jelly
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Post by jelly on Mar 26, 2018 19:59:28 GMT
Visited the Pembury Tavern after work today. It has a Jelkes table, which is popular, but poorly maintained. The cloth is in dire need of replacement, along with the cushion rubbers. Doing a standard break shot results in the white ball heading towards the right of the 30 hole, yes it is that bad. The pocket rings are not secured properly and so have all sunk into the table and the felt ripped. The bar runs for 25 mins. This pub is in the process of being taken over by 5 points brewery within the next few weeks. The barman has been told that they will be keeping it. He also said that they know it needs reclothing but they are not happy with the guy they use. He asked me to enquire here as to whether we can recommend someone who would be able to travel to London to recloth it, and he much this would cost. I think they are keen to keep it and if someone who knows what they are doing can refurbish it properly I think it would be a lovely table. So, can anyone recommend someone to recloth it, so I can pass on the details.
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jelly
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Post by jelly on Mar 26, 2018 20:10:09 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2018 22:02:42 GMT
Here was my report on the Pembury from Feb 2010: Have reported already on Selkirk, Dog&Bell, Glasshouse Stores and this time it was the turn of the Pembury Hotel in Hackney. Not the easiest place to get to in London is Hackney (without a Carriage ;D ) - I took the Victoria Line tube from Victoria to Highbury and Islington, and planned to take the overground train (headed for Stratford) as far as Hackney Central. No overground train running, so I had to wait at Highbury Corner for a number 30 bus. Number 30s were supposed to run 'every 7 or 8 minutes' but annoyingly there was one parked in the bus lane without its driver - who eventually arrived armed with sandwiches, magazines and a bottle of lucozade, and who steadfastly refused to let anyone onto his bus ! A queue of people increasing in both size and frustration were obliged to wait a full 30 minutes while we watched him scoff his lunch, read his mags cover to cover and take big swigs out of his bottle before another bus eventually came along, which we gratefully boarded, but progress to Hackney was excrutiatingly slow and involved quite a hefty detour. The Pembury Tavern is easy enough to find, it's sandwiched on a five-way junction between Dalston Lane and Amhurst Road. It's huge and seems decidedly bare inside (lack of furnishings other than tables and chairs) but it had a red baized pool table in one corner - and low and behold a smart-looking Jelkes bar billiards table in another corner. Pegs were in the correct place (unusual for a London pub) but on trying the break shot the object ball made a direct line for the 50 but then deviated away sharply at the last moment. Farbeit from me to try and alter it, but with the table rolling alarmingly to the right, obviously the two left legs are set too high and it shouldn't take a genius to level it up - it's what the leg adjusters are for - yes ? Anyway, I played it as I saw it for a bit of fun and almost managed a thousand break making some ridiculous allowances on shots. Apart from a D with more craters than Mars, the cloth and cushions seemed in very reasonable condition. No sign of landlord Steve, just one dolly bird doing the bar, who served me with a half of vile, cloudy cider, of which I could only manage a couple of sips before having to make tracks for my concert. Bar billiards somehow seems right here, and is no doubt popular with the locals, but scores on it are going to resemble 4-pin all the time it's so out of level, with no hope of nurturing any local prowess. Having said that, Nigel would probably still get 20k on it ! ;D It seems not much has changed in 8 years apart from a deterioration in cloth and cushions !
