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Post by The Chubbster™ on Jan 2, 2014 19:06:40 GMT
Am getting there very... very slowly, but I am moving forwards. Here is version two for comments and suggestions (and indeed corrections). Any help that anyone can give (even just an interesting fact that could be added) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to those who have pointed me in various directions thus far and shown encouragement for the project.
Also, please don't be afraid to correct any spelling or grammatical errors that creep in. I'll be the first to admit that despite being good at many things, my spelling and grammar is at it's best average. On a bad day it's terrible (and I have more bad days than good) and at it's worst is completely diabolical.
A brief history of the game
Its origins
Very little is known about the early origins of Bar Billiards but it’s widely believed that the modern day game descended from a Russian game called Billiard Russe. An English gentleman named David Gill reportedly observed this game being played in Belgium and on his return to England he convinced an English table manufacturer ‘Jelks’ to create a version of the game, which then became the modern day game of Bar Billiards that is played today.
First Leagues and following years
The first known Bar Billiards pub league was formed in Oxfordshire in 1936 and shortly thereafter leagues began appearing in other locations such as Reading, Canterbury and High Wycombe. In 1933 the game was first introduced into Jersey by a gentleman named George Jeune, a landlord who important 4 tables over to the channel island. By 1964 his endevour had grown to over 50 tables with competitions being organised by two organisations, the National Bar Billiards League and the Jersey License Victuallers League. By 1980 the two leagues had amalgamated and consisted of 21 teams and over 200 registered players.
Back on the UK mainland, before the Second World War there was an organisation called the National Bar Billiards Association (maybe the same organisation mentioned above), and a team from Canterbury were recorded as winning the NBBA challenge cup (beating a team from Oxford). By this time, other table manufacturers had started to produce Bar Billiards tables, two of which were Sam’s and Riley’s. By the 1950’s Bar Billiards tables existed in their thousands throughout the United Kingdom.
Into the modern Era
Around 1973, the All England Bar Billiards Association was formed and started to organise competitions nationally, most which are still going strong today. Some of these competitions include the National Pub Team Championship, The British Isle Open Pairs, The Inter-Counties Championship and the All England Grand Prix. It was around this time that some leagues started to decline, and Bar Billiards tables (primarily Jelks manufactured tables) started to be exported to the United Stakes in large numbers.
Bar Billiards received its first regular television exposure during the 70’s with a show called “Indoor League” hosted by former England fast bowler Fred Trueman. The show was produced by Yorkshire Television and ran on ITV from 1972-1977.
In 1981, the first ever British Isle Open was held in Jersey (organised by the Jersey Bar Billiards Association.) This tournament was won by a gentleman from Jersey named Harry Siddal. In the year 2000, this tournament officially became the World Bar Billiards Championship. An Englishman named Bernie McCluskey won the tournament that year and has the distinction of being crowned the first ever ‘official’ World Bar Billiards Champion. The rules of the game in Jersey are slightly different, as the tables are a little wider than standard mainland tables, and all shots must be played ‘off the spot’.
In 1982, the first Bar Billiards international match took place in Southampton, contested between England and Jersey with England winning by 8 games to 3. This fixture is still played annually to the present day, with the venue alternating each year between England and Jersey.
It was in the 80’s that the advent of 8-Ball Pool started to effect the popularity of the game, with many Pubs and clubs preferring Pool over Bar Billiards due to the shorter game time and greater revenue. This problem was added to in the 90’s with the emergence of big conglomerates taking over many traditional pubs and focusing on other areas of revenue, such as food.
Around the early to mid 1990’s, many county organisations started to run a ‘County Open’. These are tournaments that invite players from all over the country to compete against each other and many are still in existence today.
Bar Billiards today
The All England Bar Billiards Association is the official governing body of the game on UK mainland. As of 2013, there are still around 30 known leagues in the United Kingdom covering a dozen or so counties. Just about all of these leagues run separate singles, doubles and various other competitions for their players.
