A Rare Old Skittles Game in Rutland

Games have long played an important role in the English tradition of Fetes, Fayres, Feast Days etc, and traditional pub games often feature in one form or another. Long Alley and Table Skittles are particularly popular in the leafier parts of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, often using skittles and tables that have become surplus to requirements in their local pubs for one reason or another.

Several years ago I spotted a local newspaper article reporting on a Village Fete in Kent that featured photographs of children playing the traditional pub game of Daddlums. Whilst the pins and cheeses appeared to be original Boxwood examples, the table itself looked to have been recently re-upholstered, possibly newly built given that the pins and cheeses of this once popular game often seem to outlive the tables the game was played on. Something of a find nevertheless, given that only two original examples of the game are currently known to exist (a few more have been built in more recent times). Sadly I didn’t think to capture these images at the time, and I can no longer find them online. It does however highlight the kind of rarities that can pop up unexpectedly in village halls and the garages of local enthusiasts.

Every example of a rare old pub game that comes to light adds to the corpus of knowledge around an aspect of social history that rarely attracts the attention of pub enthusiasts, let alone historians. The skittles game shown here is interesting in of itself, but more so when we consider its location in an area not noted for a skittles tradition.

I came across this Skittles Table in the games area of a May Fayre in Braunstone, a small rural village close to the Market Town of Oakham in Rutland. To find a locally ‘shed-built’ skittles table at a village event like this is hardly unusual or newsworthy. What makes this example special is its similarity to a number of other games that have come to light in recent years, constituting clear evidence of a unique skittling tradition local to Leicestershire and Lincolnshire (and possibly Nottinghamshire). It only takes a casual glance at a map to see that it's no surprise we can now include Rutland in this skittling region, squeezed as it is between its much larger neighbours.

In the 1975 book 'Pub Games of England', Timothy Finn states with some authority that Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire can be considered as the north-eastern boundary of 'Hood Skittles' play, this too would presumably encompass the county of Rutland. Whilst this seems highly likely given that Northamptonshire Skittles Tables existed until very recently in pubs as close to Rutland as Great Easton, Drayton, and Rockingham, I’ve yet to find any evidence of the same in an actual Rutland pub. My feeling is that a unique skittles game, speculatively centred on the Lincolnshire town of Grantham, is a more likely candidate for Rutland, and the existence of the table shown here confirms it was certainly played in at least one Rutland pub until the middle of the 20th century.

So what do we know about this particular table and its skittles and cheeses. Well firstly it’s pretty clear that the skittle pins have been quite recently (and rather beautifully) turned-up by a craftsman. They look far too new to be original, and with hardly any wear. The inclusion of a Kingpin is slightly odd too, serving no purpose in this game to my knowledge so probably a modern affectation. From a brief discussion with a Braunstone local I understand that the table was rebuilt some 50 years ago from the remains of an original which had come from one of the two village pubs (the Blue Ball is still open, The Old Plough (below) is long closed and in the process of conversion to a residence). My feeling is that this is probably authentic to the original design and appearance of the table.

So a rebuilt table and relatively modern replacement pins, not much to go on it seems. But it’s the unusual riveted and stitched leather Cheeses that mark this game out as being special, and almost certainly from the same tradition as other examples which have come to light in the region. These cheeses are very similar to the set which I acquired in Grantham several years ago (left), originally from the long closed Hunters Arms in Wymondham which is not so far away from Braunston in Rutland. Other examples which have cropped up at auction in the region are also made from layers of thick leather, stitched and/or riveted, and of a similar size and appearance, indeed I believe my friend John Penny of the Facebook Pub Games site has a similar set.

These all-leather Cheeses are certainly unique to the area, and I've little doubt that other examples still exist, gathering dust in the loft of a pub or a locals shed somewhere. They're also extremely robust when riveted, harder to break even than the Boxwood Cheeses of the larger game. Sadly it's the tables that are less likely to have survived in my view. Unlike a Northamptonshire Skittles Table which is a substantial piece of furniture, not easily lost or ignored when a pub changes hands or closes, these smaller tables were designed to sit on a pub table in use and put away out of sight when not, therefore much more throw-away-able. On the upside they are much easier to fabricate, which should mean that these leather cheeses and hardwood skittle pins will continue to have a life in the right hands.