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Post by Chris_Sav on Mar 27, 2018 9:49:04 GMT
Visited the Pembury Tavern after work today. It has a Jelkes table, which is popular, but poorly maintained. The cloth is in dire need of replacement, along with the cushion rubbers. Doing a standard break shot results in the white ball heading towards the right of the 30 hole, yes it is that bad. The pocket rings are not secured properly and so have all sunk into the table and the felt ripped. The bar runs for 25 mins. This pub is in the process of being taken over by 5 points brewery within the next few weeks. The barman has been told that they will be keeping it. He also said that they know it needs reclothing but they are not happy with the guy they use. He asked me to enquire here as to whether we can recommend someone who would be able to travel to London to recloth it, and he much this would cost. I think they are keen to keep it and if someone who knows what they are doing can refurbish it properly I think it would be a lovely table. So, can anyone recommend someone to recloth it, so I can pass on the details. Probably Ivor Champion on www.bar-billiards.com/or if not Mike Large on
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jelly
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Post by jelly on Mar 27, 2018 21:15:59 GMT
Thanks Chris I will send those on to the pub. Cheers, Joe
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Post by joefoxon on Aug 15, 2018 12:21:47 GMT
Just looked at the Parcel Yard in King's Cross Station, apparently they do have a table (I had to ask someone as I couldn't see it!) but it's hidden in a function room and therefore not accessible to the public, unless you hire the room.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 22:59:09 GMT
This one sounds interesting, and immediately goes on Tommo's bucket list of venues to visit when next up in the Smoke:
ARNOS ARMS, 338 BOWES ROAD, NEW SOUTHGATE, BARNET, GTR LONDON N11 1AN
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Post by Chris_Sav on Aug 22, 2019 8:12:36 GMT
Added to the list and map, old snookerette?? narrow table with four skittles
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2019 14:11:10 GMT
.........and rented from Cue Above The Rest, of Ware, Herts.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2019 11:19:18 GMT
I seem to recall a table in the pub on the corner of Shaftsbury Ave. (Can't remember the name of it I'm afraid.) I played on it for a couple of games. Come to think of it, I cant really remember much about that evening. It must have been good!! Last night on the way to the Little Boots gig in Shepherd's Bush, Margo and I fitted in our investigation no.3 of London bar billiards pubs, and I think The Glasshouse Stores (Brewer Street, Soho) and the pub mentioned above by Elsie are probably one and the same: stonch.blogspot.com/2007/02/bar-billiards-glasshouse-stores-soho.htmlInterestingly, we couldn't get a game on the table, as it happened to have a competition being played on it amongst 13 men in suits - the annual London Inter-Insurance Company Executives challenge ! :D I must say the pub had a surprisingly good atmosphere and the 'locals' were exceedingly friendly. Tempting as it was to reposition the pegs in the right place for them, and offer to raise the right hand side of the table to counteract the massive right hand drift, I managed to resist as, basically, they were making the best of the bad conditions - and a huge cheer went up when the youngest lad there 'banana'd the red ball back into the 200 hole ! ;D Pub and table are exactly as shown in the link, apart from the table having 'mushrooms' :o - the pegs got stolen apparently. I would think that bar billiards here has sufficient interest to be there to stay for some while. 8-) Next one on our list to investigate will be the Pembury Tavern in Hackney - probably in February. :-/ Fast-forward 10 years and bar billiards still survives at the Glasshouse Stores - according to Foxy, who showed me a photo of it on his phone. Mind you, it's no longer the nice Jelkes shown in Stonch's Blogspot - it's now a modern Supreme which apparently is a bit of a struggle to play as it has a 'bit of a roll'.
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snick
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Post by snick on Dec 9, 2019 17:32:46 GMT
Fast-forward 10 years and bar billiards still survives at the Glasshouse Stores - according to Foxy, who showed me a photo of it on his phone. Mind you, it's no longer the nice Jelkes shown in Stonch's Blogspot - it's now a modern Supreme which apparently is a bit of a struggle to play as it has a 'bit of a roll'. Was at both the Pembury Tavern and Glasshouse Stores two weeks ago -- played both tables in person. Sadly, both are in dire need of work -- the Jelks at the Pembury is in marvelous condition, other than the cloth -- the baulk lines and the 'D' have all worn away, and there is a nasty vertical tear in the cloth that appears to have come from an over-exuberant break -- right at the 'D.' The Supreme at Glasshouse is probably even a bit worse for wear. Has a small tear in the same spot as the table at the Pembury. It does show a tendency to roll to the right, and having been relocated flush against the wall behind the bar, virtually no shot can be played from the left side of the table.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2019 19:17:46 GMT
Thanks for your report, Snick. It's good to know that both of these survive - albeit in poor condition due to lack of regular maintenance.
