage of a game of skittles in progress, albeit one for the 'Four Sovereigns Stakes' and Movietone cameras rather than the cut and thrust of league competition. Perhaps John could resurrect the 'Stakes' at the pub for old times sake, though he might struggle to match the 357 age-total these days. They were made of sterner stuff back then it seems...

The 'Duck' trophy, traditionally awarded to those players with the skill to avoid hitting any skittle pins at all on their go. Luckily I avoided the Duck on this occasion...

Having a pub games enthusiast as thoroughly 'enthusiastic' as John Penny for a local, is surely a blessing for the licensees of the Rose & Crown. His enthusiasm extends to being a strong advocate of the local skittles tradition of course, but he's also a keen supporter of pubs in general through his writing (under a pseudonym) for The Visitor magazine, as well as other local beer and pub related publications such as CAMRA's Giant Dongle newsletter. I've heard he also enjoys the odd pint for the cause...

John has also turned his hand to making numerous high quality games such as the 'Norfolk Twister' shown here in the bar of the Rose & Crown. Fellow Pub Games enthusiast Arthur Taylor, author of 'Played At The Pub', is shown here spinning the game with the licensee (photo c/o John Penny). John has made quite a few of these old, traditional games of chance over the years, a game that is now extremely rare in its home county of Norfolk, yet surprisingly common in Johns home county of Dorset!

John and myself spin for something or other, probably the next round of beers

A Compendium of Pub Games Images - Pt.25

I'm indebted to my friend and fellow pub games enthusiast John Penny for the above image, which shows pub games writer and historian Arthur Taylor spinning one of Johns handmade Norfolk (or Dorset) Twisters in the bar of his local, the Rose & Crown, Bradford Abbas, Dorset. Arthur is accompanied here by Mary Ashby, licensee and custodian of this historic Dorset pub. Arthur Taylor is the foremost authority on British traditional pub games, and has written several books on the subject including the current definitive reference work, 'Played at the Pub: The Pub Games of Britain'.

The game of Twister is essentially a simplified version of Roulette, and in days gone by, the focus of illicit gambling activity in the Tap Rooms and Parlour Bars where they were installed. Quite a rare regional curiosity now, this and games like it were probably more widespread at one time, but given the nature of the game it's perhaps no surprise that they've all but disappeared from the licensed trade now. Only a handful of original examples survive in situ, mostly located at pubs in the Eastern counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. Of course those that have survived are no longer used for their original purpose, more likely games involving forfeits, or perhaps deciding who's round it is next. John Penny has introduced (or re-introduced) the game to his native Dorset, where this and at least two other examples can be found.

Note the sign above the doorway for the pubs equally historic Skittle Alley. The Rose & Crown's alley features in possibly the oldest filmed record of a skittles game in progress, a 1936 British Movietone newsreel, pithily entitled 'Athletics' (below). In this wonderful old footage, four 'Lads of the Village', boasting a combined age of 357 at the time of filming, are seen delivering heavyweight balls down the pubs skittle alley. The 'Lads' are obviously old-hands at the game, achieving some measure of accuracy in the task if perhaps not the 'weight' of their youth. The commentary deals with the subject in a typically patronizing style common to these early newsreels, particularly when dealing with the everyday pursuits of ordinary working folk. But there's no doubting the authenticity of the game, which was probably only slightly staged for the cameras! In fact looking at this footage it's remarkable how little the game has changed in the intervening 80-odd years.

Whilst Northamptonshire Table Skittles, or Hood Skittles is almost unheard of outside of the East Midlands, it was a popular enough game in its post-war heyday to have spread to all the surrounding counties. This widespread popularity has certainly contracted in recent years. The game is still relatively common in the counties of Bedfordshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire, but in others such as Cambridgeshire, Huntingdon and Oxfordshire, Skittles Tables are thin on the ground and rarely supported by league play.

Buckinghamshire is not regarded as having any surviving skittles tradition as far as I can tell, and yet just over the border from Northamptonshire, a good 'Peppers' brothers table stands ready for play in the bar of the Fox & Hounds in Stony Stratford (above & below). Apparently another table exists at a social club in the town, and it seems likely that the game was once popular throughout the area, perhaps even further south and into Hertfordshire.