In 2005 Guernsey joined the international scene by playing their first match against England. This fixture is now contested annually with the venue alternating each year between England and Guernsey. Not long after (2007) the AEBBA association started to produce the first ‘offical’ British Player Rankings, where players from all over the country are ranked according to their performances in national competitions.
In addition to local leagues and county level competitions still being organised by their respective associations, many national competitions in the form of County Opens and AEBBA competitions are still going strong for any aspiring players who wish to dedicate more than the standard one night a week required in their local leagues. The future of many of these competitions was recently placed in jeopardy when the biggest table rental firm in the UK (Bar Billiards Ltd) ceased trading. However, the AEBBA was able to raise enough funds to purchase a complete set of tables and secure the future of many of these competitions.
Recently a Four-Pin variation of Bar Billiards has seen a resurgence in popularity with leagues forming in Sudbury, Wellingborough, Norwich and Crawley. The first ever Four-Pin County Open (The East Anglian Four Pin Open) was staged in 2013, with Curt Driver becoming the inaugural champion.
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Post by milko on Jan 2, 2014 19:14:31 GMT
Many "County" not "Country" organisations needs changing. Performances not "Perfoamces"  Crowned not "Crowed"  |
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Post by The Chubbster™ on Jan 2, 2014 19:17:52 GMT
Cheers Keith, amended. Fixed about 5 other typos as well. My epic rants of which I don't proof read must make for a great laugh for those who can actually spell!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2014 20:10:41 GMT
Last paragraph - good to see you giving 4-Pin a mention. But so's not to misrepresent the situation, Sudbury and Wellingborough Leagues have been going for donkey's years (forty or more ?), Norwich being the only new one. Crawley was only formed last year as a Summer league and may be in a different guise next time around as at the moment there are no venues left from Crawley itself !
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Post by The Chubbster™ on Jan 2, 2014 20:27:52 GMT
Thanks Tommo, I'll make those amendments in the next version.
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Post by davejones on Jan 3, 2014 21:14:11 GMT
Am getting there very... very slowly, but I am moving forwards. Here is version two for comments and suggestions (and indeed corrections). Any help that anyone can give (even just an interesting fact that could be added) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to those who have pointed me in various directions thus far and shown encouragement for the project.
Also, please don't be afraid to correct any spelling or grammatical errors that creep in. I'll be the first to admit that despite being good at many things, my spelling and grammar is at it's best average. On a bad day it's terrible (and I have more bad days than good) and at it's worst is completely diabolical.
A brief history of the game
Its origins
Very little is known about the early origins of Bar Billiards but it’s widely believed that the modern day game descended from a Russian game called Billiard Russe. An English gentleman named David Gill reportedly observed this game being played in Belgium and on his return to England he convinced an English table manufacturer ‘Jelks’ to create a version of the game, which then became the modern day game of Bar Billiards that is played today.
First Leagues and following years
The first known Bar Billiards pub league was formed in Oxfordshire in 1936 and shortly thereafter leagues began appearing in other locations such as Reading, Canterbury and High Wycombe. In 1933 the game was first introduced into Jersey by a gentleman named George Jeune, a landlord who important 4 tables over to the channel island. By 1964 his endevour had grown to over 50 tables with competitions being organised by two organisations, the National Bar Billiards League and the Jersey License Victuallers League. By 1980 the two leagues had amalgamated and consisted of 21 teams and over 200 registered players.
Back on the UK mainland, before the Second World War there was an organisation called the National Bar Billiards Association (maybe the same organisation mentioned above), and a team from Canterbury were recorded as winning the NBBA challenge cup (beating a team from Oxford). By this time, other table manufacturers had started to produce Bar Billiards tables, two of which were Sam’s and Riley’s. By the 1950’s Bar Billiards tables existed in their thousands throughout the United Kingdom.
