Traditional Inn Games - The Gaymer's Cyder Beermat Collection

Pub gaming ephemera and equipment has long been a medium for drinks and tobacco companies to advertise their wares. Playing Cards, Dominoes, Darts Flights and Scoreboards were all commonly appended with Brewery names and Tobacco brands, and along with league sponsorship there are few areas of the pub games tradition that would have escaped the marketing departments attention.

In truth, I doubt whether this kind of advertising was intended to sway drinkers and smokers one way or the other to any great degree, all pubs being very firmly tied to their respective breweries back then. I'd imagine that then, as now, drinker and smoker preference was based largely on personal taste, price, and choice of pub rather than the hard sell of an attractively branded Cribbage Board. These items were more about brand loyalty, cheap or free tokens available to customers as part of the all-important 'sales rep - licensee' relationship.

So customers got to play their favoured games at the pub without the added expense of having to supply their own equipment, and the drinks and tobacco industry obviously saw the value of rewarding valued customers with relatively inexpensive branded tokens of their appreciation, thereby cementing the relationship between brand and customer. The legacy of all this of course, is a healthy interest from enthusiasts of all things Brewery and Tobacco related, indeed some of these everyday items are worth quite a bit to collectors nowadays.

Occasionally, as shown here, the tables are turned and a drinks company enlists the help of traditional pub games to sell their products, in this case via the time-honoured method of the Beer Mat. Never ones to miss a trick, marketing departments know the value of a well placed 'info-mat', branded on one side, concisely informative on the reverse, and a last-resort bit of reading material in times of idle boredom at the pub. Make them a numbered set and you're guaranteed to want to read (or indeed collect) them all.

This set was produced by Gaymer's, probably around the time the brand was in the hands of Mathew Clarke in the 1990's. Olde English Cyder was a huge cider brand back then, the unique 'Costrel Barrel' keg fonts and false handpumps seemed to be on the bar counters of just about every pub, presumably the result of a massive marketing push, of which these mats would have played their part.

Eight in number, these beer mats feature Traditional Inn Games that would have been quite rare, or at the very least in serious decline even then. The descriptions are accurate enough though, such that I have to wonder who's work the marketeers drew more heavily on, Arthur Taylor or Timothy Finn!

Olde English Skittles (No.6) takes preference over more common variants of the game, presumably because of the 'Olde English' prefix fitted better with the cider brand being advertised. To say that 'The game still flourishes in certain parts of London' is somewhat fanciful. I think at this time there may have been just two, maybe three venues for the game, of which only one pub alley survives today (where it does indeed flourish).

I can't in all honesty say I've ever seen Nine Mens Morris (No.5) being played in the pub, though I have seen examples of the games unique board on occasion. The same cannot be said for Dominoes (No.4) of course, which is still one of the most popular games found in the pub, albeit that the mat refers to the 'Block' game rather than the more 'pubby' Fives & Threes version played competitively in pub and club leagues.

Dobbers (No.7) is a name rarely used these days for the game of Indoor Quoits depicted on this mat, and sadly even then it was probably almost extinct as a game in the Vale Of Evesham when these were in circulation. The game clings on in just a handful of reasonably well-supported leagues, located along the Welsh Borders area.

Shove Halfpenny (No.1), or Shove Ha'penny, is indeed widespread in that there are still many boards for the game in existence, though sadly not so many located at the pub these days. Competitive league play can still be found in the West Country, Wales, and in its Pushpenny variant, Lincolnshire and Sussex.

As stated on the mat, Quoits (No.3) remains relatively popular in certain parts of Northern England, though its status in East Anglia is now less certain. At one time regarded as a national sport to rival Football, the game remains a fantastic spectacle for the casual spectator during a Summer evenings play.

The final two mats are real curiosities. Tossing the Penny (No.8) still exists in a handful of pubs in Anglia, with one outlier at a pub in Rutland. A real glimpse of rural pub life, an unsophisticated game for farmers and villagers that's literally part of the furniture in those few pubs where the game survives. Similarly, Ringing The Bull (No.2) was a pub pastime created to while-away an afternoon or evenings drinking. Little more than a tethered copper Bull Ring and a hook, it's hard to imagine how the brewery and tobacco marketeers would have enlisted these two games to their cause.

