Biscuited together as well as the threaded rods for extra strength
That's both the base layers done
Finally got all the maple machine drilled
It's starting to come together
23/03/2013
The wood's home stacked ready to be worked on
The maple came up beautifully
The iroko planed up well as did the 8x4 maple
It's starting to come together
Drilling the holes must be done accurately
I must be careful with this beast
The wood has arrived
10/03/2013
The delivery
The iroko joists
The maple skin
The 8x4 for the apron
The return of the Novices Bowl
11/12/2012
After a break of ten years, the Novices Bowl was played for on 8th December 2012. This competition is open to club members who haven't won an individual competition in previous years. This means, of course, that you can only win the trophy once.
Despite the lapse of ten years, only two club members declared themselves ready to compete for the trophy. Therefore Amy and George went straight into the final, a match played for straight chalks over fourteen ends.
It was a closely fought match with Amy taking a two point lead in the middle of the match thanks to two twos - one of them an eight pin. In the eleventh end though George set a three with Amy only able to reply with a four. The next end saw George reply to Amy's four with a three, levelling the score with two ends to go.
Amy took the thirteenth end with a four to George's five. Then she set a two in the final end to leave George requiring a floorer to level the score and force a play-off. This would have been an opportune time for his first floorer but it wasn't to be and Amy took the match 7-5.
There was always going to be a new name on the handicap trophy once the final was decided, neither Ellis Sabey or Amy Pitchard having won the competition before. It was an exciting match which went right to the wire. Amy had a four point handicap advantage over Ellis and once more the handicap system proved itself.
After the first seven ends, Ellis had established a two point lead, largely thanks to a floorer in the fifth end, his fourth of the year.
Over the next seven ends Amy reduced the lead to one point. In her semi-final against Mark Fawke, Amy had gone one under in the final third of the match, so expectations were high.
Well she didn't manage to repeat that feat, but a couple of twos helped no end. In the final frame, Ellis was left requiring a floorer to win the match or an eight-pin to force a play-off. Neither materialised, leaving a delighted Amy to take the cup. As far as anyone can recall, Amy is the first female winner of a trophy in the club's history.
This was Amy's second triumph in three days. On Sunday she took eighth place out of 183 women in the Barcelona Triathlon.
Hutchinson retains world championship title
16/05/2012
The 2012 "world" championship has been won, as in 2011 and 2010, by Steve Hutchinson.
It was a lacklustre preliminary round; last year's runner-up, Steve Barnes, went out and seven points were sufficient to get Amy Pritchard (representing Australia) into the knockout stage.
The Hutch, however, upped his game continuously and with a "one under" performance in the final, beat Tom Lederer to take the title.
Tom Lederer shows his delight at taking the runner up trophy
Meanwhile chairman Pete Greene and winner Steve Hutchinson find something to laugh about
Barnes does the double
11/11/2009
In a nail-biting final, Steve Barnes overcame a 12 point disadvantage to win the Handicap Competition. A week previously Steve had defeated Peter Greene in the final of the Page Cup.
Tom Lederer (left) presents the Handicap Cup to Steve Barnes. They share the prize in the Pulling a Face at the Camera Award
Thoughts on beer and skittles
27/04/2009
The old geezer with the red face in all the photographs, the one holding the Championship trophy was slightly embarrassed.
He had a wonderful week being bought lunch by former colleagues and driven to Norbury for a possible final fling, not to mention the genuine hospitality and friendship in the Hampstead alley.
He was also very happy at meeting with an old friend, Arthur Taylor, who had visited the alley with Lionel Trippett some thirty years before in 1978.
He was struck by a comment made by a member that referred to the importance of the club, not just as a place where men and boys went and played, and sometimes drank beer, but as a place that held a special place in their lives....a lodestone.
A place where different people went and enjoyed time together...as had always been the case.
Men opened up and told fellow men about themselves and their concerns.
So it is that we know each other.
I have always enjoyed being able to talk, not on the stroke, but generally and honestly to my fellow skittlers, fellows who enjoy a unique pastime.
One that includes great skill and experience and enormous enjoyment.
We value that which we continue to have, and hopefully will continue to use and enjoy.
The London Championship 2009
27/04/2009
left to right: 2008 winner Steve Barnes; 2009 winner Guy Tunnicliffe; 2009 runner-up Steve Hutchinson; 2008 runner-up Peter GreeneFull results (PDF)
The early stages, comprising a match point round, were dominated by Peter Greene with a -4 game to which only Steve Hutchinson could come close.
The two father and son combinations, Paul and Richard, Guy and Ellis both eventually resulted in wins for the fathers. Richard Robinson improved as the games went on and Ellis Sabey very nearly dashed the hopes of his dad.
Paul drew Steve Barnes in the quarter finals and went down in a closely fought battle 2-1.
The semi finals were played with nervousness showing from all the players for numerous reasons.
Peter and Guy battled over eleven ends before squeezing out a result in Guy's favour; Steve Hutchinson beat Steve Barnes by one chalk despite four fours in his game.
The final was tense. Guy had a lead of 3-1 after five ends. It was a lead that surprisingly remained to the end of the game, the last six ends being drawn.
Congratulations go to Steve Hutchinson firstly for turning up and secondly for playing so well in difficult circumstances.
Thanks also to those who organised the championships and ensured yet again that the alley was dry and clear of debris.
The crack
16/10/2008
Well done you guys.
A fantastic time was personally had in the alley, and although I didn't quite manage to live up to my own expectations I took great enjoyment in being there and playing again.
The surprise booking also went well with the Brick Lane Commune enjoying their night out.
Thanks to James and Paul* for ensuring that there still is a water free environment in which to play...and to everyone else who negotiates with the pub management.
Congratulations to the mighty Fawke. Five times winner of the handicap trophy. Put it on your CV Mark, ...I know many who have never won it once.
Lovely as always to see you all and finally congratulations to Paul for his fantastic time in The Great North Run....
I did used to run, and I reckon under two hours for thirteen miles is pretty good.
best wishes
Guy
*I think that should probably be Pete
Paul
Flooding 31st August 2008
02/09/2008
James and I met up at the FMA at about 6:30. The alley was not at all as we had expected. The staff had done a great job and clearing most of the water away yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, so that there was only a small pool left under the frame and on the right hand side (where water usually collects). The seems to have been about 6-9 inches of water in the gutter around the frame from the "plimsole" line left on our new white canvas.
James and I cleared up the last of the water, and lifted the frame up slightly so that the water under the frame could clear, and air could circulate. I'll have a look at the frame tomorrow and clear away any new water pooling. We are both hoping that the water was cleared away fast enough from the gutter to prevent too much soaking into the timbers and causing warping of the top maple skin. Only time will tell.
Needless to say there will be no skittles tomorrow night.
On a fine day in early May a rare number of knowledgable players gathered at the Freemasons Arms in Hampstead to contest the annual London Skittle Championships. Three former champions along with seven other players seeking to have their names engraved on the elaborate silverware.
Eight players were selected on a points basis from the ten entrants during the first preliminary round. This initial part of the competition was not about your opponent, but about garnering the most points, by playing well, to ensure entry into the next round.
Peter Greene and Steve Barnes set a cracking pace to give those following some degree of nervousness, scoring 14 and 15 points respectively, followed by a creditable score of 16 from Guy Tunnicliffe against newcomer Harry Boast. None of the following matches could score more than 13 points (Tom Lederer and Steve Hutchinson )
The final eight were made up by James Parry Jones, Paul Robinson and Ellis Sabey.
The second round was played as a knockout compeition whereby according to the rankings provided by the preliminary points scores the first played the last and so on through the eight players.
Guy faced his son Ellis and defeated him by two points in a closely fought game.
Peter beat James and in doing so achieved a level par score as did all the subsequent winners, Steve Barnes beating Paul Robinson, and Tom Lederer beating Steve Hutchinson. This last match provided perhaps the biggest upset of the whole day with Steve unable to find the form that had made him a worthy champion the previous year.
So to the Semifinals....the best of nine. One all after nine ends Pete dashed Guys hopes of another final place, and Steve Barnes, after being behind at the half way stage, came back to beat Tom Lederer 4-3.
The last match of the day, the final, was thus a repeat of the first match, and the result turned out the same but rather more convincing so 6 frames to 1.
Steve Barnes, the landlord of the Wenlock Arms, had defeated the Club Chairman Peter Greene, and in so doing had returned the best averages of the day with -1 in the first round, level par in the second, -0.70 in the third and -1.75 in the final.
His achievement allowed him to regain the trophy he won in 2006 and to move closer to being the most succesful London Champion, alongside Steve Hutchinson, since the contest was reinstated in the early 1990’s.
Congratulations to both Steve and Pete and to those who organised the competition so well.
Team captains Steve Hutchinson and Richard Matthews with a junior player from each club and the shield.
You might think from the title that this story refers to a typical skittles evening at the Freemasons' Arms - but no. This Thursday we ventured south to the only other surviving London skittle club, in Norbury. Sadly the good old days when a visit to Norbury meant a damn good meal of bangers and mash or shepherd's pie at half-time are long gone. Now the bar doesn't even serve a pint of bitter. The line in Tom Brown's Schooldays wouldn't have the same ring if it were "Life isn't all lager and skittles..."
Six Hampstead players took on Norbury's finest for the St Dunstan's Shield. Hampstead are getting a bit complacent about playing Norbury and this time it was a closer run thing than we bargained for. Apparently they've only played about ten times this season, the last occasion being 19th February. The lay-off doesn't seem to have done them any harm. Perhaps if they gave up playing altogether they'd stand a chance of beating us.
Following photos were taken on Tuesday 26th February. James is progressing with alley repairs, but dirty kitchen waste water continues to come into the alley through the ceiling and can be seem filling the joist slots in the concrete under-floor.
Tom and I inspected the alley on Tuesday 26th February.
James is progressing with alley repairs, but dirty kitchen waste water continues to come into the alley through the ceiling and can be seen filling the joist slots in the concrete under-floor.
Further inspection will be made tomorrow (4th March) but the work is not expected to be completed yet. And James reported further ingress of dirty water on Sunday.
