The Stirrup Cup, Barton Seagrave, Northamptonshire

The Stirrup Cup pub in the Northamptonshire village of Barton Seagrave has been on my 'to-do' list for a few years now. Somewhat remiss of me as it's little more than a twenty minute drive away and I'm not exactly a stranger to the pubs of Kettering. Of course The Stirrup Cup is not actually in Kettering, though I have to admit I've been labouring under that misapprehension for some time now. That's because the Stirrup Cup is a classic 1960's estate pub, and the old heart of Kettering town is surrounded by post-war private and social housing on all sides. Indeed Barton Seagrave only retains its unique village identity by dint of it's proximity to Wicksteed Park which acts as a greenbelt between the village and the edge of Ketterings modern-day sprawl.

Given that most of this massive housing expansion around Kettering occurred in the 60's, it's no surprise that each new estate came furnished with a shiny new-build community pub. What's slightly unusual about Barton Seagrave is that whatever pub the old village may have had prior to the building of the new estate, it's clearly didn't survive, making this modern estate pub the sole village hostelry.


This image shows The Stirrup Cup in its original guise as a 'Phipps House' (note the Phipps NBC Star on the gable end). Originally featured in Watney Mann house magazine 'The Red Barrel', it's reproduced here with the kind permission of Jessica and Ray of the Boak & Bailey beer and pubs blog

Built in 1964 as part of a new private housing estate that would hugely expand the old ironstone village. Originally branded a 'Phipps House', though even then the pub would have been in the hands of the mighty Watney Mann empire who would soon-enough close and demolish both the Northampton breweries, and re-badge most of the estate as Mann's houses (the Mann's Brewery 'George & Dragon' logo was common on pubs throughout Northamptonshire until quite recently).

As was the norm in those days, the Stirrup Cup was built as a two-room pub, the Public Bar to the right and a slightly larger Saloon Bar through the left-hand door. I'm pleased to say this layout remains largely unchanged, though the games and sport oriented Public Bar is now in the larger left-hand side of the pub, a necessary step given the huge popularity of both pastimes at the pub.

The Stirrup Cup seems to have always had a major sporting and games theme, even to the point of being renamed 'Sports' in the 90's when this local CAMRA pub guide (left) was published. Whoever surveyed the pub was clearly scathing of this incarnation, which may seem surprising given that sports themed pubs like this are arguably more 'pubby' than many of their food and beer oriented contemporaries. I think this attitude can be explained by the long editorial which prefaces the guide proper. An editorial that rails against 'theming' of any kind, favouring pubs that have something for everyone rather than specialising, sometimes to the exclusion of one group or another. This even includes, and this is perhaps even more surprising in a CAMRA publication, the burgeoning phenomena of 'beer palaces'!


Which brings me to the Stirrup Cup of today. Beautifully maintained, and on the face of it little changed. The Public Bar remains the busy evening and weekend hub of the pub, boasting all the televised sport, a pair of Pool Tables, Dartboard, Table Football and Skittles Table, with teams in all of these barring the Table Football. So still very much specialising in sport and games, but that's only half the story.

Under the current management the food trade has become crucial to the ongoing success of the Stirrup Cup, with the lounge now trading throughout the afternoon as a smart Coffee Lounge. This additional community asset was busy with customers when I visited on a Wednesday afternoon, an otherwise slow weekday session for most pubs. The Stirrup Cup has a good reputation for its food, is more family-oriented with a well-used garden to the side, and has been well and truly returned to the heart of the local community. Even the beer range is much improved, the pub now operating with a free of tie option which means they can offer beers from some of the best local breweries, I had something from Oakham Ales whilst taking these photos. I don't usually take much notice of the straplines on business websites, but the one on the Stirrup Cup homepage seems to me to sums the pub up nicely. 'Family - Sports - Local'.

If only all estate pubs were as good as this...

Of course the main reason I've wanted to visit the Stirrup Cup for so long is the hugely important games interest, and particularly the local speciality, Northamptonshire Table Skittles. Skittles is still popular in and around Kettering, and none more so than at estate pubs like the Stirrup Cup which remain the bedrock of so many pub games leagues. The home team recently 'chucked-off' in Division Four of the Kettering, Burton Latimer & District Skittles League, and will I imagine be hoping for a slightly better finish than the lowly 7th place they achieved in Division D of the recently finished Summer League.

They've certainly got the table for it, a very fine Pepper's Skittles Table, only recently refurbished by the local expert in the field, Colin Swinfen of Kilworth. A Pepper table can be distinguished from the more common W.T Black & Son models by the less curvy sides, and the netting which is a straight-up boxed design rather than the sloping net of a Blacks table. Unlike the Blacks models, these Pepper Bros Skittles Tables tend to have little in the way of information secreted about them, making a table like this quite difficult to date.

