Coach & Horses, Lubenham, Leicestershire

I've passed the Coach & Horses dozens of times over the past few years, yet never felt it was a pub I needed to stop and visit. Perhaps the unique attraction of real ales and Thai food further along the road in Walcote had a role to play in this longstanding neglect, or maybe a mistaken belief that the Coach & Horses was predominantly a food driven pub, with little else to interest me.

The pub itself is an attractive iron stone building, of a type common to the Welland Valley area, decked out in the familiar and reassuring green Everards Brewery livery. Food is clearly an important part of any pubs offering when located on a busy main road like the Coach & Horses is, but it's pleasing to see that the separate bar room has been maintained as a place for local life, which includes the playing of numerous traditional pub games.

Skittles is played in the Fleckeney & District Table Skittles League, Darts in the Market Harborough League.

Butcher's Arms, Eldersfield, Gloucestershire

Variously known as Step Quoits, Table Quoits, Dobbers, and Evesham Quoits (in the Evesham area not surprisingly); this traditional pub game can be found in a broad swathe from Evesham to the Welsh Borders. A handful of leagues still exist, but even where the game is not played so competitively, Quoits Boards still appear to be quite common in the areas pubs. I recall playing on an old quoits table at the Maesllwch Arms Hotel at Galsbury near Hay-on-Wye in the early 80's, I wonder if it's still there.

The basic premise of the game is fairly obvious and easily learnt, though the rules vary widely across the various regions where the game is traditionally played. Four black and white rubber Quoits are tossed at the board from a set distance,  those falling squarely in the outer ring scoring 1 point, 2 for the inner circle, and 5 for the peg (or Hob) in the centre. Additionally, the quoits must land white side up to score. Simple and mildly addictive, like all good pub games.

This fine old board was in situ at the Butcher's Arms when the present owners took over, and is still played regularly, particularly on Friday evenings when the locals get competitive. How seriously is the game taken here? Well let's just say that the licensees have acquired a spare table with original leather quoits, which they use for practise sessions! Most boards, including modern versions, are painted in the traditional red and green livery, and this one shows vestiges of the old colour scheme, worn down to the wood through generations of play.

The score board is an interesting object in itself, the idea being that each player (or team) attempts to score each number on the board, and by so doing that number is then closed to their opponents. Similar old scoring boards exist throughout the indoor quoiting area, though with a wide variation in the numbers available to score, up to 13 in the Kington area of Herefordshire for example.

The Butcher's Arms is noted for it's Michelin starred food, though I'm pleased to say that it is still very much a pub, with good beer and a pleasant garden for a Summer drink.

http://www.thebutchersarms.net/

A Compendium of Pub Game Images - Pt.6

This Ring The Bull is at the Salisbury Arms in Cambridge. The nearby Blue Ball Inn at Grantchester also has a Ring The Bull, making this a (very) minor hot-spot for the game. Indeed a World Championships has been held at the latter pub!

The bar area of the White Lion in Oakham, with Darts Board tilted against the wall so that players don't have to throw over the piano.

This league standard Devil Amongst The Tailors table was on display in the Rutland County Museum during the recent CAMRA Beer Festival. It was labelled as a historical curiosity which used to be played in the county, and yet tables can still be found in a few Rutland pubs, and the game is still played competitively in parts of the country particularly Nottinghamshire and Bedfordshire.

The Northamptonshire Skittles Table and Darts are given plenty of room at the Royalist pub in Market Harborough. There is another W.T Black & Sons table in the lounge, and the pubs teams are active (and successful) in Market Harborough and Kibworth leagues.

The Boat Inn is well worth a visit when in Melton, being thoroughly traditional and very welcoming. Darts is played in the Melton Mowbray league.

Prince of Wales Feathers, Castor, Peterborough

The Prince of Wales Feathers is a pub much altered over the years. The current layout incorporates what was once a small shop and an adjacent cottage, presumably the expansion was to take advantage of the huge increase in traffic on the original Leicester - Peterborough road in the years before the village was eventually bypassed in the early 90's. The village may well be much quieter now, but the pub is still a thriving local where all of the more recent changes have been positive.