Peter Greene
Club Open Day
28/11/2007
The club open day on Saturday 24th November was a great success. Club members were in the alley from 2pm to 10pm so that anyone could drop in and give the game a try.
There was even an eight-pin from one newcomer (whose name I didn't get). In the video you can see that club champ Steve Hutchinson throws a mere three. Then after a bit of coaching from Steve and from Peter Greene, the other guy throws a convincing eight-pin.
OK, so the cheese flipped as it went through the air (a "flying fornicator" as it's known in the trade), so it was a bit lucky. But as luck would have it, the cheese hit the front pin perfectly and the pins went down in classic style. It was just a whisker away from a floorer.
We were hoping that this year's Individual Skittles Championship would be played on a spanking new frame. Unfortunately things didn't work out that way. The new frame lies tongued and grooved, but in kit form, on a bench at the side of the alley.
Guy Tunnicliffe made his annual pilgrimage from his home in Italy to the shrine of London Skittles. Sadly few other London Skittlers showed his dedication and there wasn't even a visit from the Norbury congregation. The line-up comprised just seven Hampstead stalwarts.
Gaffer tape saves the day
In the days running up to the championships, when it became obvious that the new frame would not be ready, some running repairs were needed. Firstly the plates for the three front right pins were adjusted to sit horizontally, rather than the 5° backward angle they had been inclined to since last year's flood. Secondly, the timber which was splitting was set in place with PVA adhesive. Pete assured us that the PVA, when set, was stronger than the original wood.
Within the first few minutes of play, the PVA begged to differ and a long splinter of wood popped up from the frame. It was feared that this would deflect pins and affect play. The only solution readily to hand was to hold the splinter in with a strip of gaffer tape. This proved successful and the rest of the matches were played without further incident. If, in future years, you come to the Freemasons' Arms and find a satiny silver skittles frame, you can conclude that we took the next logical step and made the whole damn thing out of gaffer tape.
There was a preliminary round to determine seedings. Peter Greene and Mark Fawke each played level games to lead the field. Mark had one more match point due to his eight-pin giving him a bye in the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, Pete easily beat Jon Justice, Guy beat Paul Robinson and in an exciting match, Steve Hutchinson knocked out the 2006 champion, Steve Barnes.
Winner Steve Hutchinson smiles as he desperately tries to keep his trophy in one piece whilst Guy Tunnicliffe holds his runner-up trophy aloft
The semi-finals were both demolition jobs. The early leaders Mark and Pete had both peaked too early and went out to Steve H and Guy respectively.
In the final, Steve and Guy showed they had been playing the long game and slugged it out over thirteen ends, with Guy getting four eight-pins and Steve three. Guy however got a couple of fives, which you can't afford in a final, and Steve won 5-3.
Peter Greene, hard on the heels of his successful role with Suggs in Disappearing London, appeared LIVE on the Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4 on Tuesday 17th April. Not only that, he was back at the Freemasons' Arms with the cheese and pins to start play by 7:30. Well done Pete.
Skittles disappearing but Suggs excels
14/09/2006
This Tuesday was the night Wavelength Films descended on the alley to film a piece for the second series of Disappearing London for ITV. We certainly seemed to justify inclusion in the programme as the players were outnumbered by the film crew (and they hadn't even brought a Gaffer, a Best Boy or a Dolly Grip).
Club members restrained themselves from singing old Madness songs as the series presenter Suggs appeared to interview club chairman Peter Greene.
After a few gaffes which Denis Norden will have fun with, Pete gave an eloqent interview. Suggs was given a quick course in playing London Skittles, after which he demonstrated his newly-acquired expertise. Then all of a sudden film equipment and crew vanished, leaving us to get on with the business of playing skittles.
Update
The programme featuring London Skittles was broadcast on Tuesday January 23rd.
[An expatriate writes from rural Italy...]
Sorry Paul, this is probably not a news item, but just a short letter.
Everytime I check the results they seem to be stuck in the same position...is this to do with the World Cup or Wimbledon? None of the rising stars have risen and none of the old masters have gone past their mid-year projections.
Given my location it is probably not surprising that I have commissioned a set of marble pins and will in a short time return with a Italian team clad in blue to knock down skittle pins....but will it be called skittles or marbles....oh yes, I have to confirm that the Italian team will be completely free of any wiff of corruption or backhanders and will have nothing to do with the former Prime Minister...who I cannot mention for fear of being found hanging with stones in my pockets under Blackfriars Bridge.
Keep playing or have the conditions deteriorated?
Best wishes
Guy
Pete is the bride at last
17/06/2006
The final of the Handicap Competition was played this Tuesday and one look at the results tells it all. Pete "why am I always the bridesmaid, never the blushing bride?" Greene is the winner.
Peter Greene (left) shakes hands with a dejected Paul Robinson
Hutch takes the Page
26/04/2006
London Skittles competition matches are like London buses and after Saturday's championship another two came along this Tuesday. Ellis must have got the taste for silver, because he arrived about three hours before his accustomed hour to play his semi-final handicap match against Peter Greene.
As this time there was no leak to contend with, the match was quickly underway. Both players had an erratic start, but Ellis's floorer in the third leg and eight-pin in the 6th put him in a commanding 19-13 lead after the first seven. In the middle seven, while Ellis made steady progress, Pete made a comeback. The players tied on eight-pins in the ninth leg, then Pete got a floorer in the eleventh and ended the seven trailing by a more manageable four points.
There's no kind way to say this; both players started the final seven legs playing absolute bollocks - all fours and fives. Pete was first to snap out of it - he rushed off to the Gents, dashed his face with cold water, then came back and threw an eight-pin. When he set a three and Ellis replied with a five, that meant Pete was only a point behind going into the final leg. Ellis finally threw a three, his first for seven ends, so that Pete needed a two to stay in the game.
Reversing his usual habit in matches of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, he stepped into the alley and threw another eight-pin to take the match. Both players were 0.67 under their handicaps - Pete won because he had a floorer and three eight-pins as against Ellis's floorer and two eight-pins.
Winner Steve Hutchinson receives the cup from previous winner Steve Barnes
A hug for the runner-up. A firm handshake used to suffice in the old days.
It has to be said that Ellis was desperately unlucky, having battled through from the first round with wins of 47-43 and 54-47, to lose in the 21st leg of the semi-final by a single point.
It was an exciting handicap match and the play was entertaining, if a bit erratic. Last Saturday gave everyone the chance to take the title of London Champion, though the games are shortened to fit the competition into a single day. So it's a treat to see a twenty-one leg match between two masters of the game and that's just what we got in the Page Cup Final between Steve Hutchinson and Guy Tunnicliffe.
The first half of the game was evenly matched but Guy then let a couple of ends go and the second seven ended with Steve leading 5-3. Steve made wonderful use of a dead in the 14th leg to get the cocked hat and save the point. Then Guy missed an easy pair in the 15th to lose a point he should have saved. Steve got a good rooks in the 17th to set two and Guy's reply left him a bridge for a 4c. Guy now needed to win all four remaining chalks. He won the first, but could only tie the three Steve set in the 19th, making Steve the winner for the first time since 1999.
The Annual London Skittles Championships were held this Saturday for the first time in five years. The competitors were seven players from the Hampstead club, including the current champion Steve Barnes and Guy Tunnicliffe, who had flown in especially from his home in Italy, three players from the Norbury club and Lee Gale, a reporter who had come to cover the event for Time Out and clearly believes in immersing himself fully in his story.
Winner Steve Barnes (left) and runner-up Guy Tunnicliffe
Club Chairman Peter Greene presents the trophy for second place
The winner receives the cup
Talking of immersion, anyone who knows the history of the Hampstead alley is aware that it has suffered periodically from the ingress of water, either upwards from the River Fleet which runs underneath or downwards from the restaurant kitchen. Play continued in one past championship while the pit behind the frame gradually filled with water from below.
My memories are of the cheese aquaplaning as we continued to stick, using planks to stay above the rising waters. This time, play started as water came down in a stream from the kitchen above. Fortunately, DynoRod came to the rescue during the afternoon and the flow had reduced to a dribble when the time came for the final.
It was quite a long road to the final too, as there was a preliminary round, scored on match points, to provide the seedings for the quarter finals and reduce the field to eight. To bring the entry for the preliminary round up to an even number, the Time Out photographer, Rogan, was prevailed upon to take part. Professional that he is though, he only put his camera down to actually take his throw.
The standard of the preliminary round left something to be desired, with only yours truly, Paul Robinson, achieving a level three game. The eight players who made it through to the knockout stage of the championship were the seven Hampstead players and Richard Matthews of Norbury. The remaining knockout stages were played out among a dwindling band of spectators, as those taking an early bath made their escape with muttering about obligations to wives and partners.
It turned out in the end that the real club champions had been keeping their powder dry, as the standard of play perked up considerably in the final stages. Guy played Steve Barnes in the final and despite Steve complaining of a heavy cold that would leave him prostrate after an afternoon’s skittling, he played the best game of the competition to win 5-2 and keep his crown.
I don't know how long it is since London Skittlers have played for the St Dunstan's Shield, but this Tuesday battle was joined. The Freemasons aren't used to meeting much in the way of opposition at Norbury, but there were a few worried frowns this time. "The Bank", as we still like to call them, tried to swing the odds by putting up an oddly shaped and distinctly top-heavy front pin. The Freemasons didn't do themselves any favours by neglecting to bring their own cheeses. None of this bothered Steve "They'll all go down if you hit 'em right" Hutchinson. He was the star player with scores of 10 and 11 match points in his two 5-leg games. The rest of us were outshone. Apart from Steve's, the only twos came from the Norbury's Paul Childs and Barry Collins, who got the only eight-pin of the evening. In the end though, the Freemasons triumphed with a 64-45 win.
I realised when I mentioned the shield that I had no idea who the devil St Dunstan was. And the devil, it seems, caught the rough end of the stick in his dealings with Dunstan, who nailed a horseshoe to his hoof and tweaked his nose with red hot tongs.