The Black Horse - Foxton, Leicestershire

On the increasingly rare occasions that I come across a Northamptonshire Skittles Table in a pub that I wasn’t previously aware of, it gives me hope that the game will not in fact entirely disappear in my lifetime. Talk to anyone involved in the game however, and the story remains pretty bleak. The area around North Northamptonshire, South Leicestershire and to a much lesser extent Rutland, was a true hotbed of the game when I moved to the area some 25 years ago. Perhaps half of all rural village pubs had a Skittles Table, and almost every club had at least one table. The major towns of the area, Market Harborough and Kettering, gave their names to active leagues of multiple divisions, and boasted several pubs and clubs where the game thrived, or perhaps in some cases merely survived.

My understanding is that there are now just two Skittles venues in Market Harborough, with only the Conservative Club actually participating in league play. Kettering town centre has a very well-used table at the Alexandra Arms, and perhaps another three or four in estate pubs and clubs further afield, well down on previous figures of perhaps more than a dozen. The situation in rural areas is very much worse of course. Where pubs have managed to escape closure, it's often at the expense of space for games of any kind, dining being the only realistic route to survival. All is not lost though...

The Domino in Corby has a good table now, and a Ladies team playing in the Islip League, probably the first time that Table Skittles has been played in the town's environs for decades. I also have to remind myself that these substantial, craftsman built Skittles Tables are rarely lost to the skip. When a pub closes or a table is deemed surplus to requirements, it's often rescued by the locals and removed to the safety of a garage or village hall. Perhaps awaiting the day when there's a resurgence in popularity of the game, as there most surely will be. Even now these tables occasionally reappear unexpectedly in pubs, as is the case at The Domino in Corby.

I caught sight of a venerable old Skittles Table earlier this week, and in a pub I wouldn't have expected to find the game. It was at the end of a muddy Winter canal walk from Union Wharf in Market Harborough to Foxton, a village best known for it's proximity to an impressive Lock Flight and historic Inclined Plane on the Grand Union Canal. A hugely popular destination for tourists and dog walkers, but I wasn't there for the Locks, I was aiming for a pub, the equally historic Black Horse.

The Black Horse sits at the top of the village, a stones-throw from the ancient village Church and conveniently close to a wide and well-tended footpath down to the Locks (which itself has two pubs). I hadn't been to this pub for at least 30 years, back when it was a well regarded Marston's Brewery pub. Of the two pubs in the village back then it this and the nearby Bell at Gumley that were our preferred choice. Today it was also my preference given that it's and all-day opener, a rare thing for a village pub these days, and its neighbour the Shoulder of Mutton wouldn't be open until late afternoon.

It's a nicely refurbished pub, recently under new management. The separate bar is the kind of space you could happily spend a few hours of an afternoon, and there are bar games on the windowsills like Shut The Box, Cards and Dominoes to accompany the beer. Smart but not overdone, unlike so many pub interiors now, the Black Horse still feels like an old pub and I liked it a lot.

It was on the way to the entrance that something caught my eye. Whilst the bar still has its Dartboard, across from the main body of the pub is a separate Games Room. If the Skittles Table hadn't been setup in line with the open doorway I guess I'd never have investigated, but there it was, a vintage Northamptonshire (or Leicestershire) Skittles Table, sharing space with the Pool Table.

Whilst it's always a pleasure to see a Skittles Table in a village pub, it's even better if the owner happens to be on hand for a bit of a chat. Turns out this table was rescued from the old Trades & Labour Club in Market Harborough, now long gone but I've been led to believe by those who played there that this is one of several tables the club had during the game's heyday.

Chatting with the owner of this table was like a roll-call of lost pubs, clubs and venues for the game though. He played for a team at the long-closed Horse & Trumpet in Medbourne, a former Phipps (NBC) house, thatched, Grade II listed, and a bit of a timewarp pub that many in the area remember with great fondness. Clearly a keen enthusiast of the game, I guess he'd been waiting for a chance to set this table up somewhere appropriate, somewhere it would be appreciated. Table Skittles is a noisy game of course, not suitable for dining pubs, and often difficult to accommodate even when there's a public bar, so a separate Games Room like this, not hidden away but open to all-comers, is an ideal location for the game.

The really good news though is that the pub has now got a team up for the local Kibworth League, playing for fun and clearly learning the ropes, but that will hopefully change in time. Skittles is an addictive pastime just ripe for a dose of nostalgia to bring it back into favour.