The Emma Hamilton in Wimbledon remains the only venue in the smoke which has ever hosted League bar billiards. Sadly not there now - demolished for a housing development.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2020 20:55:12 GMT
Update from the Pembury Tavern (Hackney) just prior to lockdown:
A reminder of what we're missing and how much fun it can be especially if you don't know how to play properly ! The film is well made and instructive up to a point - a better effort to introduce the game than anything so far made by any of us "semi-pros".
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2020 16:21:08 GMT
Yes, we've been to the Ship (see report above). Top quality Jelkes table, in better nick than any of the others in London that I've visited. No league there of course. Interesting that they've now ordered a set of mushrooms - perhaps the plan now is to switch it over to Four-Pin. Update on the Ship (Lambeth) briefly re-named Walcot-1830 but has since reverted back:
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2020 13:56:48 GMT
Daveuk1 had occasion to visit the 'other' London Ship - the one in Mortlake - which according to Beer In The Evening has bar billiards.
This is what he had to say about it: Unfortunately, B.I.T.E. is no longer a reliable source as it has not accepted updates for 5 years or more. (You can still see a shedload of my reports from 2011 by clicking on my username tommo5)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2020 14:14:02 GMT
The Grape and Grain at Crystal Palace (SE19 2AA) was closed in Nov 2017 according to this report: A pic here in its derelict state as of 07/09/2018:
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Post by Chris_Sav on Oct 8, 2020 14:28:56 GMT
Bought by Witherspoons apparently
Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2020 13:20:39 GMT
The Ravensborne Arms, 323 Lewisham High St, Ladywell, SE13 6NR is now closed with plans for the site to be used for a housing development,
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2020 14:14:08 GMT
One we haven't seen before:
The Mitre, 20 St Mary's Grove, Richmond-on-Thames TW9 1UY Boasts cask ales, craft beers and fine wines. Dog and child friendly. Live music every Sunday.
"Any Bar Billiards Fans Out There? We're looking for 16 or 32 people to take part in the first Mitre bar billiards world championship ?"
Sounds like a post-lockdown visit will be on the cards !
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Post by Chris_Sav on Nov 17, 2020 18:46:01 GMT
Map alterations made.
Merged the topics prior to the master list in the list thread into this thread. Copied the master table list into a thread, with credit to Joe, that Tommo can get at.
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Post by tommo III on Aug 11, 2021 11:46:41 GMT
Electricity Showrooms (N1 6NN) shows on the internet as 'Permanently Closed'.
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Post by tommo III on Feb 23, 2022 16:06:23 GMT
Having a day out in London tomorrow, will try and visit a couple of venues and report back.
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Post by tommo III on Feb 25, 2022 12:30:14 GMT
One we haven't seen before:
The Mitre, 20 St Mary's Grove, Richmond-on-Thames TW9 1UY Boasts cask ales, craft beers and fine wines. Dog and child friendly. Live music every Sunday.
"Any Bar Billiards Fans Out There? We're looking for 16 or 32 people to take part in the first Mitre bar billiards world championship ?"
Sounds like a post-lockdown visit will be on the cards !
Well, regrettably, this one will have to come off the map. The bar billiards table became a casualty of the Covid rule at the time that pubs could only re-open by serving a "substantial meal indoors" : the area that the table occupied has now been converted to a kitchen for pizza preparation. And there is insufficient space inside to house the table elsewhere. A pleasant enough place, but drinks a bit steep (London prices). With a bit of luck, I've saved someone else from a wild goose chase, as the pub is tucked away up a side street and quite a walk from the nearest bus stop.