Wikipedia article Biography
Phil Day 1949-2006
17/02/2006
Phil Day died on 11th January 2006 after a short illness, while he and his wife Ronny were visiting their daughter and her family in Spain.
Phil was an enthusiast for Catalan and French traditions as well as those of England. He had been a keen petanque player for a number of years, then after seeing this website. he took up London Skittles as well. You couldn’t be in Phil’s company for long though, without his enthusiasm for all traditions coming over, particularly traditional music. He played a number of obscure musical instruments such as pipe and tabor.
Many Norbury Skittle Club members attended Phil's funeral on 26th January. Paul Robinson represented the Hampstead club. The emphasis was on celebrating Phil's life over mourning his death, starting with the rousing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and followed by a reading of Roger McGough's "Let me die a youngman's death". Afterwards, the funeral party went back to the Norbury clubhouse, where later in the afternoon members of Phil's family were introduced to London Skittles. I like to think we did him proud.
Tuesday night saw the first known instance of London Skittles being played in the kilt. Above Jon Justice takes a throw or should that be fling?
Later, Steve Hutchinson knocked up a magnificent six under. Well done, Steve. I just wish you'd been playing someone other than me at the time. (I wasn't playing my best and got whitewashed).
Return of the naked skittler
14/10/2005
We have had a spate of expat skittlers turning up recently, unfortunately I missed Guy who was here last Saturday as he managed to add on another floorer to his tally.
This Tuesday we had a good turnout and a Handicap match was played between Paul R. and Mark F.
Paul went through to the next round (see match result)
"ANYWAY"
The "Naked skittler" made a surprise visit this Tuesday and managed to make a convert.
Click here [but only if you have a strong stomach].
In stark contrast this trend was later reversed by a fully clad Scotsman in the form
of "The Reverend Laird Thomas Jonathan Charles William Justice nee
Murdoch of Camster, MACPA (Member of the Association of Conservative
Party Agents).
Marks and Spencers experience London Skittles
08/10/2005
A group from Marks and Spencers booked the alley for the evening on 7th October. It looks like they enjoyed the experience.
Page progress
27/07/2005
Last Saturday we bid an emotional farewell to Guy Tunnicliffe, apart from those of us who did it the Tuesday before,
that is. Guy is off now, to start a new life in Italy. In anticipation of his departure, I've been trying to
fast-track him through the knockout competitions. In what must be something of a record for the Hampstead Lawn
Billiard and Skittle Club, he was through to the semi-finals within two weeks of the competition being drawn. All
we need to do now is get the rest of the games played in time for Guy's planned visit in December. I could see that
there was going to be trouble similarly fast-tracking him through the Handicap Competition. Yes, in order to do
that a match between Tom Lederer and Steve Barnes had to be played. True to form, on the most auspicious night for
such a match, Tom was unable to play due to bruised ribs sustained playing football.
This Tuesday, though, the scheduled Page Cup match between Peter Greene and Ian Cole went ahead without a hitch. In
advance, Pete had been making much of his supposition that it would "all be over in eleven legs". Ian has been
throwing some mean cheeses lately though; was Pete being over-confident? Or maybe it was some strange blend of
superstition and sportsmanship, giving his opponent a fighting chance by deliberately tempting fate.
If that was Pete's intention, by the end of the fourth leg it seemed to have worked a treat. In the second leg, Ian
replied to Pete's four with an eight-pin. Another win in the fourth put him 2-0 up. Pete must have been concerned
for his scalp, such as it is. At the end of the first seven, Ian was still 3-2 in the lead. He didn't have such a
good second seven, despite a bit of overkill again, this time replying to Pate's five with an eight-pin. By the end
he was 5-4 down, but still very much in the game.
Sadly for Ian, it all went pear-shaped after that and a succession of fives rapidly took him to the point where a
win was impossible. Still, eighteen legs, eh Ian? Eleven, pah!
3000 eight pins since 1987.
Passed this figure tonight Saturday 25th 2005.
I am surprised
Guy
King Cole
16/06/2005
After an absence of some months, Ian Cole returned to the skittle alley this week in top form. Gone were the 'flying fornicators' of old, to be replaced by graceful cheeses of excellent shape. In fact, such was his improvement that there were whispers that Ian's absence had been due not to late shifts delivering Her Majesty's Mail, but to intensive skittles training at a secret camp in Afghanistan. To his own astonishment, Ian leapt straight into the Floorer and Eight-Pin Chart having got two eight-pins in succession and another later on.
Meanwhile, Guy Tunnicliffe, having passed a lifetime total of 500 floorers a while back, is now set to reach 3,000 eight-pins within the next month.
It was billed as the Handicap final but it turned into the Page Cup final.
When Ellis was unavailable for his match, Steve Barnes stepped into the breach to play Steve Hutchinson in the club's premier competition.
The only previous match between the two Steves in recent years was the semi-final of the Page in 2000, which ran to 24 ends with Hutch finally snatching victory 6-5.
This was likely to be a tight match then - and so it proved.
Hutch took an early lead and looked convincing when he set a floorer in the third leg.
Barnes came back with an eight-pin in the fifth leg but Hutch got two of them in the eighth and ninth, giving him a 4-1 lead at that stage.
It wasn't over though and Barnes staged a recovery, bringing the scores level at 4-4 by the end of the second seven.
There was a select band of spectators (especially if you discount the stickers)
and they kept him on the edge of his seat in the last seven.
They tied, then the lead alternated, until the score stood at 6-6 going into the final leg.
Having lost the penultimate leg with a four, Hutch compounded his misery by setting another four in the crucial final leg.
So Barnes needed a three to win.
His opening shot left the left winger and the back pair on the right.
He decided to tease us by going for the winger first.
That accomplished, he took the back pair to win the leg, match and competition.
Thursday saw that rarity, an inter-club London Skittles game. The Hampstead guys headed
south for a friendly match against the Norbury, well, guys and gals. Yes, whilst Hampstead
led the way in skittles emancipation in the 1970's, in the 21st century it's Norbury who
have two female players. What's more both sides were able to field seven players.
You can see the scores here, but to be honest neither
team distinguished itself. Apart from one floorer (I would name the player, but modesty
forbids), there was little in the way of skittling brilliance. What is more to the point
is that a rattling good evening was had by all and there was wild talk of some of the
Norbury players coming up to Hampstead for a game on a Saturday.
Norbury: Ann Brown, Paul Childs, Sheila Childs, Barry Collins,
Phil Day, Richard Matthews, Alan Winchester. Hampstead: Steve Barnes, Peter Greene, Steve Hutchinson, Jon Justice, Tom Lederer,
Paul Robinson, Guy Tunnicliffe.
The 2004 competition season is at last drawing to a close. We are now at the semi-final stage and
there have been some cracking matches. The Hutch magic continues, as does the Barnes magic. In fact,
it's now guaranteed that Steve will win the Page Cup (or at least a Steve will). In the
Handicap Competition, the joker in the pack is young Ellis Sabey with a handicap advantage of eight
points against Steve Barnes going into the semi-final. Steve has been on form lately, but can he make
up a point a leg over a 21 leg match? It promises to be another gripping semi-final.
The first semi-final was played between Steve H and Mark in the handicap. This was a delight to watch
- both of them were playing under their handicap. Surprisingly it was Mark who was Mr Consistency
while Steve was all over the place with a two one minute and a five the next. In a handicap match,
it's floorers and eight-pins that count as they give the player an extra point. Mark got one
eight-pin but Steve got six - including a hat trick. And it was purely those that gave him the win.
Full result
Mark was up against Steve Barnes in the first Page Cup semi-final. The match started with both
players on form and the first three legs tied. Mark broke the deadlock in the fourth, replying to
Steve's eight-pin with a floorer. Unfortunately for him though, he followed this winning stroke with
a series of disappointing fours and fives. Steve meanwhile played four under over the first seven
legs, which Unsurprisingly ended with him leading 3-1. Mark's game picked up again and he clawed back
a point, so that by the 18th leg he was one point behind with three legs to go. Disastrously, he set
a five on the next leg. Steve took the end easily and in the next, set an eight-pin, his sixth of the
match. Mark needed to reply with a floorer to stay in the match, but he was all out of floorers and
victory went to Steve.
Full result
The same old names keep coming up and Steve Hutchinson this time played yours truly, Paul Robinson, in
the second semi-final of the Page Cup. This was a close match with Steve playing one over his
handicap while I played one under mine. The game was tied six all at the end of the 17th leg and I
was gutted when the tension of the last few frames got to me and cheeses that had earlier been flying
straight and true started to wobble. My reply in the 20th leg was just too wobbly and the way was
cleared for an all-Steve final.
Full result
Meanwhile, on the floorer chart, none of us are doing too well. According to the computer prediction,
we're all down on last year. On the bright side, Guy has got his 500th ever floorer and looks like
reaching his 3,000th eight-pin before his departure later this year.
Floorers and Eight-Pins
The Hutch Magic
19/01/2005
Another second round Page Cup match was played this Tuesday, this time between Tom Lederer and Steve Hutchinson. Tom took an early lead but uncharacteristically went on to put himself behind in the latter half of the first seven legs. Steve was getting all twos and threes, including an impressive "round the houses" shot in the fifth leg.
At the end of the first seven Steve had a lead of three chalks and, with some toing and froing, that's the way it stayed. Towards the end it looked as though Tom might cling on to force a play-off, but in the 19th Steve set a three and Tom's first shot in reply left him needing the difficult "brandy and soda" shot. In a valiant effort and with the aid of a dead, Tom got the difficult pins but left the left winger up. This meant Steve was the winner with a place in the semis.
The prospects didn't look good for Ian Cole and Steve Barnes's second round handicap match at 6.30 on Saturday. I arrived to find Ian and Steve sitting glumly in the alley waiting for a couple of stickers. Fortunately once I had played (and lost) a game against Steve's young son George, the cavalary had arrived in the shape of Tom and Mark.