Green and Red seems to be the traditional colour scheme for indoor Quoits Board everywhere. The only exception to this universal convention is where the wooden or concrete boards have been left un-painted, and even the modern manufactured boards by Jaques have a green outer ring and red inner. I doubt whether anyone knows why this might be, but tradition counts for a lot in pub games, as indeed it does in many other pastimes.

This Quoits Board breaks the mould by having a pale blue surround, but everything else about it is entirely correct. Constructed from Pitch Pine, thickly painted, and with a chain attached for hanging up in the bar of whatever pub it originally came from. I purchased this Quoits Board from a dealer, and needless to say he claimed to know nothing of its history!

This standardised design, in both colour and dimensions, is slightly unusual for a regional pub game based almost entirely on locally hand-made equipment. Some of the boards I've seen, this one included, are quite old and clearly homemade, and I would have expected some measure of variation from league to league, particularly given that the rules of the game do indeed vary significantly across the games current heartland of the Three Counties and Welsh Border area. Such is the nature of 'lowly' pub games like these that very few records exist from their earlier days. Pub gaming being so commonplace and taken for granted even now, that written accounts are scarce.

Of all the many different Cribbage Boards that have been fabricated over the years, it's the homemade examples that particularly fascinate me. Most are fairly rough and ready it's true, knocked-up from an offcut of wood, no fancy embelishments, simply designed to do a job. Others are pieces of real craftsmanship, often made from exotic and expensive timbers, beautifully inlaid and bearing a deep patina acquired from many decades of use. For my taste, manufactured Cribbage Boards lack this indefinable 'social' heritage, the human touch of an object knocked-up in a shed by a pub regular.

What manufactured boards lack in simple rustic charm, they make up for in build quality, design, and finish. The Cribbage Board shown here for example is a fairly simple board, a cheap enough item, inlaid with thin laminates of more expensive timbers, but with an extra design feature to accommodate the rare occasion of a three player game. This third scoring track was probably not often used since both Cribbage and Dominoes are traditionally played by four people as a game of Doubles. Nevertheless, it's a nice feature which covers all bases, and I particularly like the way the swinging arm conceals a row of holes for three sets of Crib Pegs. A clever design feature.

A Compendium of Pub Games Images - Pt.19

This interesting old skittle set appeared for sale in a Leicestershire antiques centre recently. They're very similar in appearance to a set of Leicester Table Skittles which I've already featured on this blog at the Dog & Gun in Syston. Beautifully turned, showing the deep patina of age, and the many dents and dints acquired through years of pub use. The Cheeses are very tactile and have fared much better than the pins in play, made as they are from a closer grained and therefore harder wood. Yours for the asking price of £125. A desirable collection of perfectly playable vintage skittles which simply require a matching Leicester Skittles Table. Ideally, located in a good pub.

© John Penny

The traditional pub game shown here is a Twister, sometimes called a Norfolk Twister or Twizzler. Unusually, this example is located in Dorset, the game being most strongly associated with the south-eastern counties of England. Having said that, who knows how widespread this simple game of fortune may once have been. The survival of original old Twisters in Norfolk and Essex pubs may have as much to do with the relative isolation of the area from gambling enforcement than any firm indication of geographical origin.

This handsome wooden example of the game was made especially for the Mitre Inn, Sandford Orcas by fellow pub games enthusiast John Penny, and is modelled here by licensee Allen Page. Note the numbering of the segments, also augmented by a chalk zone for when names are required as shown here (I wonder who JP was!). This is one of five such Twisters that John has made, though only four survive, and of these only three remain in their original locations. One Twister didn't survive a fire at the pub, and another went travelling with the outgoing landlord. I aim to feature the other two survivors in a later post on this blog.

The Horse & Jockey (above) is idyllically located overlooking Rutland Water in the pretty village of Manton. A favourite destination of walkers and cyclists, the pub has a reputation as a rural 'destination' venue, and certainly it's the lunchtime food trade which dominates the pub during the busy summer tourist season. It's the kind of pub, in the kind of location, that could quite easily have left behind its more 'pubby' origins, but I'm pleased to say that the Horse & Jockey is also highly regarded for its beer, and remains a vibrant village local at heart. This includes that most traditional of pub games, Dominoes, with regular and successful play in the South Luffenham Domino League for which the trophies shown here are proudly held.

The latest addition to the Steamin' Billy Brewery Co pub estate is The Three Crowns in Oakham, Rutland. Tucked away on a back street, the former Griffin is now trading under its original name, and has been extensively refurbished to the usual high standards of this traditional pub company.