Into the modern Era
Around 1973, the All England Bar Billiards Association was formed and started to organise competitions nationally, most which are still going strong today. Some of these competitions include the National Pub Team Championship, The British Isle Open Pairs, The Inter-Counties Championship and the All England Grand Prix. It was around this time that some leagues started to decline, and Bar Billiards tables (primarily Jelks manufactured tables) started to be exported to the United Stakes in large numbers.
Bar Billiards received its first regular television exposure during the 70’s with a show called “Indoor League” hosted by former England fast bowler Fred Trueman. The show was produced by Yorkshire Television and ran on ITV from 1972-1977.
In 1981, the first ever British Isle Open was held in Jersey (organised by the Jersey Bar Billiards Association.) This tournament was won by a gentleman from Jersey named Harry Siddal. In the year 2000, this tournament officially became the World Bar Billiards Championship. An Englishman named Bernie McCluskey won the tournament that year and has the distinction of being crowned the first ever ‘official’ World Bar Billiards Champion. The rules of the game in Jersey are slightly different, as the tables are a little wider than standard mainland tables, and all shots must be played ‘off the spot’.
In 1982, the first Bar Billiards international match took place in Southampton, contested between England and Jersey with England winning by 8 games to 3. This fixture is still played annually to the present day, with the venue alternating each year between England and Jersey.
It was in the 80’s that the advent of 8-Ball Pool started to effect the popularity of the game, with many Pubs and clubs preferring Pool over Bar Billiards due to the shorter game time and greater revenue. This problem was added to in the 90’s with the emergence of big conglomerates taking over many traditional pubs and focusing on other areas of revenue, such as food.
Around the early to mid 1990’s, many county organisations started to run a ‘County Open’. These are tournaments that invite players from all over the country to compete against each other and many are still in existence today.
Bar Billiards today
The All England Bar Billiards Association is the official governing body of the game on UK mainland. As of 2013, there are still around 30 known leagues in the United Kingdom covering a dozen or so counties. Just about all of these leagues run separate singles, doubles and various other competitions for their players.
In 2005 Guernsey joined the international scene by playing their first match against England. This fixture is now contested annually with the venue alternating each year between England and Guernsey. Not long after (2007) the AEBBA association started to produce the first ‘offical’ British Player Rankings, where players from all over the country are ranked according to their performances in national competitions.
In addition to local leagues and county level competitions still being organised by their respective associations, many national competitions in the form of County Opens and AEBBA competitions are still going strong for any aspiring players who wish to dedicate more than the standard one night a week required in their local leagues. The future of many of these competitions was recently placed in jeopardy when the biggest table rental firm in the UK (Bar Billiards Ltd) ceased trading. However, the AEBBA was able to raise enough funds to purchase a complete set of tables and secure the future of many of these competitions.
Recently a Four-Pin variation of Bar Billiards has seen a resurgence in popularity with leagues forming in Sudbury, Wellingborough, Norwich and Crawley. The first ever Four-Pin County Open (The East Anglian Four Pin Open) was staged in 2013, with Curt Driver becoming the inaugural champion.
Ok, here we go! First leagues paragraph should read imported not important Fifth line Licensed not license British Isles open not Isle Jelkes not Jelks Around 1973 paragraph United States not staks In 1981 paragraph Again Isles not Isle In 2005 paragraph 3rd line official not offical In addition paragraph 5th line was recently placed not places |
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Post by The Chubbster™ on Jan 5, 2014 11:25:50 GMT
Wow, thanks Dave. I did warn you lol
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Post by bigtj on Jan 5, 2014 12:38:47 GMT
Trouble with having a proof reader going through it Glenn, but keep up the good work spelling and grammer not the most important thing but content and getting it out there is the way forward.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2014 13:29:31 GMT
spelling and grammer not the most important thing  |
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Post by bigtj on Jan 5, 2014 14:52:48 GMT
Noticed the deliberate mistake then
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Post by davejones on Jan 5, 2014 16:42:13 GMT
Trouble with having a proof reader going through it Glenn, but keep up the good work spelling and grammer not the most important thing but content and getting it out there is the way forward. Grammar not Grammer |
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