So the game got underway and a cracker it was too. There was a big handicap difference with Steve on zero and Ian on seven. Again our wonderful handicapping system showed its worth with the game going right to the final leg. Steve got four eight-pins, which was what gave him the edge, since eight-pins and floorers count an extra point in a match points game. Both players played over two below their handicaps, though. If Ian had managed to clear up some of the easy leaves that he missed, some fives would have been fours and fours would have been three and Steve would have been in real trouble. As it was, his consistent two under performance gave him the match 50-49.
Finally in the game of 21s that concluded the evening George Barnes (right) took the prize. He got the five pins he needed, while Mark and Steve fell short of their target and Paul and James both went bust with an eight-pin when they needed seven.
Well done the Barnes and hard luck, Ian.
The Young Yokozuna
05/01/2005
The establishment of a new skittling dynasty took another step forward this Tuesday. Ellis Sabey played his father Guy Tunnicliffe in the second round of the Handicap Competition. It was a shaky start for Ellis with four fives in the first five legs. But with a foretaste of things to come, there was a two in there, scored in the second leg.
With a handicap disadvantage of six to make up, Guy was never going to be able to take it easy and frankly his first seven legs weren't up to the job. Ellis's game started to pick up - in fact, he was flying. In a departure from usual practice, it had been agreed that Ellis could take advice during the match. Tom, of course, needed no further prompting and dispensed it liberally. Even this couldn't put Ellis off though and after both players ramped up their game in the middle seven, Ellis was leading 33-29.
With the handicaps added in, Guy started the final seven with a daunting eleven points to make up. Even with another two eight-pins, it was an uphill struggle he was destined to lose. Well done Ellis, it seems the succession is assured.
Meanwhile on 28th December, Mark Fawke played Peter Greene in another second round handicap match. Pete started off well taking the lead in the first seven. After that though, the turkey and Christmas pud started to take its toll and a couple of fives put him behind. With Mark full of Christmas spirit and playing to his handicap of one under, the match slipped away from him. Mark took it 43-36 in the 20th leg.
I am compiling a list of all the three in a row sequences most recently scored in order to enter them onto another roll of honour to adorn our club room wall.
With the disrupted play over the last two years this sequence has become interrupted and I am aware there are some scores that have not yet been properly recorded.
If you have scored three in a row recently please send the details to me and I will enter it onto the next roll of honour sheet.
The following are the most recent that I have-
Paul Robinson 2.2.2. 3rd Feb 2004
Guy Tunnicliffe 2.2.2. 18th March 2004
Tom Lederer 2.2.2.2. 30th Mar 2004
Steve Hutchinson 2.2.2. 5th Oct 2004
Mark Fawke 2.2.2. 19th Oct 2004
Guy Tunnicliffe 2.2.2. 17th Dec 2004
Mark Fawke 2.2.2. 14th Dec 2004
If you recorded your scores at the time I will take them from the score book in the cupboard at the Freemasons.
Otherwise let me know the date and the sequence and I’ll record them for you.
Guy
Family Floorers
14/11/2004
Ellis Sabey scored his first floorer on Saturday 13th November at the age of sixteen, just an hour after his dad Guy scored his first floorer for nearly two months. There was conjecture from Steve Barnes as to whether there had been two members of the same family scoring a floorer each on the same evening since the days of the Hart family. Tom and Andrew Lederer sprang to mind as did Jim Fowler and his uncle David Lusty but no one was able to confirm these possibilities nor whether the floorer scored by Ellis was a record in that no club member younger had ever scored a floorer.
Pining for the Fjords
19/09/2004
The alley was finally ready for action this Saturday but it looked like being a low-key reopening. Only Guy, Paul and Tom were there. The protective padding at the back of the frame was gone after being damaged in the flood from the kitchens. It wasn't looking good.
Then five Norwegian guys stuck their heads in the door. They were from a skittle club in Bergen and had found us via this website. We sent them back to the bar while we rearranged the furniture, improvised some padding to protect the cheeses from the concrete and generally readied the alley for play. These guys were keen though, they were soon back and weren't going to be denied a game.
We played an authentic London Skittles team game, four against four, with Guy and Paul joining one side and Tom the other. The home players were a bit rusty after a ten week lay-off, but the visitors soon picked up the alien techniques and scoring of our game. It was a close match played over five legs, but Guy and Paul's team with its home player advantage took it in the final leg.
So thanks for the match guys and for making our reopening a memorable event. If there's ever a London Skittles booze cruise to Bergen, we'll be sure to give you a return match.
Exclusion Zone
12/09/2004
The Freemasons has reopened, but the alley remains closed. Flooding and food are still the two obstacles to skittles being played. The flooding is from the kitchens and the food is from.....'jeese...you got me there.'
So until further notice I cannot advise anybody to visit unless they want to eat, drink and discuss the ambience.
I have been told that we will be notified as soon as it is possible for us to play and that we are definately wanted.
I remember an old friend saying that to me just before she got married.
Guy
Flooded with food
09/09/2004
The alley could be open on Saturday depending on whether the food has been removed and the half inch of water around the frame has been drained away. I'll be checking on progress tomorrow 9th September when the pub is having an official reopening. I have notified M and B that there are still impediments to the skittle alley reopening and am awaiting their reply.
In respect to the food and drinks on offer and the general ambience I think they have done a good job...it was noted however that they had run out of London Pride and Timothy Taylors. Still a pub in which people like to drink beer then...there is no intention in anything I have to say to run down the new operation, however it should be clear that the changes that were made were forced upon us and the rest of Freemasons users at the height of the summer season..which, as we all know, is the most profitable time of the year for a pub the size of the Freemasons. Not the best time.
If there happens to be anybody from M and B reading this, the new pub is great. I' ve eaten there and drunk there several times. I like what you have done and will continue to use it, but only if the skittle alley is allowed to continue in its unique historical position as the last remaining publically accessible London skittle alley and allowed to carry on attracting, as a huge asset, large numbers of both corporate bookings and individuals expressing interest.
Guy
Gastro Skittles
03/09/2004
If the opening night of the newly refurbished Freemasons Arms is anything to go by then there will be a number of members eating not only their words, myself included, but very possibly, regularly, at the improved venue. As I was leaving a famous food critic was arriving along with several other famous and infamous Hampstead residents... Tom doesn't count because he lives in Upper Holloway.
Yes, the Freemasons has reopened, and I know I don't get out much, but I think the interior and the garden are a very big, if not huge, improvement.
There are joint licensees, Bevvy and Nick, and they are both very welcoming. (As were Sarah and Troy)
Loads of staff wearing tee shirts our fit and athletic team would love to model at their away games, and London Pride and Timothy Taylors Champion ale on tap at approx £2.40 per pint.
No I haven't been paid to write this.
As for the skittle alley...well you may not be surprised to know that it doesn't reopen until the date given previously, Saturday 11th September.
This is because of two factors-
1. It is currently full of food.
This is until they organise their shelving in the basement over the next few days
2. It is also slightly flooded-from above, from the ice making machine, which was probably always the guilty culprit....but they have admitted this and have fixed it.
Both the licensees have expressed an interest in seeing the game being played and having met them both I am reassured that they mean what they say.
Mine's a pint Bevvy, or is that a bevvy of pints.
Best wishes, and be prepared to be surprised, or as James from Highgate said
' gobsmacked'.
Guy
Involvement
21/07/2004
Its not all bad news however, and my last contribution did seem a tad over the top. I have been contacted several times by the new manager and staff working for the contactors asking about what we want.The architect rang me to ask about redecoration, and the new manager rang to make contact. James and Mark have also established contact with the site manager and reiterated our concerns about the protection of the alley.
The interesting story, which is as yet unconfirmed, and about which there has been no consultation, is the rumour that a company from Somerset has been engaged to refurbish the Pell Mell Court/playing area.
Polish your balls chaps, varnish your cues, forget the blisters, because you may be called into action by the aptly, and appropriately named Hampstead Lawn Billiard (Pell Mell) and Skittle Club to show your prowess at projecting hard round objects through a small pivotal hole.Very few people know the rules.
No change there then.
The theatre company that recently produced a version of 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist' at The Theatro Technis in Camden sent thanks for our loan of a set of pins and a cheese to their set for the play. No charge was made for this loan.
Look forward to reopening and encouraging new members.
Another Lost Tuesday
14/07/2004
I know it's only Tuesday, and I know the pub has only been closed for three days but I already miss the opportunity to play and the crack. Given that we last had a full season in 2001 it seems a long time since we were able to collect good scores, eight pins and floorers over a full year. As for bookings the idea that somehow we are able to generate income for the pub, or Mitchell and Butlers, is absurd given their decision to close the premises at the height of the season. Personally I look forward to an uninterrupted year of play, because it's then, and only then, that we can start seriously recruiting new members and seriously consider the possibilities in respect to attracting bookings. Since August 7th 2002 the club has only been open for six months. With continuity, careful coaching and consistent bookings there is no reason why the Skittle Club cannot be successful, but it does require a management structure that sees beyond a passe concept of 'gastro pubs', especially where the pub in question lies at the bottom of a hill that leads to nowhere for half the year, and most of the rest of Hampstead is able to cater for anyone who wants to eat.
I hope I eat my words, but I'll probably not be eating in the pub. Can't afford it.
Competition Roundup
08/07/2004
As club members will be aware and casual visitors may have seen elsewhere on this site, play will be suspended from 10th July due to the refurbishment of the pub. Maybe now is a good time to report on progress so far in the 2004 Knockout Competitions.
