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Post by tommo III on Aug 10, 2021 22:48:01 GMT
Interesting evening spent at the Railway tonight which you could say was "a la recherche de temps perdue". Here's what I was able to find out:
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Post by tommo III on Aug 14, 2021 19:11:07 GMT
No table any more in the Fox (Bucks Green) which I visited on the way home from the Loxwood Joust. From memory the table was a non-rental long narrow one and bar staff reckoned it's been gone at least five years.
But I've just spotted this review on the Kings Head (Billingshurst) which is a comparative recent one ...... I know the landlord Colin was talking a few years back about how he wanted to replace Pool with bar billiards:
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Post by tommo III on Aug 17, 2021 21:27:36 GMT
Word on the street is that the Lintot team are now fixed up and will play at Roffey Cricket Club.
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Post by tommo III on Aug 18, 2021 21:50:57 GMT
just spotted this review on the Kings Head (Billingshurst) which is a comparative recent one ...... I know the landlord Colin was talking a few years back about how he wanted to replace Pool with bar billiards: Well, this turned out to have been a wild goose chase. This is what I had been getting excited about:
A pleasant enough pub, light and roomy and immaculately clean. A chat with the friendly bar manager revealed: - Landlord Colin is still there, and after the downstairs re-fit is now commencing one upstairs.
- No hint of a bar billiards table as yet, but that is not to say that the plan doesn't remain on the back burner.
So confirmed that the Railway is now definitely the only pub in Billingshurst with bar billiards.
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chocie
Full Forum Member
Posts: 392
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Post by chocie on Aug 18, 2021 22:40:54 GMT
The Cricketers Wisborough Green will have a table as of this Saturday, I am putting one in for them.
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Post by tommo III on Sept 14, 2021 16:40:39 GMT
Tables now in both the Norfolk and the Star in Roffey. Almost tempted to indulge once again in the weekend bar billiards pub crawls of the 70's and 80's !
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Post by Ros on Jan 9, 2022 13:14:31 GMT
I am pleased to report that there is now a table in the Dog & Duck at Warnham. The pub are well known locally for great home cooked food (I can vouch for their baked tatties) and for pricing almost all their drinks @ £4. Apparently there are regulars at the pub who have been asking for a table, so maybe the pub are prospects for a new Billingshurst or Horsham team. (9.5 miles from Billingshurst, 4 miles from Horsham) Huge thanks to tommo, who gave me the heads up that the pub were interested in having a table.
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Post by tommo III on Jan 9, 2022 18:19:52 GMT
I am pleased to report that there is now a table in the Dog & Duck at Warnham. Good news for the region, I may make a visit within the next couple of weeks (Margo's car due in for annual service at B/B/Heath) Speaking the other day to Boycie (captain of the Cricketers) and he mentioned that there is much 'youthful interest' at his venue, the table gets played a lot, and thence there is the prospect of a 'B' team in the future. We were, though, of the same view that allowances should be made for any rookie teams, maybe allowing them handicaps, or all the breaks when facing seasoned competitors. A lesson should be learned from the recent experience of the Inn on The Green, Ockley which joined the league a couple of years ago but became despondent through getting thrashed each week before withdrawing mid-season. As far as I know the table is still there and is maintained to league standard. I reckon there is now the opportunity for the formation of a Billingshurst Second Division with, say, four teams: but this to be for novice teams only, with the understanding that they wouldn't have to play the top teams, only each other. The Dog and Duck could sit comfortably within this set-up, the others being Cricketers B, the Inn on the Green (if they could be persuaded to give it another go) - and whichever team finishes bottom-of-the-league this season, which at the moment looks like being Alfold SC. All are to the north or west of Horsham and are within easy reach of each other. So an exciting prospect lies ahead and I would commend this proposal to the Committee with the hope that it receives serious consideration ! tommo
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Post by tommo III on Jan 27, 2022 16:58:53 GMT
Had two hours to kill in between dropping Margo's car off at BB/H, a bus journey to greasy spoon cafe at Beare Green for breakfast, and breaking the journey back - stopping off at the Dog & Duck to try out Ros's table. Landlord Danny was very friendly: although rushed off his feet in cooking and serving food he found time for a natter over b-b's. He used to play years ago in Worthing, particularly at the Swan and the Charles Dickens. The D & D is an olde-worlde pub and we can recommend it for a visit. £4 a pint and equivalent amount for units of spirits. A nice drop of cider. Table definitely playable, slight drift into each corner (though the same with many tables). Cloth and the pockets all in good order. Position of the table is good and definitely conducive to league play. A good day for us, breakfast deal at Surrey Hills Cafe included a free mug of tea, we saved £4.50 each with our bus passes, and Margo's car sailed through the MOT and the Service bill came to £50 less than quoted. So quids in !