Plough Inn, Hereford

When pubs were forced to close way back in March, there was a great deal of uncertainty around how, or indeed 'if' many of them would ever find a way to open again. Even now, and allowing for the ongoing threat of local lockdowns, some pubs have of course not reopened. Sadly some may never reopen. Of those that have, it's far from certain how many are trading at anything like a profitable level, which is worrying given the widely held belief that things may take a turn for the worse, particularly as Winter approaches and beer gardens start to lose their appeal.

From a customer perspective, safety is probably the biggest single issue determining whether people are happy to return to the pub. Everyone deals with risk differently, and it's perhaps inevitable that some are putting caution ahead of the resumption of their drinking pleasure at this time. Perhaps the biggest uncertainty for pub-lovers like myself ahead of reopening was how the necessity for social-distancing was going to work in such a highly social environment. Just how good an experience would going to the pub actually be when so much of the casual human interaction that makes the pub special is effectively denied to us! Well many pubs have been open for a few weeks now, and those of us who feel safe to do so have had a good opportunity to see how things look under the new guidelines.

I have to say that for the most part it's been an entirely positive experience. Of well over a dozen venues that I've visited recently, from village inns, to town-centre locals and micropubs, the systems in place have worked well. Customers are for the most part following the rules, and it has been possible to socialise, albeit at more of a distance than most of us would like. Of course traditional games of all types, and the leagues that support local competition have sadly all-but disappeared from pubs for the time being.

Most pubs are still very quiet of course, and whilst the media continue to hawk for advertising with the usual sensationalist reporting around anything to do with alcohol, examples of over-crowded pubs and people ignoring the rules are few and far between in my experience. Most people seem to understand that if pubs are to remain open, they really do need to follow the rules no matter how onerous they are, or what their opinion of them might be. This very welcome 'Indian Summer' of pub-going remains a fragile thing that could end at any time, which makes it doubly important that we get out there and safely enjoy the pub experience while it lasts.

One thing I haven't had much of a chance to test under the current restrictions is the ease, or otherwise, of finding new material for this blog. I think that many of us envisaged there would be quite strict controls on personal movement within pubs. Certainly no hanging around at the bar or wandering about between socially distanced groups. With all that's happened, and all the changes and preparations required to reopen safely, how would already stressed licensees and bar staff react to a polite request to take a few photographs in their pub, perhaps even explore parts of the building that are currently not in use? I have to say, I was expecting to receive, and fully prepared to accept a firm but fair 'No!' in this regard.

But that's to forget that most licensees work in the hospitality industry for a very good reason. They are, for the most part, eminently hospitable people! Of the hundreds of pubs and clubs I've visited over the years, only a couple of licensees have flatly refused to allow me to take pictures, and the vast majority are more than happy to show-off their pub, and keen to chat about the trade and their own part in it. It helps of course that I choose my time carefully, usually aiming to visit at the least busy times of the day when staff are less rushed and there's less likelihood of startling the locals with my camera. As an aside, this is why so many of the photos on this blog are of seemingly empty pubs.

The Plough certainly wasn't empty when I popped in recently, it's just that it was an absolute scorcher of a day in Hereford, and the garden has many shady and attractive corners for a cool pint and a natter. It's in the garden that you'll also find the pubs creeper-clad Skittle Alley (right), one of the principle reasons for my visit of course.

Now the first time I attempted to photograph the skittle alley and interior of the Plough was around 5 years ago. Unfortunately, on that occasion new licensees were in the middle of moving in to the pub, and in no position to give me a tour, so I thought it best not to ask. I took a quick photo of the then creeper-free skittle alley (left) and determined to return another day. So given the current difficult situation, with many pubs only recently reopened and finding their feet, I was just a little more apprehensive than usual when I finally got to return to the Plough. I really needn't have been though, because the welcome was warm, and the licensees happy to accommodate me and my roving camera.

