A revisit to Southsea on a lovely sunny day

A mini pub games crawl at the seaside.

After our visit to the new Minigolf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre Emily and I decided to make the most of the lovely sunny day by heading 45 minutes down the road to one of our favourite seasides – Southsea.

Outside the Treasure Island Adventure Golf course in Southsea

We had a nice wander around the town and seafront, headed to the amusement arcades for some rattin’ and tattin’ and also had a quick look at the Treasure Island Adventure Golf course (location of the genesis of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour). Having played a fair bit of minigolf already during the day we decided not to play anymore, but instead grab some food and head to a few pubs.

Treasure Island Adventure Golf course in Southsea

Ahead of meeting up with my brother who lives in the town we went to the Barley Mow pub to check out the pub games they have on offer. The pub has some great signage on the wall outside advertising their games.

Pub games sign at the Barley Mow

We found a Bar Billiards table in the lounge bar, with a Pool table and Dartboard in the games room next door. The pub also has a nice little Patio/Beer Garden.

The Barley Mow's Bar Billiards table

In our game of Bar Billiards at the Barley Mow Emily and I tied on zero points when I wiped-out my 750 points on the black peg shoot-out.

The table was in great condition and very tricky too. There were also three posters detailing the rules of the game – one of which called it ‘Pokey Pokey’! On this rulesheet it called the pegs 'soldiers'! This is the first time I've seen the pegs on the table called this - they do look a bit like people with their arms outstretched. I haven't seen the game called 'Pokey Pokey' before either. I wonder what the origin of the name is?

The Barley Mow also had a sign-up sheet calling for people to join the pub team to take on others from The Eldon Arms, the White Horse and the King Street Tavern. We’ll definitely be heading back to the Barley Mow for a few drinks on our next visit to Southsea; it’s a great spot to spend some time and is just a short walk away from the seafront.

I line-up a shot

Emily playing Bar Billiards at the Barley Mow

The Simplified Rules of 'Pokey Pokey'!

Some of the signage at the Barley Mow

The Dartboard at the Barley Mow

After having a quick throw of some darts our next stop was to The White Horse. The Bar Billiards table here was the first one I never laid my eyes on when we had previously had a meal there. At that point I had no idea what the game was and it is only since watching Indoor League on DVD that I got bitten by the Bar Billiards Bug!

The Bar Billiards table at The White Horse pub

In our match Emily picked up a win 610 to 590 in an incredibly close game, which was finished when Emily scored 50, 30 and 30 with her last shot!

Emily makes a break

After the game at The White Horse we met up with my brother and headed to the King Street Tavern, only to find that they no longer have a Bar Billiards table. The pub did look nice enough and there was a selection of games on the bar and some local history books available for customers to read. As an aside, one of the books was 'Is Britain Great? 2' by the team at The Caravan Gallery based in the town - the book is well worth a look and includes a photo of the old Mushroom Hut on the now demolished Crazy Golf course at Felixstowe. We’ll head back to the pub for a pint there next time we’re in town.

The final stop on our mini-pub crawl on the Barmy Bar Billiards Trail in Southsea was to The Eldon Arms, the next pub along from the King Street Tavern. Here we found the Bar Billiards table to the left of the bar and in an area next to the Pool table and a dartboard. On Sundays the pub has free play Pool so that table was very busy.

The Bar Billiards table at The Eldon Arms

In me and Emily’s final match of our best-of-three series in Southsea I picked up a win 1,350 to 330 – my highest score to date. I managed to hit the 100 hole in the sudden-death shootout. This did however mean that our Southsea match ended at one win apiece, with the other match a draw. A re-match is on the cards next time we head to Southsea!

Christopher watches Emily playing Bar Billiards

Emily making a sudden-death shot

The final game of Bar Billiards saw me introduce Christopher to the game. He took to it like a duck to water and defeated me 840 to 710 in a close match that went the distance. In the sudden-death shootout he hit the 100 hole with a white ball to take the win. We also chatted to a few of the punters who were watching us play and explained the rules of Bar Billiards to them, they seemed intrigued by the game and thought it sounded more fun than Pool. It's a shame the pub didn't have a rulesheet available to let interested people know how to play the game. 

Christopher playing his first game of Bar Billiards

All in all a great finish to a long day out of fun and games in Basingstoke and Southsea!

