Bar Billiards at The Railway pub in Stockport

Finding a Bar Billiards table at The Railway pub in Stockport.

We're big fans of the old pub game of Bar Billiards so were very pleased to find a table at The Railway pub in Stockport on Saturday!

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to play it as the pub had problems with its water supply and had to close while the emergency works were completed.

Bar Billiards Rules

We're looking forward to returning for a game or two in the future.

The Railway Pub in Stockport - you can see the table if you look in through this window

In 2017 we played the Bar Billiards table at The Blossoms pub on the A6. Like The Blossoms, the table at The Railway uses the four peg arrangement.

The table looks to be popular!

Coming from down south we're more used to seeing three pegs. We haven't seen too many four-peg tables on our Barmy Bar Billiards Trail. The ones at The Cheshire Cheese pub in London and The Chequers Inn at Knebworth spring to mind.

The nice and 'easy' 50-point holes are guarded by the white mushrooms in the four peg game

Related blog posts:
- Bar Billiards
- Pub Games
- Stockport
- Pubs

100% gluten free at The Compass Inn at Winsor

Finding a 100% gluten free pub restaurant in Winsor, Hampshire.

Our friend Cat recently heard about The Compass Inn at Winsor and by chance we found it was near to where we were staying for a wedding so we had to call in.

As someone with Coeliac Disease I must adhere to a strict gluten free diet. Dining out can be incredibly complicated and stressful and there are very often risks of cross-contamination in food preparation, cooking and serving - even in places with 'gluten free' menus.

I've been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease for eleven years and I now only dine out at places that are 100% gluten free that are suitable for people with diagnosed Coeliac Disease.

Luckily I've found a few new 100% gluten free places, so in the last month I've actually dined out a fair bit. In comparison to recent years this is really lavish.

As it was a Sunday Emily and I both opted for the Roast Dinners. It's been years since I had a Roast Dinner so it was a real treat.

My 100% gluten free roast dinner

While dining out should be a nice, easy and natural thing to do, it can be stressful for people with Coeliac Disease. Especially so when trying somewhere for the first time.

I enjoyed the meal at The Compass Inn and would return. What was really nice about the experience was that it was great to be able to pop in for a meal, be served a tasty plate of food and then be on our where with very little fuss or stress. It felt almost normal!

Check out The Compass Inn website for more info.

Related blog posts:
- 100% gluten free places in the UK
- Gluten free
- Coeliac

Link:
- The Compass Inn

Cheers II Worthing

The pub where everybody probably doesn't know your name.

Cheers II in Worthing

100% gluten free at The Eltisley in Cambridgeshire

A visit to The Eltisley gastropub near St Neots.

It was brilliant to have a meal out yesterday and such a novelty.

There are only a handful of 100% gluten free places in the UK so it was marvellous to visit The Eltisley for lunch.

They do a cracking Banoffee Pie

The menu is 100% gluten free and safe for Coeliacs, you can find out more on The Eltisley's website.

Update (2021): The Eltisley no longer offers a 100% gluten free menu.

Malt Disley!

Malt Disley - a Micro Bar and Bottle Shop in Disley, Cheshire East.

A few months ago we drove through Disley and spotted this brilliant bar/shop name. Yesterday I returned to get a snap of it.

What a play on words

Link:
- Malt Disley

Related blog posts:
- Funny sign
- Bootleg

Darts in Barrow-in-Furness

Last weekend we had a marvellous time visiting our mate Marc Bazeley in his new home region up in Cumbria. As well as exploring the local area we were up in Barrow-in-Furness to attend a special Darts Exhibition evening starring the 1996 BDO World Professional Darts Champion, 'The Bronzed Adonis' Steve Beaton.

The charity event took place at The Kill One pub in the town, with fund from the night going to the Paul Larkin memorial darts competition and this year's chosen charity Parkinson's Disease.

The hottest ticket in town

We bought a few strips of raffle tickets which, if drawn, would entitle you to face-off against Steve in front of the crowd. As luck would have it my 'lucky' number was called out third from the end of the evening, much to the relief of Marc, Emily and Lauren.

What a venue

It was certainly a brilliant opportunity, but also pretty stressful to get up on stage and try to compete with a world class act.

In action against the 1996 World Darts Champion!