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Post by tommo III on Feb 25, 2022 12:59:56 GMT
This one sounds interesting, and immediately goes on Tommo's bucket list of venues to visit when next up in the Smoke:
ARNOS ARMS, 338 BOWES ROAD, NEW SOUTHGATE, BARNET, GTR LONDON N11 1AN
Better luck with this one, self-branded as the 'best pub in North London' and I can't argue with that. Spotlessly clean and a vibrant atmosphere. I was looked after very well by Dan and Sue and can heartily recommend the bacon sandwich ! The table ...... three good points and three bad, but the good points would class it as "Taffy heaven". It's a rental from Cue Above The Rest (Ware in Hertfordshire) but typically short of proper maintenance: ball kept getting trapped in the (middle) 30 hole; D has a large rip in the middle; and coin jams in slot every time (so I had to keep imposing on Dan). To get Taffy salivating, the pockets are "easy drop"; it is set up for Four-pin - with pins not mushrooms; and there are seven whites and TWO reds !! When lifting the top to unjam the coin (Dan reckoned problem came about since the conversion from round pound to eight-sided one: it now needs a 'wiggle' to make it drop) the 30-hole problem became apparent: the table, being an early one with the four slots for cues, had two in there which were too long and met underneath at the back to hamper the ball drop - d'oh ! You need to go armed with your own coins as the pub is card-only. But it's easy to access, a short walk from Arnos Grove tube, which in turn is only 5 stops away from Finsbury Park mainline station. And there a mini-mart opposite where I got a £1 bar of Cadburys plus change for a fiver. Enjoyed my visit, also my reason for going to the Smoke - evening concert (Van Der Graaf Generator at the Palladium, cancelled twice-previously)
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Post by Chris_Sav on Feb 25, 2022 15:14:03 GMT
Photos of "The Parcel Yard" games room do not show a table in the space where it was. I'm cycling from St Panc to Paddington tomorrow will look in if trains allow.
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Post by bigjimsilverfox on Jun 3, 2022 13:52:13 GMT
No table in the Brown Bear 139 Leman Street!
Also no table in Ye Old Watling, Bow Lane 😟
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Post by tommo III on Apr 12, 2023 11:32:24 GMT
Apr 12, 2023 11:44:24 GMT 1 billiardsmichael said:
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Post by tommo III on May 24, 2023 9:45:23 GMT
What could develop into an annual Tommo adventure day out in London, including some table investigations, took place yesterday. One-day Travel Card was put to good use with the following itinerary: Blackfriars>Whitechapel>Shoreditch>Stratford>Holborn>Boston Manor for Brentford. Then on to Hammersmith>Shepherds Bush and finally >Clapham Junction>Gatwick>Ifield and home on the stroke of midnight ! My carefully-laid plan for four pub visits proved to be somewhat ambitious !
1. Owl and Pussycat, Shoreditch Sounds inviting, but situated in a dodgy area of the city (building walls everywhere are strewn with graffiti). Pub itself is decent enough, small inside with decking/benched beer garden out the back. No evidence of a b-b table, the barman said "none in his memory, only Darts upstairs". Expensive for a 'spit and sawdust' place: Fosters £6-30 a pint. And £9 quoted for a BLT sandwich, I passed on this and bought one for £2.25 in a shop instead.
2. Magpie and Crown, Brentford This was my kind of pub but sadly only a pool table where the bar billiards should be and once was ! Young Johnny the barman was very affable, with a good eclectic taste in music (the selection playing was his own). The story on the b-bs was that they got it back briefly after a gap of ten years, but it didn't get played so had to go. Pub has a selection of board games including chess and a miniature bagatelle (you know, the one with the spikes and ball bearings) - and a Space Invaders machine - a throwback from the 1990's.
3. Watermans Arms, Kew Their website had not forewarned me that it would be shut between 2pm and 6pm and I couldn't really hang around for two hours for it to open, so settled for a pleasant sunshine walk down to the docks. Strangely the pub is at the start of Ferry Lane, where it would be better placed further along, as a riverside setting.
4. Old City Arms, Hammersmith Couldn't fit this one in either as it took two bus journeys to get back to Boston Manor when the first one was diverted. This had happened to me earlier when trying to bus it from Shoreditch to Liverpool Street station, and I ended up as far east as Stratford due to the whole of the A10 in Bishopsgate being blocked off !
So, not a single bar billiards table found, but a good day of sightseeing and a concert to attend in the evening.