The Plough sits a short way out from the town centre, a pub I'd describe as something between suburban community local, and modest roadhouse on the busy main road out of Hereford toward Wales. The current mock half-timbered corner pub was built in the 1930's by the Hereford and Tredegar Brewery replacing a much older Inn of the same name. The original layout of Public Bar and Smoke Room has been opened out somewhat, but still survives to the extent that two distinct areas remain. One of these is now effectively a games area with Pool Table, Dartboard, and until recently a traditional Quoits Board, now relocated to the skittle alley (see below). Sadly both the mens and ladies leagues for Quoits in Hereford folded quite recently, and I think it's been a while since the Plough fielded a team in competition anyway. Nevertheless, it's good to see that the board is still at the pub and available to play on request, though you'll have to bring your own Quoits as the pub currently has none available. The Plough seems to have had a skittle alley from before the 1930's rebuild, but whether the current one is in the same location I'm not entirely sure.

One thing that's become apparent to me over the last few weeks is that during the run-up to reopening, many licensees have not only prepared well for the new social distancing rules, but also taken the opportunity to give their pubs a bit of a spruce-up. This has clearly been the case at the Plough Inn which is immaculate throughout, and I'm pleased to say that the licensees were not merely happy to show me the pubs skittle alley, they were positively keen to show off their recent handiwork. It's often the case that during the off-season, skittle alleys can look a bit tatty and unloved, frequently used as storage space for garden furniture and the like. The alley at the Plough is as tidy as you'll find anywhere, freshly painted and ready for play whenever that might finally occur.

In much better times the Plough Inn field teams in the Hereford & District Invitation Skittles League, the towns principal skittles league for over 100 years. Seasoned skittlers might wonder why the Hereford league use 10-pin bowling style skittles rather than the usual stubby pins of the West Country game. Initially I thought this was a relatively modern convenience, reusing redundant pins from bowling alleys. Since then I've seen numerous team photos from the very earliest days of the league around the turn of the century which clearly feature this unique style of pin. It seems that Hereford folk just do things differently when it comes to pub games.

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

Moon Inn, Mordiford, Herefordshire

I recently achieved a long-standing goal in visiting the Moon Inn, a classic half-timbered Herefordshire pub in the village of Mordiford. The village itself is fairly modest in size, but something of a magnet for walkers on the Mordiford Loop footpath. Modest it may be, but it punches well above its weight in the tight-knit world of 'traditional woven cereal figures', giving its name to the unique heart-shaped Mordiford Corn Dolly!

I was keen to visit the pub both for its fine reputation, and its location which is close enough to Hereford to be an important venue in the local Indoor Quoits league. Unfortunately, rural pubs in Herefordshire can be difficult to get to by public transport, which is a bit of a problem as I usually travel to Hereford by rail. An overnighter in Hereford town with my partner provided the opportunity, as well as the greatest gift a partner can bestow, the willing services of a designated driver. As with all things in life though, you should be careful what you wish for because whilst the pub was certainly as good as I'd hoped it would be, the visit brought with it a bit of sad news for pub games enthusiasts like myself, more of which later...

The Moon Inn is that rare thing, a popular destination pub with a great reputation for food and beer, yet remains very much a village local with a strong commitment to the community it serves, and of course traditional pub games. Local and highly distinctive pub games at that, and none more so than the card game Phat which is as popular in the Hereford area as Cribbage is in the Vale of Evesham. Phat isn't unique to Hereford, but it's certainly a game that most of us will probably never have heard of, least of all seen being played. In fact I've only ever come across Phat in Hereford where the game is played in practically all of the more traditional pubs and clubs in the town and surrounding villages. A 'Phat Friendly' pub can often be recognised by the presence of one of the unique green felt-topped boards shown below, or indeed a group of people actually playing Phat in the corner of the pub!

The game of Phat is a trick taking and points scoring game played by two pairs of players, and scored to 181, hence the larger 'cribbage' style scoring board seen here in the bar of the Moon Inn. The game remains popular at the pub with play on several weekdays, but the Hereford league is much reduced from its 70's/80's heyday when there were over 70 teams playing in 6 divisions in the area.

Local Phat enthusiast Albert Phipps and other players at the pub, recently hit the headlines for the very generous donation of their game winnings to the local St Michaels Hospice. The full article can be read here, and is a reminder, should it be needed, of the huge importance local pubs like the Moon Inn and their customers play in fund-raising for charitable causes like this.

Of course Darts is probably the most important game played at the pub. The trophy cabinet to the right of the dartboard holds a good collection of silverware for the Moonatics, the pubs highly successful Darts team which is currently throwing in division one of the Hereford Licensed Victuallers Darts League.