Links and Related Blog Posts:

- Bar Billiards Blog Posts
- Minigolf Revisit - Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea - Five Years Later...
- Five years on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- From the Vault - Southsea Minigolf 2006
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- The Barley Mow
- All England Bar Billiards Association

More Bar Billiards in London

A trip to six pubs and a hotel in search of somewhat elusive Bar Billiards tables.

While in London on Tuesday 20th March I had a hunt around for some more Bar Billiards tables to have a play on.

With the regular minigolf season still a month away my thirst for playing a game that requires the holing of balls and dodging obstacles on a green surface needed to be stated, so using the Bar Billiards table map and lists from the All England Bar Billiards' Association (AEBBA) website and the British Bar Billiards Forum I set off to see what I could find.

The first two pubs visited drew a blank. The barman at The Trafalgar pub on the King’s Road in Chelsea had heard of the game (once I said it ‘was a bit like Pool’). The table was long gone, but some of his regulars still mentioned it.

The next pub visit was to The Surprise on Christchurch Terrace in Chelsea. To not much surprise from me the table there was also long gone. Both The Trafalgar and The Surprise looked nice enough, but were more gastropubs than pubby pubs!

The next location on my list was The Gallery Hotel and the fact that it was a hotel, rather than a pub, left me doubting whether there would be any hint of Bar Billiards. My concerns were unfounded as the Receptionist knew that there was a Bar Billiards table in the hotel, but had never been asked about it before, especially not from someone coming in off the street. But, having explained how I’d heard about it she called the Butler to take me to ‘The Morris Room’ to have a look.

The Bar Billiards area in 'The Morris Room' at The Gallery Hotel in Kensington

Down the stairs in the nicely decorated hotel – the lobby has a nice bar, early 20th century photographic equipment and a chess board set-up amongst the leather chairs and bookcases – I was led to the Bar Billiards table and left to have a play on it.

The felt on the table looked a different colour to that on the other tables I’ve played to date and it had a very fast running baize too. The table is neatly tucked away in an alcove under the stairs. There were two cues, a rules sheet (which marked the establishment of the rules in 1934), chalk, a scoreboard, but sadly only four white balls to use!?

The Bar Billiards table at The Gallery Hotel

The three-pin table was free to play, the timer did work, but the bar did not drop. Interestingly, the coin slot was pre-decimal, so I have no idea how much it would have cost to play ‘back in the day’!?

I had an irregular match against myself (I lost, but won 200 points to 30 points) and then had a bit of a practice. A nice old table in a lovely hotel. Definitely worth a visit if you’re into Bar Billiards.

After the high of playing the table at The Gallery Hotel, my next stop was fruitless as I found that The Gloucester Arms on Gloucester Road no longer has a table either.

After passing by the Pavilion at Hyde Park (home to a 9-hole Miniature Golf Putting Course) I caught the tube to Temple and The Cheshire Cheese pub. And I am certainly glad I did.

The Games Room sign at The Cheshire Cheese Pub

The blackboard outside the pub proudly announces the pub’s Games Room, which is home to all manner of great activities including Bar Billiards, Darts, Rings, Giant Jenga, Chess, Backgammon, Shove Halfpenny, Poker and more!

After ordering my drink I enquired about the Games Room and the barmaid opened up the basement room for me, where I was greeted by a Bar Billiards table, quality dartboard (with electronic scoreboard) and Rings game board.

While waiting for Emily to arrive I had a practice of my ‘arrers and threw a few Rings, to little effect.

Rings and Darts at The Cheshire Cheese Pub

My score of 'lucky' 7 in my practice game at Rings

Once Emily arrived we decided on the format for our mini-Publympics competition – best-of-three games, starting with Bar Billiards, followed by the Ring Toss and ending with a one-leg 301 straight-in, double-out game of Darts.

The Bar Billiards table had four Mushrooms (two white, one red and a black). However, we decided to play the game as a three-pin match instead. In game one I defeated Emily 400-250. Emily had totted up a score of 230 points and a 140-break, before wiping out by hitting the black mushroom.

The four Mushrooms in the holes

In game two I scored a 490 point break on my way to a victory 810-190. This took me to one-nil up in the mini-Publympics.