After my nine practice arrows I started the leg off and managed to average around the 40 mark. With the heavily refreshed crowd behind me I managed (Steve let me) get down to a finish of 53, before he ended any hopes of a win for me by shutting out the leg with an exhibition finish.

The night got a big thumbs up

Check out the video to see 3 minutes of sporting action I will never forget. Steve Beaton never stopped smiling. Neither did I. What a superb night.

The Sajwani Army with darts legend Steve Beaton

We had a wonderful time in Barrow-in-Furness and are looking forward to returning. I'm not so sure about returning to the oche against world class opposition anytime soon though!

Check out Steve Beaton's website, as well as The Kill One for more info about the next charity darts event at the pub.

To top it all off Marc and I made it onto Steve's blog post about the night too!

Visiting two more 'small' pubs

Over the years we've visited quite a few small pubs, each with their own particular claims.

We've had a drink at the Smallest Pub on the Planet (it's in Cleethorpes) and Britain's Smallest Pub (in Southport). While in Blackpool we called in at The Mitre, which is that town's smallest boozer.

Bar Bach - Little Bar - in Caernarfon is the smallest bar in Wales

Recently we popped into Bar Bach in Caernarfon and The Q Inn in Stalybridge.

Bar Bach is the smallest bar in Wales. We've encountered the word 'bach' on our minigolf travels too as we've played a few Golff Bach Cwrs. Bach means 'little'.

Proof

When you get inside you find out that bar is actually split and sits across two addresses!

The second address is for the cafe there.

The Q Inn is the public house with the shortest name in the United Kingdom. As certified by the Guinness Book of Records in 1995. It was a nice pub and worth a look.
 

The Q Inn is quite large

Related blog posts:
- A visit to the Smallest Pub on the Planet
- The Lakeside Inn at Southport, Britain's Smallest Pub
- Blackpool's Smallest Pub - The Mitre
- The Corner Bar in Stockport Market
- Pubs
- Pub

Bar Billiards at the Golden Star pub in Norwich

We had a brilliant time in Norwich last weekend and it was a nice surprise to find a Bar Billiards table to have a game on too.

We're big fans of the traditional pub sport and the tables can often take some hunting out.

The four-pin layout of the pegs is a tough variation on the three-pin game

The table at the Golden Star pub used the four-pin set-up, a variation on the rules that makes the game trickier to play as two of the pegs/mushrooms partially block the 'easy route' into the 50-pockets.

It's a neat set-up at the Golden Star

The table had some nice features, including the cue holders at the baulk end.

I really like the cue holders built into the end of the table

It was a very old table owned by Alfred Sams & Sons of Hoddesdon, Herts. We hadn't seen that particular badge on other tables we've played on our travels.

Some lovely old design and features

An old National Bar Billiards Association badge

In our game (played using three-pins) I won with a score of 980 to Emily's 0. Emily had knocked down the black peg with her shot at the 200-hole to wipeout her tally of 510.

Emily in action

The final score

Emily going for it on the final black mushroom shot

The Golden Star is worth a visit and the Bar Billiards table there is well worth a play. It's only 50p a game too.

The Golden Star pub - you'll find the Bar Billiards table at the back of the pub, by the blue door on the left hand side of the photo

It's great to know that the pub plays host to competitive events as part of the Norwich Bar Billiards League too. Check out the links below for more info.

League Rules

Links:
- Golden Star, Norwich
- Norwich Bar Billiards League

Related blog posts:
- Bar Billiards
- Norwich

Bar Billiards at The Smithfield Market Tavern in Manchester

Spotting a Bar Billiards table at The Smithfield Market Tavern.

While having a day out in Manchester we were wandering along Swan Street in the Northern Quarter and noticed a sign in a pub that said 'Bar Billiards'! We had to go in for a further look.

The pub has a nice Bar Billiards area

Unfortunately the barman told us the Bar Billiards table was out of order as somebody had poured beer down the 200-points-hole so the mechanism was broken.

Never a good sign

As the game is only getting rarer it's more difficult to find people to repair them, although he did say he hoped it would be fixed soon. We're looking forward to revisiting The Smithfield Market Tavern for a game or two in the future.