Devil Amongst The Tailors - Some East Midlands Venues

Pegging the scoreboard of a Devil Amongst The Tailors Table in an unknown bar 

Although something of a rarity in pubs these days, and rarer still to come across one in use, the classic ball-on-a-string skittles game of Devil Amongst The Tailors (also known as 'Table Skittles' or 'Bar Skittles') remains strongly associated with the bar and games rooms of the more traditional pubs and clubs. A thoroughly old-fangled game that appears to have changed not-a-bit since it was originally developed as a miniaturised indoor version of alley skittles (possibly in the early 19th century, nobody knows for sure). It's a game that people of a certain age remember with some fondness from their youth, and yet sometimes struggle to remember exactly how it's played (there's a good video here detailing how to play the game).


The Ship Inn, Mevagissey, Cornwall. The Dartboard has survived, but not so the Devil Amongst The Tailors which was important enough in its day to command its own table in the bar.

This form of table skittles would have been very common as a pub game until relatively recently, certainly the equal of Darts, Dominoes, and Card Games in the popularity stakes. My dog-eared 1979 guide to the Real Ale Pubs of Leicestershire & Rutland lists several pubs with a Devil Amongst The Tailors in the city including classic estate pubs like the Royal Leicesters (right), which is perhaps surprising given that Leicester has it's own very different Table Skittles tradition which hardly get a mention in the guide!

There would have been numerous competitive leagues for the game, only a handful of which survive today. Devil Amongst The Tailors was one of the games included on the 'Indoor League' series, the famous Yorkshire Television pub games show presented by cricketing legend Fred Trueman. It even features in a scene from The Beatles film A Hard Days Night in which Ringo disturbs a game in progress at the Turks Head, Twickenham.

The catastrophic decline of this and many other traditional pub games toward the end of the 20th century, means that very fine vintage and antique examples of the game crop up regularly in the trade, some of which I'm happy to say are making their way back into pubs where there is a renewed interest in this and other traditional pub games.


The 'Lads of the Village' at the Rose & Crown, Bradford Abbas, Dorset. More famous for their alley skittles prowess, but clearly they liked the table version as well.

In common with most traditional pub games, it's easy to learn the basics of play on a good quality skittles table, but it certainly rewards more serious practice. I was recently treated to a master-class in the game at a pub in Derbyshire from an elderly gentleman who'd been playing the game for most of his adult life. The skills on show, from all-too-regular 'floorers', to clearing seemingly impossible broken frames was something to behold, and brought home to me just how inexperienced I was as a player of this great game.

It's a game that when set up in the bar ready to go, invites curiosity from groups of all ages, and I like to play Devil Amongst The Tailors whenever I come across a good league-standard table. With this in mind I thought it would be timely to list a few of the more accessible full-size tables in my home region of the East Midlands, in the hope it might encourage wider appreciation of this classic bar-room game.

Derbyshire

Bulls Head (Little Hallam Hill, Ilkeston) - Possibly the last surviving venue for the game in an area that once had a thriving Table Skittles league (Long Alley is still going strong). The table, an old Jacques model (left), is on permanent loan to the pub by a local, and set up ready for play in the right-hand bar. The skittles are kept behind the bar counter.

Leicestershire

Geese & Fountain (Croxton Kerrial) - An award-winning specialist beer pub on the road from Melton to Grantham that has recently acquired an old, handmade skittles table.

Nottinghamshire

Blacks Head (11 Burton Rd, Carlton) - Friendly community local with a good skittles table (right) set up and ready to play in the smaller left-hand bar. There's usually a good crowd of locals on hand to offer advice on the game. The nearby Nags Head (106 Carlton Hill) also has a good table with pins available from the bar.

The Crown (Bathley, Newark) - One of the former venues for the defunct Newark table skittles league. The Crown has an indoor skittle alley, and the handmade table skittles set still see's use in the cosy bar for friendlies and socials.

Old Malt Shovel (25 North Gate, Newark) - Probably your best bet for a game in Newark town centre, which was home to a table skittles league until relatively recently. Try also The Watermill (67 Mill Gate) and Royal Oak (17 Castle Gate), both of which had league skittles tables on my last visit, though whether they are currently set up for play I'm not sure.

Muskham Ferry (North Muskham, Newark) - This popular riverside pub has a very good skittles table (above) in the rear bar room, handmade in the Newark style for league play.

The Newshouse (123 Canal St, Nottingham) - This is our go-to pub for a game when in Nottingham, the table (right) is always set up and ready for play in the right-hand bar-room, just ask at the bar for the pins. Also home to Nottingham's only Bar Billiards table as well as other traditional pub games.

Stag Inn (67 Nottingham Road, Kimberley) - A very fine skittles table takes pride of place in the right-hand bar area.