Fishermans Rest, Belper Derbyshire

I think I've featured Belper on this blog more often than just about any other town of a similar size. This is mainly due to its position at the centre of a thriving local skittles league of course, but also because the town is positively thick with very fine pubs. Pubs that feature good beer naturally, but also pubs that are just 'good' in the old-fashioned sense of being welcoming places to have a drink and a chat.

I aim to tour some of Belpers fine pubs at least twice a year, choosing the winter months for preference when fires are lit and the hum of conversation is concentrated in the bar rather than the beer garden. Conversation you're likely to be drawn into in a way that simply doesn't happen in many parts of the country. It's a north Derbyshire thing I think, and one I've always had a liking for.

Our most recent trip was to check-out the recently re-opened Railway, a pub that's never been on our radar previously, but now thoroughly revived and in the hands of Lincoln Green Brewery, saviour of many pubs in the Derby/Notts area. Unsurprisingly, the Railway proved to be an ideal first-stop and waiting room for the nearby rail station, but games don't currently feature at the pub so it was just a quick pint and onwards to another revitalised pub, this one on the very edge of town.

The Fishermans Rest is one of the many recent Marston's castoffs, a brewery that seems more interested in kiddies ball parks and laminated pub-grub menus than proper drinkers pubs these days. The new owners have transformed the pub, though without removing any of its essential pubbiness. Other than the original brewery livery on the gable-end, every trace of big-business blandness has been replaced with a genuine characterful local pub offering that includes great Derbyshire ales and cider, locally sourced food, and a strong commitment to the traditional games of the area.

At first glance, the pubs website might give the impression the focus is on a high quality food offering, and whilst that's undoubtedly true it's certainly not the only attraction. 'Our vision for the Fishermans Rest is a cosy comfortable country pub that welcomes everyone and offers something for everyone...'. That's what it says, and from our albeit limited experience of the pub on a Friday afternoon, I think this sums the place up very nicely.

The walk to the pub is slightly less than a mile from the town centre, a walk that follows the winding course of the River Derwent. We thoroughly tested the 'cosy' and 'comfortable' promise to the full, arriving wet-through from an unexpected Derbyshire downpour. I can also confirm we were made very welcome, wet dogs and all, and immediately drawn into conversation by a pair of Derbyshire holidaymakers who looked well settled when we arrived. Licensees Tim and Laura were busy front of house, something I always like to see at a pub, and also very good company as the skies cleared and I squelched out to the back of the pub to size-up the skittle alley for a few photos.

The interior of the pub may have had a few touches of comfort added under new ownership, but the Skittle Alley is as traditional as it gets. The frame sits just below the beer garden at the rear of the pub, the 'throw' somewhat uphill, and the whole entirely uncovered and open to the elements. That's how most alleys are in this neck of the woods, the only concession to comfort an awning where the scoreboard is chalked and players can spectate the action.

Long Alley Skittles is played in the Belper & District Skittles League, and the Fishermans team have spent the 2019 season edging toward the top-end of League Division Two. League play is likely to have concluded by the time you read this (skittles games in the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire area are rarely postponed for the weather!), with the Fishermans Rest team in very real danger of promotion to League One! Whilst it's certainly the case that everyone plays to win in pub games leagues, it's also true that not everyone views promotion to the more serious leagues with the relish of the professional sportsman. I wish them luck for the 2020 season...

The painted spot in the foreground marks the position of the 'Chock Hole', the throwing point which is (unusually) slightly downhill of the frame at the Fishermans Rest

As the outdoor skittles tradition comes to an end for 2019, indoor competition commences in the Belper & District Darts and Dominoes League. Away teams must be looking forward to visiting the Fishermans Rest for a game this year. There may well be an embarrassment of riches for pub-goers in Belper, but there can't be many more welcoming venues for players than the Fishermans.

New Inn, Viney Hill, Gloucestershire

One thing I've noticed time and again at pubs with a notable gaming interest is just how low-key and largely underpromoted this important aspect of pub life can be. Traditional games that may be unique to a pub or local area, and in some cases literally a part of the fabric of the building, are taken for granted by licensees and locals to such a degree they resemble nothing so much as a secret society to visitors.

Skittle Alleys tucked away out of sight and mind. Games boards and playing pieces kept safe from harm or theft, but equally safe from the kind of casual use that might enthuse newcomers to the game. Is it any wonder that so many pub games leagues are struggling to attract new players.