The Bar Billiards table at The Cheshire Cheese Pub

Next up was a game of Rings. Without knowing the exact rules and with no rule sheet available we played an arbitrary game of six-rings-each, highest score wins. In game one I scored a pitiful 6 points to Emily’s 25. Emily also won game two with a 13-10 points victory to take the second game in our series too. I wrapped up our game of Rings by winning the third, and unnecessary, final game 13-11. Emily’s total points haul was 49 to my 29.

Emily defeats me at the old parlour game of Rings

In the sudden-death leg of Darts I won the match in a 66 dart-leg(!) to win the overall three game challenge contest 2-1.

The Cheshire Cheese is a great pub. Nice and friendly and with the whole basement given over to pub games and a bar it’s well worth a visit.

Emily throwing some 'arrers at The Cheshire Cheese Pub

Our next stops on the Barmy Bar Billiards Trail led us to Soho and two pubs on Brewer Street. The first, The Glasshouse Stores, had a blackboard on the street detailing the pub games, while the other, Marks Bar at Hix, shows the Bar Billiards table in the photos on the menu outside.

The sign outside The Glasshouse Stores in Soho

The menu and photos showing the Bar Billiards table at Hix, Soho

We decided to visit The Glasshouse Stores and found the Bar Billiards table towards the back of the pub. The pub is quite large and there is a cellar bar too. We asked about playing the Bar Billiards and were told a £5 refundable deposit was required for the cues, chalk and Mushrooms. We were also told the timer was broken so we’d have to pay a pound to play at the bar too.

We set-up the three-pin table and found there were quite a lot of extra balls on the table (a total of twelve available), perhaps they can sell The Gallery Hotel four more! We removed the excess balls and decided we’d play to a 15-minute time limit before the imaginary bar would drop.

Plenty of Bar Billiards Balls to choose from on The Glasshouse table!

In game one I got off to a good start, racking up a break of 510 points, before wiping-out by hitting both white pegs. I still managed to pick up the win, with a score of 430-nil, cleaning up the last three balls on the table with my final shot scoring 10, 50 & 50. Towards the end of the first game Emily had also been unfortunate to wipe-out a break of 510 points!

The rule sheet for the game of Billiards at The Glasshouse Stores

The second of our three games saw me once again pick up a victory, this time the match went to a dreaded shoot-out on the black peg, which I managed to avoid and holed out with my first attempt to take the win 550-nil.

A tricky shot for me

After a bit of practice we decided to have one final challenge match which I won 360-10 after potting the white in the 200-hole on my first attempt again, this time after Emily had missed her first shot at it.

Emily turned a Mushroom upside down with a ferocious shot!

The pub also has a number of other games available to play including a wide selection of board games, along with a good dartboard area too.

The Darts area at The Glasshouse Stores

After playing plenty of Bar Billiards for one day we called it quits and headed home. But we will be back to play the table at Hix, and a few others in London, another day.

Blog Posts:

- Bar Billiards-related Blog Posts at The Ham & Egger Files

Links:

- All England Bar Billiards' Association (AEBBA)
- Bar Billiards Tables Map

- Masters Traditional Games

The Barmy Bar Billiards Trail leads us to St Albans

Two pubs visited, one Bar Billiards table found, two games played.

On Wednesday 14th March we were in St Albans, Hertfordshire so took the opportunity to look up the two Bar Billiards tables that are listed in the City.

We managed to play one of them, but found the table at The White Swan on Upper Dagnall Street is no longer there. The landlord told us it had been removed before he took over the management of the pub. Even without Bar Billiards The White Swan was a nice and friendly pub. There were some games on offer including Jenga and Bōku – an abstract strategy board game that Emily and I will no doubt play at a later date.

The Goat Inn can be found on Sopwell Lane which is just off Holywell Hill and a couple of minutes walk from the city centre and Cathedral.

The Goat Inn pub sign

As we arrived at The Goat Inn we immediately saw the Bar Billiards table in the window and no one was playing it.

The view of the table from the street

The Goat Inn is a fairly large venue with a three sided bar that splits up the different areas of the pub. There is a small seated area as you enter the pub, then a games room which houses the Bar Billiards table, a good quality dartboard, a huge selection of board games and a TV that was showing live football. There was also live music on during our visit and the chalkboards around the pub have listings for a number of different events including quizzes and details of the darts & dominoes teams.

In my first of two challenge matches I faced off against our friend Oxana Nikandrova. As she had never played the game before I ran through the rules and gave her some of the background to the game. Despite the game’s supposed Russian origins (via the French/Belgian game of Billard Russe aka Russian Billiards) Oxana had never seen anything like it in her native Russia.