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Post by tommo III on May 12, 2022 10:20:39 GMT
No table any more in either the Springbok (removed) or Three Compasses (closed) according to intelligence received last night.
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Post by tommo III on Sept 6, 2022 18:15:33 GMT
Tables have gone from the Three Moles (Selham) and the Rising Sun (Milland) - both around 6 years ago. Three Moles has had a re-fit but is open funny hours.....Rising Sun is big on food and full of OAPs at lunchtime. Three Moles landlord was pretty sure that the fate of the ancient long narrow table was that it 'ended up on a skip'. Hot off the Press:As from August this year the Three Moles at Selham has a bar billiards table. Looks a decent one, too (a Jelkes). www.facebook.com/TheThreeMolesThe fate of the previous one is shown in the quote above. Checking out the Facebook entry, looks like they could do with a PR visit and some guidance. THREE MOLES, SELHAM, PETWORTH, WEST SUSSEX GU28 0PN (Non-league, 3-Pin)
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Post by tommo III on Oct 26, 2022 22:12:59 GMT
At a loose end tonight with a Billingshurst League 'Bye' so Margo and I sounded out the Three Moles (Selham). Long journey there and back (hour and a half each way) but we enjoyed the experience. We were served by Tom - a friendly and knowledgeable young barman - who opened up the special room for us (the table having pride of place in a large conservatory to the left of the main building; to the right is a marquee, a left-over from Covid restrictions). The table......Well the pub's Facebook claims a Jelks, but apart from the legs (round, pre-war, screw in) that's where the similarity ends. It's very dark wood, suggestive of a Padmore or Thurstons, and has a newly covered top with shallow red cups. Plays very well indeed, very straight, the break is easy and the one-up and split are there too if you work on position. Only bugbear was the D was lifting, and I left one of my spares with Tom plus a few white spots. Prospects of the game taking off at the venue......Very commendably, they already have a team of players and are entered in the West-Sussex League, where they were away to Emsworth SSC tonight. This would appear to be an ideal arrangement as the other alternative - Billingshurst - is ranged farther afield. Well worth the visit, if only to set my mind at rest (I do worry about such things!)
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Post by tommo III on Jan 25, 2023 11:42:29 GMT
Looked in the Dog and Duck yesterday and the table had gone.
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Post by tommo III on Feb 25, 2023 14:13:01 GMT
The following announcement received today from the Hon.Sec.: Speaking to The Dude, an ideal arrangement for next season would be to find a venue to house Chocie's table in or adjacent to the village, to ensure the team stays together.
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Post by johnslee on Mar 7, 2023 15:41:58 GMT
Hi all to hear about the Cricks at Wisborough green it has gone through some ups and downs in the years. Stuart putting a table in recently All were hopeful for the future but alas rents and financial constraints have taken there toll. Fortunately bar billiards team have accommodation At the Mucky Duck and maybe rehoused at 3 crowns wisborough Green. Billy Hammond still a part of the team was a teenager back some 50 years ago when I was learning to play at the Red lion cowfold. A good 30 teams Plus in those days. How times have changed!! .
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Post by tommo III on Mar 7, 2023 17:26:56 GMT
Cheers John, Never one to pass up a chance for a bit of nostalgia, I can add that The Cricketers were founder members of the league with both an A team and a B team - the latter of whom were primarily youngsters. Yes I remember coming up against Billy in a match at the Six Bells in the early 1970's. Both teams were in Div One and the A's were awesome, with two championships to their name. Names I remember were Len Sheppard, John Rayner and Henry Laker (who had moved there from the Blacksmiths), Charlie Francis, Cecil Mann and Arthur Cheesman. Hope the current team can sort out their situation satisfactorily, and its good that they have a few options at their disposal.
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Post by tommo III on Mar 7, 2023 17:58:09 GMT
Other memories of the Cricketers -
Had a great landlord back in the day: the very jocular Ian 'Chubb' Saunders. His two sons now run the Billi Tap (microbrewery) in Billingshurst High Street.
And the pub used to have the best jukebox for miles (with tracks from Led Zeppelin, etc).
Can't close for good, surely ? It hosts the annual British Lawn Mower Racing Championships held on the village green !
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Post by tommo III on Sept 12, 2023 18:18:53 GMT
From recent intelligence received, the Cricketers is now restored as a host for League play, but the Mucky Duck is closing its doors so the team and table will have to be re-homed. They were due to start the season at the Cricketers but the very latest is that they have now found a new home at the Three Compasses. I'll leave any updates on here pending release of the new fixture list (promised some time next week).
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