Always nice to see The Rules of Bar Billiards on display - it can be a mysterious game to play without them

As well as Bar Billiards The Smithfield Market Tavern also has Table Skittles, Shove Ha'penny and Darts. The darts area also has a brilliant scoring machine!

Shove Ha'penny

Table Skittles

The "Bisset" Automatic Dart Scorer by Kwiz Darts

Check out The Smithfield Market Tavern on Twitter for more info.

You can find The Smithfield Market Tavern at 37 Swan St, Manchester M4 5JZ

Related blog posts:
- Bar Billiards
- Manchester
- Pub

PLONK Golf at the Sidewinder pub in Brighton

There's a new PLONK Golf minigolf course at the Sidewinder pub in Brighton.

The team at PLONK Golf have created a new minigolf course at the Sidewinder pub in Brighton.

The course is the only pub beer garden Crazy Golf course in Brighton and features 9-holes. It's open until 10pm daily.

Check out the PLONK Golf and Sidewinder websites for more info.

PLONK Golf also have minigolf courses in London at venues in Battersea, Brixton, Hackney, Dalston and London Fields. They also recently launched PLONK PUZZLE PUTT - a Crazy Golf Escape Room!

The team are also taking a course on tour around the UK in 2018.

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour we've played the Plonk Golf courses at Efes Snooker Club in Dalston and at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Brixton.

Bar Billiards at The Blossoms pub in Stockport

Finding our first Bar Billiards table in Stockport.

On our walk back from a visit to the wonderful Christmas Tree Festival at St George's Church in Heaviley we stopped off at The Blossoms pub on the A6. We went in the main entrance and were very surprised to see a Bar Billiards table in the room to the right!

The Bar Billiards table at The Blossoms pub in Heaviley, Stockport

We're big fans of the old game and had searched online to see if there were any tables in the area when we moved here last year. It's brilliant to know there's a table just up the road from us.

We didn't play the finest game of Bar Billiards using the four-peg arrangement

We had three matches - the first using all four pegs and then two using the three peg rules we are more accustomed to.

Emily in action

We haven't seen too many four-peg tables on our Barmy Bar Billiards Trail. The ones at The Cheshire Cheese pub in London and The Chequers Inn at Knebworth spring to mind.

A great game in a nice pub

Game 1 - Richard 790, Emily 200 (had wiped out a score of 110, but then potted the last ball in the 200 hole).

Game 2 - Richard 880, Emily 450 (potted the last ball in the 200 hole).

Game 3 - Richard 1,060, Emily 720 (potted the red ball in the 200 hole).

You can find The Blossoms at 2 Buxton Road, Heaviley, Stockport.

Last year we played Bagatelle, another old cue game, at the Union Vaults pub in Chester.

Related blog posts:
- Bar Billiards
- Stockport
- Pub Games
- Pub

Link:
- The Blossoms

Crazy Golf at the Rhos Fynach in Rhos on Sea

Playing the Crazy Golf course at the Rhos Fynach pub and restaurant in Rhos on Sea.

You can find the course on Rhos Promenade

We began our holiday in North Wales at Colwyn Bay and Rhos on Sea on Miniature Golf Day. To celebrate the occasion we teed-off on the Crazy Golf course at the Rhos Fynach pub and restaurant in Rhos on Sea.

Holing out on The Pirates Skull hole

The sign has a nice map of the course

Nice to see a windmill on the course

The Crazy Golf at the Rhos Fynach in Rhos on Sea became the 462nd played and 781st visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The green of the windmill hole has a plateau on it too

In our match-up on the 9-hole course I won with a score of 31 to Emily's 34.

Playing out the windmill hole

Hole 3 - The Squid - is one of two holes on the course that has a choice of cups to aim for. A 'Kids' and an 'Adults' version - both were pretty tough!

The pirate ship on the 6th hole

 

Always nice to see some Crazy Golf advertising

The course has an excellent scorecard with a nice map of the layout.

The course map is a neat touch

The results of our round

Check out the Rhos Fynach website for more information, opening times and prices.

"Rules is Rules"!

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Rhos on Sea
- Wales

Link:
- Rhos Fynach

Videos:
- Crazy Golf at Rhos Fynach in Rhos on Sea - Hole 1
- Crazy Golf at Rhos Fynach in Rhos on Sea - Hole 5