I line up the opening shot in my first game

The match was closely fought with Oxana picking up the game very quickly and at one point she had built up a break of 490 points, in part due to a brilliant rebound shot off the backboard, which resulted in the red ball landing in the 200 points hole! Unfortunately this break and the rest of her score were wiped out soon after as she knocked the dreaded black mushroom over.

The final result was a win to me with a score of 470 to Oxana’s 20 points. The game didn’t need to go to a decider as I was able to clear the final two balls from the table with my final shot.

Next up was a match between me and Emily. This match would go the distance after we had a score line of 520 to 160 at the end of regulation play, with just one white ball left to pot.

Emily takes on a shot

After numerous attempts at the 200 hole I managed to get the ball in and pick-up the 200 points to see the final score 720-160.

The table is set for a Black Mushroom Shootout Decider!

£1 a go

A vital element of any game of Bar Billiards

As with the Bar Billiards table we played at The Strathmore Arms at St Pauls Walden, the table at The Goat Inn was 'approved' by the National Bar Billiards Association - the pre-WW2 governing body!

The Bar Billiards table at The Goat Inn was in good condition and was very playable. A few of the young lads who were in the pub watching the football glanced over while we were playing and we heard them saying that they’d never played the game before and didn’t know the rules. The only slightly annoying thing about the table was that some shots towards the cushion on the left hand side could not be played as the table is positioned next to a wall and the window, so most shots (and any sudden-death shoot-outs would need to be played from left-to-right).

The pub has Darts and Dominoes teams and I wonder if they've ever had a Bar Billiards Team, or would set one up?

After playing Bar Billiards we sat down beside the huge array of Board Games and picked out the game of Flags World Tour.

The Goat Inn has plenty of Board Games to choose from!

A very interesting and fun game to play. We may have to buy a copy of it for our games room!

The Flags World Tour Board Game and a flag that one player thought was the German flag - they'd had a few (too many) drinks by that point!

The Goat Inn is a great pub that’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area. There are some nice touches in the pub, including signs with details of the history of the pub, which was built in the 15th century. An interesting facts about The Goat Inn is that in 1756 the Inn could accommodate seventy-two horses but could only sleep ten people! It is also rumoured that the historic site was once the oldest brothel in St Albans!

View all of the Blog Posts on The Ham & Egger Files about our Barmy Bar Billiards Trail.

Links:
- All England Bar Billiards' Association (AEBBA)
- Bar Billiards Tables Map
- The Goat Inn, St Albans

Bar Billiards and a little bit of Mini-Golf in London

A hunt for three Bar Billiards tables and a revisit to Camden’s Crazy Golf course

While in London on Monday 27th February I thought I’d take the opportunity to check out some of the Bar Billiards tables in pubs in the city.

Prior to my trip I had a look on the excellent Bar Billiards table map, put together by AEBBA.

I saw there were well over twenty tables within easy reach and I planned to get to at least three of the tables on my Barmy Bar Billiards Trail.

My first stop was at the Electricity Showrooms pub in Hoxton.

The Electricity Showrooms pub in Hoxton

Upon arriving I asked the barman if they still had a table, he said they did, but it was “just for decoration”. I had a look at the table and one of the other barmen said he thought it still worked and to put a quid in to give it a go. I asked if they had any cues, they didn’t!? The table was also peg-less! However, the table did appear to be in good condition and the felt/baize was all intact.

The Bar Billiards table at the Electricity Showrooms pub in Hoxton

While chatting to the second barman he also mentioned they have a dartboard too. One for the Capital Arrows London Dart Board List perhaps.

The Dart Board in the Electricity Showrooms pub in Hoxton

My next stop was to Kings Cross and the King Charles I pub. Unfortunately on a Monday it’s not open until 5pm. I decided to head back later in the evening after a visit to Camden.

After refuelling with a new Gluten Free Chicken Salad Sandwich from the Kentish Town Sainsbury's and spotting a sign for an Eternit supplier (sadly un-minigolf related) and prior to visiting the next pub Emily and I had a wander to Camden Market. On our way there had a look to see if the Clarence Way Crazy Golf course was still there. We've previosuly visited in October 2009, May 2011 and August 2011. It is still there and remains unplayed by us on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The sign at the course has had some graffiti added to it since our last visit!