The Page Cup is going well with four of the six first round matches played: Steve Hutchinson v Ralph Seward
As might be expected, newcomer Ralph was beaten 11-0 by Steve. Ralph's one crumb of comfort is that he held Steve to a tie on threes in the 10th, stretching the game to 12 legs. Ian Cole v Mark Fawke
A similar demolition job faced Ian. Mark slipped up with a five in the third leg and Ian took it with a four. Apart from that, it all went Mark's way and it was all over after 13 legs. James Parry-Jones v Tom Lederer
It was a different story in this match. Tom, despite his dearth of floorers, has been taking no prisoners in his games this season. So he was disconcerted to find himself 1-0 down after four ends, with James having thrown two eight-pins in a row. Tom redressed the balance in the latter half of the first seven, which finished with Tom leading 3-1. It was evenly matched over the next five ends though, with everything still to play after the 12th. Unfortunately for James, Tom's eight-pin in the 13th was the beginning of the end. After that, James could only manage fours and fives, which gave Tom the match after another three ends. Phil Day v Guy Tunnicliffe
Phil, the Norbury player who refuses to hibernate on the bowling green in summer with the rest of his kind, was up against the reigning champion. Throwing a succession of twos, Guy took an early lead. He didn't have it all his own way though, and at the end of the first seven, Phil threw his first Hampstead eight-pin to take his first chalk of the match. The rally was short-lived though and Guy soon took a 9-2 lead. Phil narrowed the lead to 9-4 but couldn't get closer than that. Nonetheless taking the champ to seventeen legs in the Page is no mean feat for any of us.
Two matches have been played in the Handicap Competition: Paul Robinson v Mark Fawke
It was a hot and sticky evening and the cheese was leaving my hand all wrong, that's my excuse. Mark started off with a bang, throwing two successive floorers. I wasn't put off too much. Knowing Mark as I do, I knew his first two throws weren't necessarily an indication of future performance. Unfortunately for me, they were. Mark played at one under with three eight-pins to go with the floorers. I, meanwhile, was throwing far too many fours and Mark took the game in the 19th leg. Phil Day v Ellis Sabey
Those who weren't expecting much from a match between two players with handicaps of seven and eight respectively were in for a surprise. It was an exciting match that was nip and tuck all the way and in the end went right to the wire. Ellis won 47-46 on the final leg.
Finally, the eagle-eyed among you will have spotted that the picture accompanying this article does not show one of the hairy, grizzled skittlers of whom I have so far written, but that rarity in the cellar of the Freemasons' Arms, a female skittler. This is Kadri Soon of the famous Estonian skittling family, who has the same powerful throw as her brother Ivar.
Once again the long-awaited semi-final tie between Tom Lederer and Steve Barnes was cancelled, this time due to Steve Barnes getting in the way of a cricket ball. Next week, "the dog ate my cheese, Sir".
The evening was uplifted, though, by the return of the Estonian Skittler, Ivar Soon, to the delight of all, not least the headline writers on this website. Despite an absence of two years, Ivar got straight into his stride with a very respectable performance against Guy. He then chose his game against me to get a floorer in the second leg and finished the game one under. I put in a very mediocre performance and got trounced 4-0.
Last Tuesday was a pretty good night for floorers. Rather than the more traditional twenty-ones, we played killer at the end of the evening. In the skittles version of killer, each player starts off with three lives, then loses a life on failing to match the previous player's score but gains a life for a floorer. Steve Hutchinson, in the course of the game, got two successive floorers. Sadly his next shot got 'only' seven pins down. Nobody has thrown three successive floorers for about forty years. Not surprisingly, Steve went on to win the game. What's more, he finished with all five lives intact.
Extra virgin (first cold pressing). Floorer Chart
Bums
25/03/2004
The recording of a successful demolition of half a London Bridge, or is it a forward Gates of Hell by Mark Fawke is a joy to behold. The recording does Justice, excuse the pun Jon, to Marks ability in achieving this shot, and in some ways is far more interesting than the almost commonplace floorer and eight pins shots.
The full version of the video is rather more revealing that I had expected.
There are people out there who may gaze in wonder at the almost surreal rubber gloved thumbs up from the sticker, and the camera angle did little to enhance Steve's bum which in some shots seemed to fill the screen. I can assure the world that Steve's bum is tiny compared to my bald patch. Well edited Paul, the public was spared our exposure. Video clip - Normal speed -
Slow Motion
Hampstead v Norbury
20/03/2004
Click for a larger image. Hover mouse for names.
Amazing! A skittles match between two London clubs was played on Thursday. It was billed as a "friendly", but when Hampstead play Norbury, it can never really be that friendly. You can pore over the full results if you wish, but suffice it to say that Hampstead won.
There were five of them and seven of us, so it was decided that one of those two skittles tarts, Steve Hutchinson and Paul Robinson would play for Norbury. On the toss of a coin, they got Steve. The boy done good, getting the best score of the evening. Ironically, Norbury got the best two scores - Bill Pearce running Steve a close second and also getting the only floorer of the evening.
After the singles matches, there were three games of doubles. For this, Norbury brought on their much heralded female arm in the shape of Ann Brown (what happened to Sheila?). Such ungentlemanly tactics couldn't save them though and Hampstead won 25-13 overall. Full Match Results
Another Nailbiter In The Page
17/03/2004
After last week's tussle between the "Old Elysians", we were treated to another epic battle this week in the semi-finals of the Page Cup. Those old sparring partners Guy Tunnicliffe and Steve Hutchinson had us on the edge of our seats once again.
It was nip and tuck all the way - like last week, neither player was ever more than one chalk in the lead. Both were on top form with four eight-pins and two floorers to show for it. In fact, both of them played 2.33 under. All in all then, the tightest of tight matches with nails chewed to the quick - and that was just the spectators. In the end, though, one guy blinks and the other guy takes the game. This time it was Steve who blinked and the other guy was Guy.
It was Steve's misfortune to use one of his eight-pins in the fourth leg against one of Guy's two fours. Had his fourth and fifth frames been reversed, it would have been all square after 21 legs. And just to rub salt in the wounds, if they'd been playing match points, Steve would have won 53-51.
Guy now meets Peter Greene in the final, which will be played in late April. Congratulations to him and heartfelt commiserations to Steve. Full Match Result
Battle of the Old Elysians
10/03/2004
In any contest there is a winner and a loser. This contest was no different. The two contestants shared the fear of losing and probably shared the expectation of exultation should they win. That they were both Old Elysians added to the mix. (Elysian pertaining as it does, not only to former pupils of William Ellis School in Highgate, but also to those fields of Elysium, the abode assigned to the blessed after death.) [Shouldn't that be Old Ellisians, then? - Ed]
They fought in an evenly balanced match for all the 21 frames allotted in the Page Cup with neither Peter Greene or Mark Fawke ever establishing a significant or demoralising lead.
The end of the first seven saw a dip in form from both players after a frenetic start with Mark throwing four fours in a row and Pete answering with fives. From then on the contest picked up pace. The second seven for Pete was two under despite throwing a five, and for Mark it was three under. Down to the wire and into the last seven, neck and neck. Pete's last seven were three under par whilst Mark came close to glory throwing two floorers in a row and with the score level at six apiece and on the 21st end Mark set a four to be pipped by a three from our Club Chairman. When interviewed later he told the adoring masses that it was down to relaxation. Whatever the case they both played as though 'blessed' and gave all present yet another example of the excitement of this hidden gem of sporting recreation. Full Match Results
The Old Yokozuna Pulls It Off
03/03/2004
So after something like a year-and-a-half, the 2002 Handicap competition has seen a sudden impetus toward its conclusion with yet another match being played one week after Tom's resounding victory over Peter.
This time the game, the first of the semi-finals, between Paul and Guy, was a much closer affair. Paul had reached this stage by beating `Big-Mac` Ian McLaren almost two years earlier and Guy had disposed of yours truly in the opening round and Mark Fawke in the second round.
It started off pretty disastrously for Paul with two `fives` within the first three legs , but then his game improved immensely over the next 17 legs. In fact he was 1 under over these 17 legs and held Guy at bay throughout this spell of the match. It was looking good for Paul. Guy had played fairly steadily, but nothing spectacular from the old Yokozuna up until the final seven.
He then conjured up a bit of the old magic by going 4 under and including two eight-pins in the process. This meant that the match was all square after 20 legs, all poised for the grand play off final leg and maybe even extra time or so we thought........... The duellists psyched themselves...an expectant murmur went through the crowd...breath was bated...a tenseness befell the alley...and then Paul tossed his cheese............A bridge !! which he then compounded to make into a five, not the ideal way to set a final end. It nevertheless took some nerves of steel from Guy not to turn his reply into a five as well. He managed to win the leg and the match with a four and is now through to the final.
The world of London Skittles was agog at the news that leaked out after 25 years that Paul Robinson, one of the most experienced players in the business had never taken the bias of the cheese into account. One of the fundamental instructions to all novice players has always been to make them aware of the bias in the cheese and how to use it to make certain shots, especially those requiring a closed or vertical cheese.
That Paul was unaware of this fact must cast serious doubts on the instructions he received from his instructors all those years ago. Furthermore it must, in the light of him suddenly getting a -3 score make us all reflect upon what scores he could have been getting for all these years had he known about bias.
Guy
Old Dog, New Tricks
25/02/2004
Those who know yours truly, Paul Robinson, will be aware that I have played this remarkable game for the last quarter century. In my early days, I used to hear about how to use the cheese's bias, but I didn't take much notice. For as long as I can remember I've thrown a symmetrical cheese - in other words it has no bias. Just recently though, I've started playing with the "club cheese", which does have a bias - a flat side and a curvy side. An old dog like me doesn't ask for advice, so I've been throwing it the way it feels most comfortable, with the flat side against my palm. Last night, though, I heard a newcomer being advised to throw the cheese with the curvy side against the palm. WHOOOAAAHH, I say, what's this? I spose I'd better try throwing it the right way. I wasn't expecting much success though - just thought I'd give it a try, nothing to lose after all. What happens? I not only trounce Steve Hutchinson 5-0, I go three under, a bookable score, my cherished ambition for the past seven years. Now - back to the competition.
At the AGM, we decided to finish off the 2002 competitions, which were cut short by the flood in August 2002. So this Tuesday and - if I may put on my Match Secretary's hat - just before the cut-off date, Pete played Tom in the second round of the Handicap Competition. If Tom was saving himself to be at his peak, he got the timing just right. There isn't much more to say about the match, Tom led from start to finish. Pete, as he pointed out, played a lot closer to his average than Tom did, but he was frequently missing easy shots - the kind of thing you can't afford to do in a competition. In the end Tom won 53-36 after eighteen legs.
And the point of my preamble? Well, my three under, 26 years in the making - that was the level Tom played at. Not over seven legs but eighteen - and in a competition. Well done Tom.