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billiardsmichael
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Post by billiardsmichael on Nov 20, 2023 15:48:20 GMT
The weekend before Jersey, a friend and I did a little tour of London to try and hunt down a few bar billiards venues... here is a summary of my notes!
The afternoon started with the plan of just going to the Glasshouse Stores for a couple of games and maybe some darts but, although the table is still there (although it's moved closer to the darts board than my last visit) they still have no balls - I believe someone had previously reported they had been knicked.
So, then came the idea of a London tour, and just up the road was Marks Bar at Hix. This is now a Mexican restaurant so we walked past in the knowledge that the table was not going to be there.
Next on the list was the quick wander down to Rileys Sports Bar Haymarket. This was shut, and looked like it had been for a good while. A victim of covid perhaps?
The plan was then to go to the South Bank via Charing Cross, but the tube station entrance appeared to be shut due to the protests in Trafalgar Square, so instead we carried on our walk on the north side of the Thames to the Cheshire Cheese. We popped in hopeful of a bit of bar billiards but when I asked about a table the waitress gave a very bemused look. "A bit like a pool table?" "No, we don't have that". Damn.
We then continued our trevails and got to the location of Jamies Wine Bar and Restaurant on Ludgate Hill (nr Blackfriars). This, however, does not exist and we eventually realised that this is now a different wine bar... Andrea (https://andreabars.com/locations/47-ludgate/). Sadly this wasn't open, but a thorough look through windows didn't seem to reveal a table. Seems unlikely there was a table there, but you never know.
After a fifth disappointment, a quick trip on the tube from St.Pauls to Liverpool Street took us from day to night and we searched for a second Mark's Bar at Hixter. There appeared to be a pool table which in Devonshire Square, but sadly 9A is now a steakhouse which again didn't look like it had a table.
So take seven and a short walk south to a second potential Jamies Wine Bar and Restaurant on Creechurch Lane. This was not evident, but there was a pub named the Trinity Bell in that location. As with Andreas bar before we couldn't get in, and a thorough window search again failed to reveal a bb table. Perhaps there is one downstairs?
So a thoroughly unsuccessful day but we weren't to be beaten. My mate had to go to Orpington for the evening, so we took the Overground to New Cross, hopeful that our thirst for some billiards would be quenched, and we entered The Amersham Arms. It's not a good sign when a bouncer frisks you first and after receiving a pat down he seemed rather unimpressed at my question of whether there was a bar billiards table. I think it was safe to say there wasn't, seemed more like a nightclub!!
So our last stop was The Royal Albert. We walked in now devoid of confidence but somewhat reassuringly the waitor gave us a confident "no" when asked about a table, it made a pleasant change from the bemused looks we had often received. After a lot of walking, it was definitely time for dinner, so after a lovely burger and pint my mate and I parted ways. A good day, but a severe lack of bar billiards.
On a previous crawl on London I'd also visited the Anchor Tap in Bermondsey, but despite my excellent darts that day - sometimes they do go in - the only cue sport available was pool, shame.
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Post by tommo III on Nov 20, 2023 17:28:28 GMT
Ah thanks Michael for your sterling efforts and sorry that this all ended in a wild goose chase with no bar billiards resulting. Comparing this with my last couple of visits, it's not that surprising really. And serious surgery was saved to your wallet by the non-availability of the Hix Bars in Soho - unless you don't mind paying for an expensive cocktail ! *
A lot of fun though is in the 'chase' and now and again a place is found with 'good vibes' despite no longer supporting the game (eg the Magpie & Crown in Brentford). And the more red herrings we can remove the better - for the ones left we can then recommend with confidence for future London visits.
A fair bit of updating for me now on the summary thread, following which I will compile a list of deletions for Sav on the map.
Regards, tommo
*Worth looking up Mark Hix MBE on Wiki .... has been on a financial rollercoaster since Covid, which caused him to switch operations to Dorset where he opened a clifftop seafood restaurant. He then bought the Fox pub in Corscombe but it closed last year and has recently reopened under new management. He seemed to like his bar billiards and the question still remains - does he still own tables?
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