So something of a hotbed for pub games, but sadly it's not all good news for the traditions of games play at the Moon Inn, or indeed the wider Hereford area. When I last visited the area around a year ago, I received the bombshell news that the Mens section of the Hereford City Quoits League had finally folded. At that time the Ladies section was still going, though in as parlous a position as the struggling mens section had been. I now learn from the landlord of the Moon that the Ladies section has also ceased competition, bringing almost 70 years of continuous league Quoits play to an end in the Hereford area. This is very sad news indeed, particularly as the Hereford League was one of only half a dozen remaining in an area stretching from the Forest of Dean up to Shropshire along the Welsh Borders.

It's certainly a blow for the game, but it also represents yet another loss of the genuine local distinctiveness that makes the British pub at its best so special. Obviously the game will continue to be played in pubs that still have one of the heavy concrete boards and a set of rubber Quoits, indeed the landlord of the Moon Inn was setting-up ready for a game that evening between the pubs two Quoits teams. But league play of games like this is absolutely crucial for the survival of the tradition as a whole, as evidenced by the absence of Quoits in Evesham, an area that was until relatively recently an important centre of Indoor Quoits play. Indeed Indoor Quoits is often referred to as 'Evesham Quoits' and played to 'Evesham Rules', yet there are currently no Quoits pubs remaining in the Evesham area to my knowledge. When leagues fold, games just never seems to hold their position in the pub to the same degree, and it's hoped that in-house competition like the one at the Moon Inn will go some way toward preventing Quoits disappearing entirely from the Hereford area over the coming years.

The Moon Inn has been much extended in recent years to accommodate the all-important food trade that ensures village pubs like this survive and thrive, but the heart of the pub retains much of its traditional charm and character. The metal strips screwed to the parquet flooring (below) mark the throwing points for the Dartboard, and the former location of the Quoits Board in the bar, which originally sat between the door and bench seating to the left. Note there are two strips for the Quoits throw, the furthest being the standard for the mens league, the closer one for the Ladies throw. Quite why it was decided there should be a difference is probably lost in the mists of league history, the weight of the rubber quoits don't seem to offer too much in the way of difficulty for all but the most frail players, but then it seems the game has always been more popular with older players. The board is now located in a more convenient location in a side-room of the main bar area with a set of Quoits available for a game whenever you fancy one, which I hope you do, as often as possible.

The door to the cellar, located roadside from when the pub was a coaching inn.

Golden Lion, Hereford

This was only the second time I'd visited the Golden Lion, yet the pub has already become a firm favourite of mine, perhaps even my new favourite pub in a city blessed with far more good pubs than I can possibly visit in a day.

The first occasion was a summer evening several years ago, the bar busy with locals, a world cup football match being largely ignored on the telly in the corner. By happenchance I'd also arrived on the night of an even more hotly-contested match between local rivals in the Ladies section of the Hereford City Quoits League. As a result it proved a difficult night to engage anyone in the kind of idle conversation I'm accustomed to in pubs like the Golden Lion, and what's more, I didn't feel that my amateurish photographic skills would have been welcome that night. Taking photographs while players are concentrating on their game is a definite no-no in my view, and besides, it's my experience that ladies teams can be particularly camera-shy! I took a few discreet pics for the record and sauntered off into the night, vowing to return when the pub was a bit less busy.

Weekday afternoons are a good time to take photos in pubs and chew the fat with licensees, albeit that it may not show a pub at it's vibrant best. Sparse of customers, sometimes empty in fact, but all the better for the kind of uninterrupted views that are essential to this blog, and much less chance of disturbing camera-shy locals of course. It can also be the best time to get creative with what remains of the days natural light, infinitely better than trying (and usually failing!) to get the white balance just right in a bar with neon strip-lights. My second visit to the Golden Lion confirmed what I'd strongly suspected the first time round. This pub is indeed my new favourite in Hereford.

Needless to say, Barrels, Beer In Hand, and Hereford Beer House fans will be scratching their heads in bemusement at this choice, and I have to admit that there are far better pubs and bars in the city for the beer and cider enthusiast. So it's perhaps more accurate to say that in the context of this blog, the Golden Lion is currently my favourite pub in Hereford, because this blog is all about the pub itself and not the beer or cider. On this blog I focus exclusively and unapologetically on a pubs place in the community, the social aspects of pub-going, and of course the traditional games that still play such an important role at community locals like the Golden Lion. In this regard, you'd be hard-pressed to find better in Hereford or anywhere for that matter.

