Midland Band Social Club, Kettering, Northamptonshire

It's been a while since I last explored the post-COVID pub games scene. It's not for lack of interest though, more the increasing difficulty and expense of visiting far-flung places and finding the pubs I'm aiming for are actually open! Pubs of most shapes and sizes remain a passion though, and rarely a week goes by that I don't visit a few in the course of a good walk or social day out.

It's noticeable that behaviours continue to change around pub going. Queuing at the bar seems to have persisted in the wake of the pandemic, much to the chagrin of some, though of all the changes it's one of the least concerning to me. More notable is the substantially reduced trade and trading hours during weekdays, lunchtime and afternoons in particular which just happen to be my favourite pubbing times. Levels of trade and relentlessly spiralling costs are dictating pub opening times like no other, because there's no point a licensee opening up, paying staff, lighting and heating a building, maybe even running a kitchen when there's little chance of covering your costs. It's long been the case that outside of towns and cities it's rare to find a pub open on a Monday, but it's now often the same for Tuesdays and Wednesdays, even extending as far as Thursday in some cases. The sad fact is that for many of us, pub-going has become mainly a weekend only affair, often by choice but increasingly it's necessity.

The lockdowns that blighted the pub trade during the pandemic have inevitably left a legacy of further decline in pub games participation. Many games that were considered too risky to play under social distancing rules were effectively removed from the bar, more often than not merely put into storage, ready to return to the bar in better times, but sadly the disruption to many leagues has had the effect of accelerating the decline of formal competition. Many leagues have shrunk, some even folded, and the games themselves have sometimes gone from the bar for good. All this and more has made the task of documenting our precious pub games traditions ever more difficult, and I'd have to say that the ever increasing cost and unreliability of public transport hasn't helped in this regard, in many cases I've simply been priced out of the kind of travel needed to do our national pastimes the justice they deserve.

There are of course plenty enough exceptions where traditional games continue to be popular, and when one falls practically on my own doorstep it would be remiss of me not to get back on the horse, charge up the camera, and sing its praises with a blog post.

Kettering sits close to the northern limit of the Northamptonshire Table Skittles tradition, yet remains at its very heart as far as participation is concerned, although you'd be hard pressed to notice as much on a visit to the town centre these days. Skittles Tables have gone in recent years from the recently closed Harlequin and Three Cocks pubs, as well as the heavily refurbished Market Inn, leaving only the Alexandra near the town centre as a solid and reliable Table Skittles pub. It's also a firm favourite for beer locally and happily opens throughout the week from early afternoon, midday at the weekend. As with many towns and cities, to find the local pub games you have to travel out to pubs and clubs in the suburbs and housing estates.

Equally popular for its great beer, and also conveniently open all day every day, is the Midland Band Social Club. Located a little way out of the the centre, it's just a short walk through Kettering's old terraced housing, and much of the town's remaining Boot & Shoe manufacturing heritage to the north of the town. As the name suggests, the club was originally established as a home for one of the town's Silver Bands in 1896. Back then a small outdoor Beerhouse served Northampton brewed Phipps ales, today the much expanded club might almost be regarded as a local 'Tap' for the nearby Potbelly Brewery, and the bar is perhaps second only for choice of ales to the Alex'.

In common with almost every club I've been to recently, the Midland Band is a tidy and very well run club with a fully subscribed membership. The bar area leads through to a sizeable function room, and at the back is a similarly impressive Games Room. The early years of the club are notable for success in Billiards and Snooker, as evidenced by numerous old photographs of successful teams and players. The Billiards Tables appear to be long gone from the club though of course Kettering is still in the spotlight for cue sports with the recent success of local professional Snooker player Kyren Wilson.

Latterly the club is better known for it's Bowls Club which plays on the Recreation Ground Green just across the road, and with a current membership of around 1000! Perhaps not quite so popular but well catered for nevertheless are teams for Darts, Pool, and that most local of Northamptonshire games Table Skittles which includes teams for Mens, Ladies, and Mixed leagues. All these games command their own discreet space in the games room, though hopefully they're not all played together given the noise levels, although it's notable that the Skittles Table sits in it's own netted cage so at least other players will be safe enough from flying boxwood cheeses.