The licensees are clearly pub and beer enthusiasts, offering a wide range of ales, including those from the village Castor Ales brewery. This is a firmly traditional community local, where traditional and not so traditional games play an important role.

League Pool and Darts are played, and a wide selection of Crib Boards suggest Dominoes and Cards are also popular at the pub. More unusual games which can be played are a fearsome looking Ring The Bull, and a handsome old Shove Ha'penny Board.

 

The Shove Ha'penny is an old, high quality board, made from a solid chunk of polished Mahogany with what looks like Boxwood and Ebony inlay. The scoring is quite hi-tech (for a Shove Ha'penny!), featuring rows of brass rotary knobs and inset wooden drums marked 1-3 rather than the usual chalked system. This would have been a relatively expensive board when new.

 

http://www.princeofwalesfeathers.co.uk/

The Unicorn Inn, Lutterworth, Leicestershire (Updated January 2021)

Original Post July 2012

The Unicorn Inn is an old favourite of mine from when I lived in South Leicestershire in the late 80's. Pubs like this are often described as being 'Basic', or 'No-Frills'. I think this does pubs like the Unicorn a great disservice.

I was in what I would describe as a basic pub today. A recent bland identikit refurbishment of a historic village local. Pointless vintage items dotted around the pub, none of which have any connection with the village or its community. 90% of the space given over to dining. The main attraction in the token bar area was the plasma screen showing sport. Lighting too low, noise levels too high, beer range very average. There was little sign of anyone being there to mix socially or step out of the cosy comfort zone of their own social clique. Basic, boring, and sadly all too common. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

The Unicorn is a genuine town centre locals pub which has changed little over the years. It doesn't need to because what it does, it does so well. The owners, staff, and locals are a friendly bunch, happy to chat, and welcoming to visitors like ourselves. The bar is a regular meeting place for people who still appreciate the true value of pubs as neutral venues to mix socially, drink good beer, and play the kind of games which have been enjoyed in the area for generations. There really is nothing basic about the Unicorn at all. It's a fine, unpretentious pub, alive with complex social interaction, and I love it!

Table Skittles and Darts are the principal games played at the Unicorn. The pub field several teams in the various local skittles leagues, including Mens, Womens, and Mixed teams. The skittles fixture list can get so crowded at times in the Unicorn, that a second table has been set up in the lounge for additional games.

The trophy cabinet in the bar of the Unicorn is quite large by necessity, and crammed with silverware from many years of success in the various games played at the pub.

This photo in the bar shows the team of the long closed Engine Inn, Ullesthorpe near Lutterworth, winners of the Ullesthorpe & District Darts League (1951-52)

Update January 2021

Almost ten years have passed since this post and I still feel the same way about The Unicorn Inn, it's still one of my favourite Leicestershire pubs, in fact I'd put it in my UK top 10. Which is of course an entirely subjective assessment. Clearly there are better pubs in the UK for the beer enthusiast, pubs that are more attractive or in more beautiful settings, perhaps even pubs that serve a better Cheese & Onion Cob! It's a real favourite of mine because it's the kind of pub that when I find myself yearning for the perfect pint in the perfect pub, it's more often than not the Unicorn that springs to mind.

Given the current moribund state of pub-going under this latest unfortunate lockdown, many of us have an almost constant yearning for that perfect pint in the perfect pub, and no, it really isn't about the beer. Even in the very depths of lockdown, most of us have found that it's easy enough to find good beer to drink at home. But even the most enthusiastic of beer enthusiasts are finding that beer at home is a far lesser experience than a good pint in a good pub with good company. Perhaps something of an awakening for some of us...

So the Unicorn Inn has been on my mind a bit more than usual lately, and as one of the handful of pubs that I aim to visit regularly throughout the year, and have therefore witnessed a few changes at the pub, I felt the time was right to update this post with a few of my more recent photos.