The Golden Lion is that little bit out of the way as Hereford pubs go, in fact I've little doubt that most visitors to the city, and even some of its more regular pub-goers might struggle to place the pub. Located in a residential area known as Widemarsh, the pub sits almost opposite the old Hereford Lads Club Cricket Ground, and near a patch of former industrial land that was once the site of the mighty Evans Cider Works (swallowed-up and closed by the even mightier Bulmers).

Internally, the pub retains a very traditional bar and separate dining lounge, separated by a small entrance vestibule with hatch opening for the former off-sales, a feature of just about every pub until supermarkets muscled in on the lucrative take-home trade. The pub is both unspoilt and beautifully maintained, with that cosy 'lived-in' feel that all the very best 'locals' pubs have. Landlady Paula Watson runs a tight ship for the benefit of a loyal band of regulars, as well as a bewildering menagerie of largely domesticated animals including that most traditional of pub pets, a swearing Parrot! This is a true 'community' local, and the landlady and locals have recently been acknowledged for 25 years of fundraising for the local St Michael's Hospice, a thoroughly positive aspect of pubs and pubgoing that's rarely acknowledged by those who seem to think pubs like this have had their day.

I love the place, and was made so welcome by Paula on what was a slow post-Christmas Thursday afternoon. I was given the run of the pub for my photographs, and even forgiven the heinous crime of moving the dogs favourite chair to access the well-used, but off-season Quoits Board (right). They were still eyeing me with suspicion when I left...

It was this Quoits board that was in use on my first visit, indeed the licensee can be seen in the photo below getting a few practice throws in after the cut and thrust of the ladies match had wrapped-up for the night. It's a typical red and green painted concrete board, the standard item throughout the Hereford area, mounted on a steel stand with netting to catch errant quoits. A solid bit of kit built to withstand the rigours of twice-weekly league action and more, which is sadly more than can be said for the league itself...

I was lucky enough to meet one of the stalwarts of the local Quoits league at the Golden Lion that afternoon, a local who's been involved in the organisation of the league from its very beginnings, and still throws a mean Quoit in the ladies game to this day. The Hereford City Quoits League started as a mens competition in 1950, with the ladies section joining the fun a couple of years later. It would have been a substantial league in those days with dozens of teams, and just one of many similar competitive leagues throughout the West Midlands and Welsh Border area. There are now perhaps just half a dozen leagues in total, and the Hereford league has reduced to a similar number of venues in and around the city. In fact I was greatly saddened to learn that almost 70 years of mens competitive Quoits in the city had only recently come to an end!

When a games league shrinks to just a single division and just a handful of teams, the writing is usually on the wall for its long-term survival. Thankfully the ladies section carries on, albeit that this too finds itself in a similar position to the recently demised mens league with no more than half a dozen teams currently active. The sturdy concrete boards will presumably endure for as long as pubs like the Golden Lion survive, but for how long the game will be played at league level in Hereford and elsewhere remains to be seen.

Other games which are played competitively at the Golden Lion are Darts, Pool, and Skittles. The Skittle Alley (above) is tucked away behind rabbit hutches and fish ponds at the rear of the pub. An old alley, thoroughly spruced-up for play in the Hereford & District Invitation Skittles League, and the Hereford City Ladies Skittles League. The Hereford leagues are unique as far as I can tell in using what look like ten-pin bowling pins rather than the usual dumpy skittle pins found in the West Country and elsewhere. Until very recently I thought this was a relatively modern development, probably down to expediency, and a good use of the wood from bowling alleys once past their prime. But recently I've seen a photo of a 1935 winning team in the Hereford League, the smartly suited gentlemen posing with a full set of the very same styled pins. This date even predates the arrival of American servicemen during the second world war, hitherto, my most likely explanation for this skittling anomaly. Somebody knows why Hereford skittlers use different wood to practically every other league in the country...

The magnificent Hereford & District Invitiation Skittles League Champion of Champions Cup, current holders Harry's Lads.

The 'spare' Quoits Board in the Skittle Alley, recently returned from a brief league-loan at Broadleys in Hereford.