Certainly the revamped beer range will gladden the hearts of CAMRA members and other beer enthusiasts, but what pleases me the most is how genuinely 'pubby' The Three Crowns remains. All too often a refurbishment like this is simply an excuse to erase all the character from a pub, imposing a bland style with little space remaining for the pub to grow and develop over time. The Three Crowns is a pub that thankfully hasn't been overdone, and I can see it developing a good local following in time. I'm also pleased to see that nine or so feet of clear space has been set aside for a Darts throw, an important yardstick of pubbiness in my view.

Wherever you find a traditional locals pub, you'll invariably find the locals throwing things about for sport and pleasure. In the village pubs of Rutland and North-East Leicestershire, the game of Pétanque is perhaps the most commonly found competitive throwing game, maybe even more popular than Darts, and certainly surpassing the much older tradition of Long Alley or Table Skittles. Above is the Pétanque scoreboard for the Black Horse in the tiny village of Grimston, Leicestershire. The Black Horse 'A' team have recently gained promotion to the Premier Division of the Rutland & District Pétanque League.

The image below shows an Aunt Sally backsheet at the College Arms, Lower Quinton in Warwickshire. The local game of Aunt Sally gives the locals something to throw sticks at on Thursday evenings throughout the summer, and is as popular in the Oxfordshire area as skittles is in the West Country. The sheet cushions the impact of thrown sticks, and the black circle helps frame the white painted 'Doll' which is being aimed at. The College Arms is a true village local, with teams playing in local Cribbage, Darts, Dominoes, and Pool leagues, in addition to fortnightly matches in the Illmington Aunt Sally League.

Three Horseshoes, Warham, Norfolk

Living, as I do, in land-locked Northamptonshire, the rare heat of a hot Summer weekend often sparks a yearning for the seaside. I think it's a common affliction, this desire for a Summer sea view, but sadly in my experience the reality of an English seaside resort rarely lives up to the rose-tinted promise. Too busy, too hot, too much eye-popping kitsch and unhealthy fried food. This was my recent experience of Wells-next-the-Sea, a pleasant coastal resort in many ways but all of the above and more on one of the hottest weekends of the year. Pretty soon my yearning for the sea turned to the more pressing need of a cool, calm, quiet retreat, and the Three Horseshoes in the lovely village of Warham provided it in (buckets &) spades.

Unspoilt heritage pubs like the Three Horseshoes, particularly when located in such attractive and popular tourist areas as the Norfolk Coast, can all too often end up being little more than busy tourist traps on fine Summer weekends. Not so much the wrong crowd (I'm a tourist here myself after all), as just a little too many of them all at once. The Horseshoes was certainly busy enough when I visited, yet happily it still retained an air of calm efficiency, and a proper 'locals' feel befitting such a fine example of an English village pub. In fact it was a real pleasure to spend time there, particularly after the hectic 'pleasures' of the seaside.

The tidy gas-lit bar is the heart of the Three Horseshoes (as well as the equally tidy garden in the Summer months). Local beer and cider are stillaged in the deep servery which was originally a snug adjoining the bar area. The pub has expanded a fair bit since then, but everything is thoroughly in keeping with the original unspoilt bar area. You can find more details of this pub on CAMRA's Heritage Pubs website.

It's in the bar area that you'll find the pubs one and only traditional game, and unusually it's neither a Darts Board nor a Pool Table. What the pub does have is something local and really quite rare in the form of a Twister, otherwise known as a Twizzler or Norfolk Wheel. These unusual 'wheels of fortune' are found almost exclusively in the Anglian region, and you'll usually find them located on the ceiling in the handful of pubs where they still survive. It's believed this is to help reduce any chance of players cheating during a game. By mounting the wheel on the ceiling, where it's only playable at full stretch and in clear view of every player, it would be very difficult to 'rig' the spin in any way. This would have been an important feature in the days when wagers on the game may have been that much higher than today.

The wheel at the Three Horseshoes is one of the simpler examples of those which survive, and possibly one of the oldest. Some have more numbers and may also be embellished with various symbols used for forfeits or variations on the basic game of chance. This one is simply numbered 1-12, and therefore most closely resembles a simple Roulette style of game. I understand you're welcome to a 'twizzle' with your pint, but like all games of chance in the pub, low stakes only would be the accepted rule.