When I say 'changes' I have to say that very little of the true essence of the pub has changed, although recent work to become 'COVID compliant' has perhaps had the most impact. It's still a thoroughly traditional town-centre two-roomer. The plusher lounge for those who find the bar just that little bit too earthy, but lately catering for the overspill of folk like me who absolutely love the bar but can't be squeezed-in safely under the new social distancing rules. Remarkably, the original off-sales serving hatch (right), something I've never actually seen in use, was pressed into service for takeaways and offsales during the late Summer period when pubs were allowed to trade for a brief, joyous time.

The bar has had a new carpet, which it certainly needed to be honest. The big trophy cabinet over the fireplace was removed a few years ago, with a prize pair of vintage Bass Burton Ale plaques taking its place. The open fire still smoulders away when required, the televised sport a constant companion, though always on mute whenever I've been in.

Games of all kinds sadly ground to a halt last year, most leagues wrapping things up at the end of the Winter season if they were lucky. This is just one aspect of the disaster that's struck community locals like the Unicorn, though I've reason to believe the pub owning company have been supportive throughout this pandemic. The photo above was taken well before the pandemic took hold (note the old carpet!), and as you can see we were delighted to share Domino space in the bar with a table of regular players, though I don't believe there's a Domino League active in the area. The Skittles Table is still in situ in the bar, though sadly no longer in use. Skittles is a hard game to play with social distancing rules, in fact the only game I've seen being played at the pub recently is Darts, one of the very few pub games that can be played without the need to share equipment. The floating arm in the photo below is a result of a panoramic sweep, but note the somewhat stripped-down and redecorated interior for the COVID era, and of course the new carpet!

The Crown Inn, Melton Mowbray

The cosy bar of the Crown Inn. Darts is played in the local Melton Mowbray League.

The unique Leicestershire version of Long Alley Skittles, in common with many traditional pub games, has experienced something of a slow decline in recent years. A dedicated skittle alley is for many pubs an unnecessary luxury, taking up valuable dining, drinking, or even car parking space. Having said that, there are still a surprising number of alleys still in regular use, and even a handful of leagues operating throughout the county. Where alleys do still exist, the game can be very popular. In fact Long Alley Skittles has for many years been a favourite choice for business social evenings and team building events, and even in the current climate of zero-tolerance to alcohol in the work place, it's pleasing to see that this is still the case today.

One of the easiest ways to find an alley for a casual game, is to use the pub search facility on the Everards Brewery website (http://www.everards.co.uk/pubs/), since a good few of the surviving alleys are located at Everards pubs. The Syston & District Skittles League website is also worth a look (http://www.syston-skittle-league.fsnet.co.uk/).

The Crown in the busy market town of Melton Mowbray, is an Everards pub with a well used skittle alley. It's slightly unusual in that the alley is a relatively new addition to the facilities at the pub, making good use of an unused store room at the rear of the building. The use of Straw and sacking at the business end of the alley is a reminder of the humble origins of the game, where rough and ready alleys would have been set up in outhouses and barns as an inexpensive game for the locals. The enterprising licensee at the Crown seems to be making a great success of the new alley, with a team playing in the Melton & District Ladies Skittles League (who arrive with their own match day pins and balls for the serious business of league play), as well as being popular with social groups and local businesses.

The Emperor, Cambridge

Billiards, Pool, and Darts are promised at the Emperor, a popular music venue on the edge of the city centre. There may well have been a Billiards Table at some point, but there was no sign of it on my visit. In common with many Cambridge pubs, the Emperor offers a wide selection of board games for customers to play.

The Pool Table is certainly an unusual one in that it is circular, or more properly hexagonal, but perhaps even more unusual in being free to play! It's a fine looking table, but I would imagine that judging the angles could become more of a guessing game than one of pure skill, and the novel shape would certainly rule out any chance of League play.

A fine pair of Darts Boards appear to be well used. League Darts is still played in the Cambridge area, though whether the Emperor field a team is not clear.