Quoits O'clock in the bar of the New Inn

I spend a fair bit of my spare time reading books and old guides, as well as one or two bang-up-to-date blogs that focus on the subject of pubs, and I've noticed that the gaming interest I know exists at particular pubs is often ignored, and this by assiduous writers who can be relied on to reel-off the name and origin of practically every beer on the bar, every brewery mirror on the wall. Which is not to say I'm in any way frustrated with the writers themselves. It merely serves to highlight the fact that pubs really need to advertise their gaming attractions more if they want visitors to notice them.

Which makes it all the more refreshing, and such a great pleasure when I visit a pub that wears its gaming credentials so firmly on its sleeve. I defy anyone to spend more than a few minutes in the bar of the terrific New Inn at Viney Hill, and not notice they were in a pub where the traditional games are taken very seriously indeed.

Mind you, I always find it a pleasure to visit this part of the Forest of Dean. Sadly the pubs are fewer in number than they once were, and the food trade undoubtedly more important to those that do remain. But the pubs are, by and large, still very-much proper 'locals'. Welcoming to tourists and visitors like myself, but still catering to the all-important social needs of the local Forest community.

I've made an annual pilgrimage to the Forest of Dean for several years now, principally to visit the more traditional boozers and their unique games heritage, but the attraction of getting there on the heritage rail service from Lydney is a factor too. The Dean Forest Railway runs just a few short miles into the forest, but takes in villages and pubs at Whitecroft and Parkend that are well worth visiting. From there the walking can be a bit hilly, but pleasant nevertheless with both Bream and Viney Hill within easy striking distance on a fine day. Conveniently for me, this area encompasses the majority of the venues in the Royal Forest of Dean Quoits League, of which the New Inn is perhaps the pick of the bunch for this unique regional game.

Indeed the New Inn might be regarded as something of a shrine to the gentle game of Quoits. The traditional white-painted stone table (above) is set-up and ready for play at all times in the bar, you really can't miss it, and all those trophies on the shelves above are for Quoits! That's an awful lot of winning for one pub, and a pretty clear indication of how seriously the game is taken at the New Inn.

Licensees Sue and Ian are both enthusiastic players in the local league, as are most of the locals we met on the late Tuesday afternoon when I popped in for a pint with my partner, all of which absolutely love the game as both competition and a highly sociable pastime. A sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with as it's one of our favourite pub and garden games too.

I don't know whether it's a common thing across the Quoiting region, but it seems everyone that plays the game at the New Inn has their own personal set of Quoits in much the same way as serious Darts players have their own set of arrows. We stayed for a game, using a set of older styled convex rubber Quoits, kindly lent to us by one of the locals.

Ian explained that the Quoits, which are flat when manufactured, can be modified to this shape by soaking in oil and stretching over the top of a cider bottle. This produces a Quoit that more closely resembles the heavy convex Steel rings used in the once-popular outdoor game. How this affects their performance is unclear. Perhaps they fly a bit truer! Or maybe it's just that they land with a bit less bounce!

The unique Quoits scoreboards used in the Forest of Dean league (below) go up to 15, with players aiming to score each number in a game. We've found that 15 is not a particularly easy score for a novice to achieve with just four quoits, particularly in the heat of competition, so we played to 10 which suits our more modest skill levels. Players in the Forest sometimes play a simpler Darts style scoring game too.

So Quoits and Darts are the more obvious games played at the New Inn. What's not so obvious, unless you examine the various fixture lists and league tables on the notice board, is that the pub also has a Skittle Alley. Indeed this was something I didn't know about until it was mentioned by the licensee, and I'd done my research prior to the visit. I understand that there was an alley at the pub many years ago before this part of the building was converted to a small nightclub style venue. When this fell out of favour the locals were keen to reinstate skittles at the pub, initially installing the kind of mobile alley more suited to gardens and fetes than league play. This proved adequate for the job, but something more permanent and robust was soon required so the team spent a weekend building the alley shown above.

Whilst the New Inn appear to be one of the form teams in Quoits, the skittles team are less successful, a middling team in the bottom league of the Royal Forest Of Dean Mens Skittles League. The league itself seems to be healthy enough, with five divisions of up to 12 teams, though in common with many leagues around the country there's a certain amount of pessimism about the future of the game and ongoing difficulties getting teams up. Unlike the Quoits, which is simply not big enough to sustain two leagues these days, Skittles in the Forest remains a game segregated by gender with women playing in the smaller Royal Forest Of Dean Ladies Skittles League on Thursday evenings.

There's a good quality Shove Ha'penny Board in the bar too, complete with coins, though it doesn't get a lot of use these days and could do with a bit of a polish