The Clarence Way Crazy Golf sign

The Clarence Way Crazy Golf course in Camden

We then set off to find the Fiddler’s Elbow pub for the first game of Bar Billiards. We found the pub, but finding the entrance was trickier. Eventually we spotted a door that let us in and had a hunt for the table. The pub no longer has one. We decided to have a drink anyway, the pub had some great 80’s tunes playing, including Ghost Town by The Specials – the pub was something of a ghost town as there was just us two and a couple of other punters in there!

The Fiddler's Elbow pub in Camden

Although there wasn’t a Bar Billiards table there I did notice a poster for a band that our friend Brad ‘The Fist’ Shepherd and his band, Monkish, knows. You can check out the website of the naughtily named band here. Brad told me he has played at the Fiddler's Elbow music venue three times before and never seen a Bar Billiards table.

A poster for an upcoming performance from a band at the Fiddler's Elbow pub

Me, LIVE at the FIDDLERS!

With a thirst for Bar Billiards unsatisfied we headed back down the Northern Line to go to the King Charles I. Prior to that though we made a stop off at the Hurricane Room on Grays Inn Road as a quick web search while in the Fiddler’s had shown that they had a Bar Billiards table.

When we enquired within we found they didn’t.

The Hurricane Room - no Bar Billiards there, but lots of Pool and Snooker tables

On a wall outside we did however spot a poster for an upcoming Chess Boxing tournament!

Chess Boxing in London!

We eventually reached the King Charles I and through the window I spotted some illuminated green baize! The pub did indeed have a Bar Billiards table and no one was playing on it when we arrived!

The King Charles I pub - not yet open on my first visit

The pub is fairly small but the table is very playable (one of the great things about Bar Billiards is the minimal amount of space required). The table was of the 3-pin/peg variety and was in good condition, albeit with a slight tear on the felt just to the right of the black peg.

The Bar Billiards table at the King Charles I - with lots of balls in play!

The King Charles I even had its own ‘House Rules’ for the Bar Billiards table, with some interesting rules on fouls! More on that later...

The 'House Rules' at the King Charles I

The pub was nice and warm, with a real fire on the go, and there was a nice atmosphere in the wood panelled pub. There were certainly some interesting decorations in the bar , with lots of mounted animal heads on the walls. One large Deer head stared at you while you played on the Bar Billiards table!

Emily and I decided to play a best-of-three game match.

In game one I managed to reach a score of 450 points before wiping-out with a black-peg knock down, with Emily winning 370 points to nil.

Emily plays a shot on the Bar Billiards table at the King Charles I

In game two I won with a score of 440 points to nil. Emily had racked up a nice break of 420 points, however this was lost by knocking down a white peg. Emily had made a claim that I perpetrated a foul on her during play. If there was an independent Umpire for the match I may of been declared as a ‘perpetrator of a foul’ due to 'Goosing', but as we had no referee, the loss of points stood.

In between games we noticed that the pub also has a selection of board games for customers to play. I spotted there was a Shove Ha’penny board behind the bar and we saw some of the other board games atop the jukebox. They included Scrabble, Travel Scrabble and a 1000-piece Jigsaw Puzzle. Emily was tempted to break out the Jigsaw puzzle, but being as we were part way through a match and with a visit to ‘Jigfest’ coming up soon we continued with the Bar Billiards.

The Shove Ha'penny Board behind the bar

The third and final deciding game in our match saw me come out the winner with a score of 200 to Emily’s 170. The closely fought match was slightly notable as I managed to clear the last two balls from the table without the game being decided by a sudden-death last-peg shoot-out as has been the norm in our matches to date. I scored a 20 and a 50 to close-out the game.

Me playing Bar Billiards at the King Charles I

The ‘Committee Board’, above the scoreboard next to the table, shows the ‘Table Record’ held by a Julian Coles, which was made on the 13th of October 2009 and stands at 3,040 points. Including a break of 2,860.

After the main-event we threw another pound in the table and had a bit of ‘training’ before a five minute game. In this quick match I won with a grand total of 20 points.

Commenting on the evening out Emily summed things up by saying “We had a drink in ‘that’ pub, you had a sandwich, we did quite well.”

Links:
- All England Bar Billiards' Association
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Previous Bar Billiards Blog Posts
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London