The Lord Harrowby, Grantham, Lincs

The Lord Harrowby in Grantham is a really fine example of a well run back-street local. It's unpretentious urban boozers like this that represent the very best of the British pub tradition in my mind, yet sadly it's this category of pub which has suffered the most from closures in recent years.

A pub which is located a little off the beaten track is often the least well equipped to deal with falling local trade.

Without the reliable footfall which many high street pubs enjoy, the possibility of reinvention as a smart food driven venue or circuit drinking establishment, may not be an option. The Lord Harrowby has managed to maintain a good local following by not only specialising in a range of fine local ales, but by supporting a number of popular pub games. As can be seen from the pictures below, Darts, Pool, Cribbage, and Dominoes are played at the pub, with plenty of trophies to indicate success in the local leagues.



This handsome vintage Billiards/Snooker scoreboard was rescued from a nearby RAF base on its recent closure. It would probably have graced the games room attached to the officers mess. Of course a scoreboard is not strictly needed for Pool, but it's a fine addition to the games room nevertheless.



These colour coded sliding panels would have been used for recording the progress of a game similar to Killer, which would have been played for small stakes, and was very popular at one time. Up to eight players would have been allocated a coloured ball each, and would have lost one of three lives whenever a player pocketed that ball during the game. It would of course still be possible to play this game on a Pool table, though only if an older set of striped/spotted multi-coloured balls could be found, as opposed to the Yellow and Red balls which are the standard now.



This handsome shield for Darts was presented to the pub over 40 years ago, and is kept well polished in the games room.

The lifeblood of many a locals pub, the Cards, Dominoes, and Cribbage Boards are well used in the Lord Harrowby. The tin contains a selection of pegs for the Crib Boards.