Tuesday evening saw the beginning of a new skittles dynasty, when Guy Tunnicliffe's son, Ellis,
made an appearance. He and his mate Ralph played the second game of the evening and it has to be said
the number five featured prominently in the scoreline, as it did when any of us were novices. In the
middle of it all though, out of the blue, Ellis threw a corker of an eight-pin. This follows another debut
eight-pin on Saturday from Michael Chapman, a member of the film crew who will shortly be filming a scene
in the alley for a crime mystery film. Floorer and Eight-Pin Chart
The high standard of play since the alley reopened is continuing. On Tuesday night we had two floorers
and twenty eight-pins between us. Here's one of each on video, together with a decidedly unusual shot ... Video Clips - 17th February 2004
And here's one from 14th February ... Video Clip - Guy's Floorer
It's Good To Be Back
04/02/2004
The long-awaited 2004 season is going well at the Freemasons'. The Grand Reopening is being planned, there are floorers and eight-pins aplenty and the alley looks likely to feature in a crime mystery film (which will surely become a cult classic?).
On the subject of floorers and eight-pins, follow the links below for the stats and for video clips of some of them being got:
Apparently "skittling" has acquired a novel meaning in the US of A. The kids over there have discovered that they can get a high from certain medicines sold as cough and cold remedies. The pills look like Skittles sweets, hence, "skittling".
At Hampstead, the new frame is continuing to play well. At least, that's the perception. As when we acquired some authentic pins four years ago, there's wild talk of a return to the high-scoring days of the 1930's. Is it the frame or are the players benefiting from the 18 month rest? I don't know, but in this game on 17th January, Steve Barnes's two under performance didn't cut the mustard:
Guy Tunnicliffe
2
3
3
2*
2
2*
2*
Steve Barnes
4
4
2
2*
2*
3
2*
There's been a dearth of news about actual skittling on this site for a while. Now that play has resumed at Hampstead, I'll set about remedying that. Not that there's been a lack of enthusiastic skittling at Norbury, it's just that I've been remiss in reporting it. Barry Collins, now a seasoned skittle player, recently observed that the latest news item described himself and Phil Day, the club secretary, as "newcomers".
Reopening
15/01/2004
The new frame has been completed and thanks must be given to:
James for his craftsmanship and desire to play again.
Tom for coming up with the readies when they were needed for timber right at the beginning of the process.
Peter for his willingness to discuss all the problems as they arose.
Mark as treasurer for ensuring James got paid
and especially to
Sarah and Troy for their continuing support even when nothing was happening.
To everyone that ensured our continuing presence within the Freemasons Arms even without the pleasure of a game.
See you at the AGM on 27th Jan at 7.00 pm when we will no doubt discuss its formal opening and allowing the public to play again.
Frank G. de Betham Hart 1918-2003
09/01/2004
There are not many people who can claim to have seen Frank
G. de B Hart play skittles.
His achievements however were recorded by the press of the
day, most notably in ‘Punch’ magazine, which highlighted his 1948 London
Championship match against Arthur Lambert.
The article was written by A.P.Herbert, who like Frank
achieved success in many areas of life including skittles, although Alan would
have been the first to admit that he was not in the same league as Frank.
Here is an extract from the article in which Frank was
described as a ‘tiger’ for his ability to come back from being a frame down in
the game to win with a ‘floorer’.
The opening paragraph could have been written for the back
page of almost any newspaper during 2003.
Dehumidifying Tonight
01/07/2003
The late arrival on the scene of floorers - no, no, the other type - those that lay floors, some considerable time after the August floods has ironically had the effect of temporally preventing James and his crew from laying the new alley run and frame. One step forwards and two steps back, so I definitely do not want to give a proposed opening date. Dehumidifiers have been installed to suck all the moisture out of the basement. Sadly it still seems as though vast amounts of wet stuff are still entering the basement probably from the kitchen area.
The floors once lifted revealed no dead bodies but the smell was so rank it caused milk to curdle and beer to taste like vinegar - no change there then.
Springtime for Skittlers
01/05/2003
The past months have been dark days for the game of London Skittles with the alley at the Freeemasons Arms closed. Now though, with the first green shoots of spring pushing their way through, life is coming back to skittles (ooh, I should have been a poet).
At the Freemasons, the wood is soon being delivered for re-laying the run and rebuilding the frame which were damaged in the flood. Every skittle club should have a resident carpenter and we have James, who is going to be doing the work. What's more, Guy tells me he is getting a quarter-size end-grain frame made up for evaluation purposes. So, all being well, our next frame will be constructed like a butcher's block and give us many years of service. Another long-running problem in the alley has been resolved; three new non-flickering lights have been installed. All we need now is for the pub to fix the flooring and we'll be away.
Things are looking up at Norbury too. There are a number of new recruits. Phil Day, a petanque player, has embraced skittles as well as a result of finding this website and is now club secretary. Two more, Barry and Steve, are tenpin bowlers but have now widened their horizons.
Skittles has traditionally been a winter game and it is only recently that London Skittle clubs have played all year round in the interests of "maintaining a presence". At Norbury, skittles usually gives way to bowls in the summer, but this year the Hampstead exiles and the new Norbury recruits are carrying on. In fact, Barry is organising an extra evening's play just for practice. It's a long time since we've seen enthusiasm of this order.
The Norbury Skittle Club are actively seeking new members. This week, the sports editor and a photgrapher from the Croydon Advertiser joined us in the alley and I understand an article is appearing in this week's edition.
A Response From Vintage Inns
08/03/2003
The latest news about the refurbishment and reopening of the alley is encouraging, but frustratingly there is still no timescale. As well as the flood damage, the old problem with flickering lights, which we thought solved, has returned to haunt us.
Vintage Inns, who run the Freemasons Arms, have now contacted club secretary Guy Tunnicliffe following a letter from the club on 3rd February to the Regional Business Manager, Jeff Buck.
Guy says "[Vintage Inns] want the alley refurbished as soon as possible and are willing to undertake a low cost insurance option to ensure this happens. As I understand their offer they will redecorate, refloor and refurnish the alley. As they have no specific knowledge of the frame or the run they have asked that we carry out whatever repairs are needed in these areas. They have been notified that before any of this can happen the lighting needs to be repaired and I have requested that the spot lighting be put back in place. I am also clarifying whether they are going to pick up any costs we incur repairing the frame."
"So there you have it. Some progress but dependent upon lighting, and still no particular date set for this to happen, but as I am now able to contact Jeff Buck directly hopefully things will start moving."
London Skittles lives on in Norbury. Although the traditional NatWesters had found other pursuits this week, an excellent evening's skittles was had this Tuesday. Alan and Richard represented the Bank's Old Guard, Paul and Steve H, as ever, were the Freemasons' Arms stalwarts, while Barry and Phil were the new blood. Barry, playing for the second time, throws a very fast cheese. Phil made his first appearance, having read about the Norbury alley on this website. It's good that some promising and enthusiastic new players are appearing.
The frame was treated with linseed oil a couple of weeks ago, courtesy of Gordon Denne (I gather it was a treat too; it hadn't been oiled for a number of years). It seems to me that the frame is playing much better now, but I suppose it's a subjective judgement - particularly as I got my third floorer in as many visits this week. Steve, whose play is slowly recovering with his tibia (or fibia was it?), got two eight-pins.
In the game of 21s at the end of the evening, the 'experts' had clearly had enough and put in very lack-lustre performances. Barry on the other hand went through to a play-off against the gainfully unemployed Richard (who took time off his course homework for the odd chuck). Sadly for those of us rooting for the underdog, Richard won the money after two throws by a margin of one pin.
Phil took some pictures during the evening. If they don't appear below, click "Read More" to see them.
The Mind Googles
20/01/2003
With the alley out of action, there's a dearth of real news, so I'm getting desperate.
I was looking at the Google web site's Zeitgeist page and found that London was the 10th most popular destination searched for on Google in 2002. Just for a laugh I clicked the link to do a Google search on "London"...
Sure-Footed Start to the New Year
15/01/2003
London Skittles lives on south of the river. Hutchinson and Robinson kept the flag flying for Hampstead at the Norbury alley last night.
Steve Hutchinson was making his first appearance since his unfortunate accident last year when he broke either his tib or his fib (never could remember the difference). He made a cautious start getting consistent fives with much hobbling and wincing - how much of it theatrical, I'm not sure.
This first game was against Alan Winchester. Winch was rumoured to have contrived this pairing in order to pull off a win against the weakened champ. For all that though, Steve's game improved enough - even over the five legs played at Norbury - to defeat Alan.
Those who made the trek to Norbury in the autumn will be pleased to hear that the heating is now working - so no more skittling in overcoats. There's no excuse now except for the trials and tribulations of journeying south of the river, so I hope we'll see some more Hampstead skittlers playing in the coming weeks.
Oh and Hutch's game continued to improve such that he won the 21's at the end of the evening.
Freemasons in Exile
09/10/2002
There's still no news concerning the state of the Freemasons' alley. So while our alley is indisposed, our colleagues in Norbury have kindly issued an open invitation to play at their gaff.
Five intrepid Freemasons (Guy, Paul, Ian Mac and Steves H&B) made the trek south of the river to satisfy their repressed longing for a chuck. The story was that the bank club at Norbury haven't played a game of skittles since last Christmas. We started to suspect it was something of a tall story. Alan Winchester, not previously known for avoiding fives, played one over to beat Steve H over five legs. Guy was defeated by Gordon in similar fashion.
Maybe it was just a case of getting used to the alley. Later in the evening, the Hampstead crew started to improve, particularly after the arrival of Steve Barnes, who usually does well on the Norbury frame. Still, it wasn't a match, though whether a bunch of skittlers from different clubs can ever get together for a purely friendly game is a moot point. It was a good evening though, we've left our cheeses there but hopefully it won't be too long before we bring them back to Hampstead.
Talking of Freemasons in Exile, anyone recognise this geezer? Click here
Lionel
15/09/2002
As many of you know Lionel Trippett died on the evening of 31st July at The Royal Free Hospital after a long period of illness. The cause of death was heart disease.
Lionel and I came across each other in 1966 when we met at Durham University. He was a mature student on a degree course and I was an immature student on a Teacher Training course, and after a few years of Balls and parties, as well as poetry readings in the Union, we went our separate ways or so I thought.
Alley Flooded
07/08/2002
As a result of the storms on 7th August, the alley has been flooded to a depth of about three feet. It seems likely that it will be out of commission for a long time.
If anybody has any updates on the situation or suggestions about what the hell we can do on Tuesday nights please post them here.
Naked Redhead Stops Play
06/08/2002
Not many things will stop a game of skittles which is in progress. When Steve H returned from the Gents and happened to mention that he had met a naked redhead coming out of the Ladies, play continued undisturbed. Steve, who was neither playing or sticking, had nothing better to do and decided to investigate further. Seconds later he reappeared from the direction of the garden imploring us "Come on, you've got to see this!". With much grumbling, play was suspended and all of us trooped outside. Out in the garden, there was indeed a rather fetching young woman, whether a natural redhead or not we never established, performing a striptease for some lucky customer. It was an eerie scene, this mostly silent performance in a dark beer-garden and when it was all over and the strippergram girl back in her clothes, we all trooped back in and play continued.
Pairs Resolved
02/07/2002
Regular readers will remember that last week’s report ended on a cliff-hanger. Guy and Steve B had played an impressive first round in the Pairs Competition. Paul and Steve H had won through in a first round replay to join them in the final. But by then time had run out (you can almost hear the dooff, dooff, dooff of the EastEnders theme tune) and the spectators were left in suspense for a week waiting for the crucial match.
Pairs Unresolved
25/06/2002
It was a brave attempt to complete the annual Field House Cup competition for pairs in a single evening, but predictably it wasn’t to be. Not, though, for the expected reason that you wouldn’t be able to get all ten entrants together at the same time for love nor money. True, it wasn’t looking hopeful on that front at 8:20 when only one complete pair and four halves had arrived. There was dark talk of the state of inebriation of at least one member when reminded of the impending competition on the previous Saturday. Soon, however, there was a quorum and play commenced.
Hutch by a Whisker
14/05/2002
There was another gritty Page Cup match tonight between those old rivals Steve Hutchinson and Tom Lederer. It was close all the way through, but Tom always seemed to have the edge. Going into the 21st leg, Tom led 5-4. Steve set a three, so that Tom needed a three to tie the leg and win the match. Tom was left with the Rooks to get with his third shot. As he took the shot, though, he was left to stare at the frame as the leading pin went one side of the back pin and the cheese went the other. So the match went to a “Golden Cheese” play-off. Tom set a respectable three but Steve, choosing his moment, replied with an eight-pin, for a 6-5 win.
Steve H is also leading the league table, in contrast to last year when he was never really in with a shout. He has also wrested the top position in the “Predicted Positions” chart from Peter Greene, who until last Saturday was the star of the competition. The two of them played a league match on Saturday, which Steve won, Pete playing a disgraceful seven under. Still it says something for his previous form that Pete still has the best average, 0.67 over, in the competition overall.
Last Friday meanwhile, we had a group booking from (George Martin's) Air Studios, who filled the alley with over 30 people. It wasn’t our idea of skittles I know, but they played four teams of seven, scoring Western Skittles style. A good time appeared to have been had by all, including the four members of Coldplay who had been recording that day.
A Packed Alley
27/04/2002
In contrast to last Tuesday, almost the entire club membership turned out tonight. Whether it was to watch Ian McL and Paul slog it out in the Handicap Competition, I don't know. I doubt it, as it meant everybody else was lucky to get more than a game each. There were nine playing members and very welcome social calls from Lionel Trippett and Skye Ferrante - although Skye did join in the game of killer at the end of the evening.
The players in the competition were evenly matched, both with a handicap of two. Ian had a blistering start and was three under at the end of the first seven legs. On the other hand I (he says, slipping almost imperceptibly into the first person) had a disastrous start. I was eight points down after six legs, but retrieved the situation a bit with a decidedly jammy eight-pin in the seventh.
From then on Ian's fortunes were reversed and every opening pin seemed to leave him a bridge. At the end of the second seven, with the aid of another eight pin and somewhat to my amazement, I had pulled back to be only one behind. Neither of us distinguished ourselves in the third seven and we ended up tied on an unremarkable 39 points.
The agony continued in the play-off which went to three ends. Finally, I got my only ordinary two of the match in reply to Ian's three. So not without a great big dollop of luck, I go through to the semis. And Ian, whatever happened to your game afterwards, congratulations on that three under in the first seven.
Among the veritable throng of players in the alley was our new member, Luke, who the Tuesday regulars hadn't met before. He made a name for himself by getting two eight-pins. The first was in the last leg of a match in which he ended up only one over. The second, as so often happens, was when he was really up against it in a game of killer, following Guy and needing seven.
The league competition continues to tick over. Steve H beat Mark in the last end of a gritty match. At the start of the evening, a whole raft of players were on a handicap of two. Following their match, Mark and Steve both go down to one, Paul and Ian after theirs both go up to three, all of which is a lot more typical.
For anyone following the saga of the alley lights, apparently the electricity company have been spotted locally, working over a hole in the ground with smoke and sparks issuing from it. Meanwhile our lights are, for the moment anyway, flicker-free.
Blinded by the Light
20/04/2002
Progress at last in the mystery of the blinking fluorescent tubes: Eastern Electricity has confirmed that it is a power supply problem. Apparently the lighting circuit in the alley is only receiving 204 volts instead of the traditional 240. As a temporary expedient (pending the installation of a new substation?) a pair of theatrical spotlights was rigged up. Apart from dazzling the stickers, this arrangement worked fine. Mind you, it's probably just as well we postponed the Individual Championships.
Nine league matches (out of 56) have been played so far. As it's mid-April already, we need to get a bit of a move on. There are enough results in now to show the predicted positions at year end. I feel a bit like Peter Snow making a prediction of the general election results based on the returns from Sunderland South, but it makes interesting reading.
Peter Greene goes from strength to strength. Having played a -4 game in the league two weeks ago, last week he played -3 in a league match against Guy. Guy was on form too with -2 and Pete was desperately unlucky only to get a tie out of it.
Hard luck too for James Parry-Jones last Saturday, when he took his Handicap Competition match against Steve Barnes to a sudden death play-off. Both players were playing below par, but Steve won the match with an eight-pin in that deciding 22nd leg.
There was no play tonight due to yet more trouble with the fluorescent lights, which turned the alley into something resembling a silent disco. Unfortunately it was the night chosen for a visit by Andrew Forson, who has generously put some skittles trophies won by his late uncle on permanent loan to the club. Hopefully he was able to get some idea of the game played by his uncle about seventy years ago - despite the alternating gloom and epilepsy-inducing flashes of light - and will be able to return on a more auspicious occasion.
Not too much to report of late, unless it's the heartbreak in the alley this week at news of the departure of the lovely Louise from the Freemasons' Arms. On the skittles front though, Peter Greene played a magnificent game tonight, with a personal best of four under. Unfortunately he did it against me in a league match, trouncing me 6-0.
25 Year Novitiate Completed
19/03/2002
We haven't held a Novices Competition since about 1993 because, well, we haven't had enough novices. A novice is defined as any member who hasn't won an individual trophy at any club. This year we decided to go ahead anyway with four qualifying entrants. The four entrants were to have been Ian Cole, Peter Greene, James Parry-Jones and, stretching the definition of a novice to the limits of credulity, Paul Robinson. Unfortunately, Ian Cole was ill and had to drop out. Into the breach stepped Andrew Merlino, the friend of James who took the money in the 21s on his first visit last week.
Whereas the other competitions are played over 21 legs, the Novices is played over fourteen. With only four players, everyone went straight into the semi-finals and the first was between James and Pete. It has to be said that Pete had a disastrous start, ending up six over after the first seven legs. James was only one over at this stage and deservedly in the lead 4-1. Things improved for Pete in the second half, though this was as much to do with a plummet in James' play as an impovement in Pete's. They went into the final leg tied 5-5. Pete took the middle out of his leave and had to step out for four. James looked OK for three but when he went for "Pete's pair" he missed and so took four as well. In the play-off, James was left an easy pair after his opening shot. The spectators held their breath as he missed the leading pin but took the other. He had just nicked a dead, however, which rolled round and took the leading pin. Against James' two, Pete could only manage a three and the "people's favourite" took the match.
Next up were two novices with 25 years playing experience between them - and 24 years 51 weeks of it was Paul's. If the hoary old novice can revert to the first person for a moment, I thought it was a bit unfair, putting Andrew's single evening of skittling expertise up against my quarter century. It wasn't all that one-sided though and when he started getting the odd three, I started to feel I was getting too many fours for comfort. Despite a valiant game from Andrew, it was 6-2 to Paul after ten-and-a-half legs.
The final between James and Paul was a nail-biter. James made a disappointing start with a four, but Paul managed to get under it with a five. There was then a string of three twos from yours truly, including an eight-pin. It was 4-2 to Paul at the end of the first seven. James started the second half in magnificent style with a floorer - but by the tenth frame was 6-3 down. It was then that James made his comeback. With the aid of two eight-pins late in the game, he narrowed the lead down to 6-5 going into the final leg. I set three leaving James needing at least a two to take it to 6-6. Given that he'd got a floorer and two eight-pins in the six preceding frames, this was all too possible. It wasn't to be though, the leg was tied and the match went to Paul - by, it has to be said, a whisker.
So, with the presentation of the rather wonderful Novices Bowl, ended the longest skittles apprenticeship in history. Let's hope that over the coming months we get some more new players so we can have a bigger and better Novices Competition next year.
League Starts
12/03/2002
At last the head of steam built up to a sufficient level tonight to get the league competition started. Three matches were played and five of the eight declared entrants have now played. Apparently Tom hasn’t signed up on the grounds that the rules aren’t displayed on the notice board (they are), so currently we have eight declared entrants. Tom has signed up for the Handicap Competition though. He had a magnificent game against Ian Cole on Saturday after his less than impressive recent form. I wasn’t present, unfortunately, but the scoreline shows that he was 1.65 under and threw three eight pins. Whilst Tom was 4.65 under his handicap, Ian was 3.65 over his and so sadly, for those of us who always side with the underdog, he was beaten 50-29 after seventeen legs.
Back to Tuesday night though and I know James won’t forgive me if I don’t mention his bridge. Yep, no question, no use of the deads, without the aid of a safety net, James Parry-Jones got an honest-to-goodness London Bridge. He got two eight-pins in the same match, but it was the bridge that had him dancing in the alley. Also worthy of mention is the fact that James’ friend Andrew, who was on his first visit to the alley, won the 21s. He had the traditional 18/22 handicap and got the 18 with 7-5-6.
No Whitewash For Cole This Time
26/02/2002
Another match in the Page Cup was played tonight. It was a replay of the first round game in 2000 between Peter Greene and Ian Cole. The memory of that encounter was still fresh in Ian’s mind – he was whitewashed 10-0. This time he was determined to avoid such an ignominious outcome and proceeded to do so by winning the third leg. In fact, by the eighth leg the game was tied three-all – no mean feat for Ian when there’s four points difference in handicaps. Sadly for those of us cheering for the underdog, once Pete achieved a measure of consistency in threes, Ian was unable to match him and was rapidly overtaken. By the 15th leg, Pete was leading 9-3 and when the next leg was tied, it was all over for Ian.
Today it turned cold in the middle of a very mild winter. Whether it was the temperature affecting the play of the frame or not I don't know, but from the start of play everyone seemed to be leaving bridges (see London Bridge in the Glossary). It didn't bode well, therefore, for the first round Page Cup match between the two most longstanding club members Ian McLaren and yours truly, Paul Robinson. I would certainly like to draw a veil over my performance. In fact, having taken the score sheet away to post it on the website, I was severely tempted to chuck it in a skip on the way home instead. Whilst the game was unremarkable and both players kept leaving bridges, Ian had no trouble establishing an unchallenged lead. Standing out like a beacon on the score sheet was Ian’s excellent floorer in the third leg. Suffice it to say that the match was over by the 17th leg, Ian winning 9-3. Ian now meets Guy in the next round.
It was Ian’s evening. He won the game of 21s as well, during which he got a second floorer. Ian now has four floorers so far this year, equalling his best-ever total for a whole year.
The club competitions have got off to a start and a cracking start it was too. There are ten entrants to each knockout competition this year, so there are only two first round matches. The first of the two to be played in the Handicap Competition was between Guy Tunnicliffe and Steve Hutchinson. Some may think their handicaps (both two) were on the generous side and they both showed their true form tonight.
It was a gritty match, with the lead passing from one to the other all the way through. At the start of the final seven, Steve threw a splendid floorer to take him from one behind to two in front. As he maintained this lead over the next four legs, the atmosphere became increasingly tense. Steve Barnes arrived at about this time and must have felt like he'd just crashed through the doors of the Reading Room of the British Library. There was a muted "Evening, Steve" and a hush descended again. Steve Hutchinson, meanwhile, let his game slip at just the wrong moment, getting a four in the 19th and 20th legs and effectively losing his lead. Guy, seizing the moment, got an eight-pin in reply, to reverse the situation and enter the final leg two points in the lead himself. There was no stopping him now and he set a two, leaving Steve needing a floorer to tie the match. Steve had no second floorer to pull out of the bag and Guy won the match 55-52. This remarkable scoreline makes it the highest-scoring match in the last three years of the competition.
Having been delayed by problems with the lights, the final of the Page Cup was played last Saturday. The previous Saturday, Guy and Tom had played their outstanding match in the 2001 League. Guy won, putting himself indisputably ahead of Steve Barnes and therefore unassailable as league champion. Now he had to beat Steve in the Page.
The game started off evenly enough, but Steve was throwing mostly threes with, unfortunately, the odd five. With Guy throwing eight-pins left, right and centre, Steve started falling rapidly behind. At 7-2 after 12 it looked like it was going all Guy's way, but here Steve started to make a comeback. There was a wonderful 16th frame when Steve set a floorer and Guy replied with an eight-pin. The next two legs were tied, so that when Guy set a three in the 19th, Steve needed a two to stay in the game. This he did with a brilliant Ife shot. Then it all went wrong on the next shot when he missed the front pin. Nevertheless he cleared up well for three. Guy replied with two though, to take the match.
Steve was a bit unlucky with his opening shots. There were lots of threes that looked like they were going to be twos and tricky clear-up shots that nearly worked. With an average of -0.35 though, it was undoubtedly Guy's match. Congratulations to him on his double and better luck this year everyone else.
Meanwhile this Tuesday, Mark came roaring up the Floorer Chart with the two floorers he got in an end-of-evening game of killer.
Pairs Final Cliffhanger
12/01/2002
The new year's play is getting underway, although the competition matches being played are last year's. Some intrepid skittlers turned out on New Year's Day. It's just as well there were only three of us, as the pub closed at 9pm. Nevertheless in the one hour available for play, James got three eight-pins - compared to his total of 16 for the whole of 2001.
The next Tuesday was more successful. There was an impressive match between Guy Tunnicliffe and Steve Hutchinson during which they tied on floorers. I can't remember the last time I saw that happen. Come to think of it I didn't see it this time, as I was only twenty minutes early, rather than the thirty which seems to be obligatory for the first game these days.
This Saturday was the final of the Field House Cup - the pairs competition. There was a question mark over the match right up to the last minute. Remarkably, all the players had arrived by six o'clock - but the fluorescent lights were playing up again. We've changed the tube, changed the starter and an electrician has been in. This time the light over the frame was flashing once it had warmed up. All it needed was a Bee Gees soundtrack to complete the disco atmosphere. However, we found this could be solved by turning off the light for a while every time it started flashing. So the match was interrupted every few frames and the alley plunged into darkness while the lights recuperated.
For those who have forgotten, the first round matches were played in November. The aim in the first round was to set a score, the highest two going forward to the final. Four pairs played their matches; Mark and James scored 29, the other three pairs each got 27. There was a last minute entry, though, from Tom and Tina Lederer (although the eagerly awaited Tina turned out to be none other than Ian McLaren - not even in a skirt). They scored 31, giving us an unambiguous line-up for the final.
The final itself got off to a fine start with Mark getting an eight-pin followed by a floorer from Ian. Mark and James had a handicap advantage of four and they stayed ahead for most of the match. Tom briefly snatched the lead in the eighth leg with an eight-pin, but Mark got one himself in the next leg to take it back. They slipped a bit in the last two legs though and the match was tied at the end of fourteen legs.
So there followed what should have been a sudden death play-off, although in the light of subsequent events it was more of a lingering death. The teams battled on. To the mounting incredulity of all and the increasing chagrin of the stickers, each leg ended in a tie. Finally, in the nineteenth leg of this fourteen leg match, Tom cracked. He was chasing a three - he missed an easy pair, leaving Ian the thirteen and fourpenny shot to tie. Ian's valiant attempt failed and after this long struggle, Mark and James triumphed.
Both pairs played a great game and commiserations to Tom and Ian. Playing scratch over the extra five legs, I suppose Tom and Ian should have taken it, as the stronger team on paper. So congratulations to Mark and James on a memorable victory.
Most of the skittle club membership turned out for the Handicap Competition Final between Tom Lederer and Mark Fawke. Skye Ferrante flew in from New York and Steve Hutchinson braved the rigours of South West Trains to come in from the wilds of Kent. (South West Trains? Can that be right? I think it's what he said.) They weren't to be disappointed either - it was a nail-biting finish.
Tom, perhaps surprisingly, had a two point handicap advantage over Mark. He didn't seem to need it though. After the first seven legs, despite Mark's eight-pin in the fourth leg, Tom was leading 18-12. Mark didn't really capitalise on Tom's string of fours in the middle of the game either. In the fifteenth leg, with the handicaps added in, Mark was trailing with 25 to Tom's 34. It was then that Mark staged his comeback - with a floorer. The next three legs were evenly matched though, so that with only two legs to go Mark was still six points behind.
Hopeless, you might think, but Mark pulled out the stops and threw an eight-pin. Tom could only manage a four in reply; Mark had clawed back three points - now he needed the other three. Whether the pressure got to Tom I don't know, but he chose the next crucial frame to get his only five of the match. Mark now needed another eight-pin to win outright. His first throw left the fender. He needed these for a tie. A gettable shot, of course, but not easy, especially with the outcome of the competition hanging on it. Mark thrives on adrenalin though and took the fender with a brilliant shot.
So now it was down to a sudden death play-off. Mark set a three. Tom's opening shot in reply left him little alternative but to play for the tie. So it went to another leg. This time Tom left the diamond four. He didn't let the pressure get to him and took the diamond as clean as a whistle. Mark was now again in the position of needing an eight-pin to win or two to tie. Unfortunately for him, his opening shot resulted in a totally ungettable leave. To the disappointment of the (strictly impartial) spectators who had watched him claw his way back so magnificently, Mark conceded the match.
So congratulations to Tom who played some outstanding games on his road to the final and heartfelt commiserations to Mark. Again, the other victor in this competition has been our handicapping system. Both players ended the 21 legs of the final exactly on par with 42 points.
There was a less-than-huge turnout for this year's Christmas Handicap. As Guy pointed out in the presentation, the tradition goes back to the Christmas Cup described by A P Herbert in "The Water Gypsies". This year however only seven of us competed.
A potential eight entrant came through the door part-way through a match though. He turned out to be a somewhat confused individual who'd walked in off the street. Having engaged in some befuddled conversation, ponced a cigarette and attempted to "borrow" 50p, he left again. He did leave behind a tin of beef curry or something. It was suggested this could be awarded as a booby prize... Rumours that Tom had sent him down to put the opposition off proved unfounded.
There was enough "putting off" from the fluorescent lights, which have a habit of going off for a few minutes, flickering for a few seconds and then coming back on again. We're thinking of putting them in for the Turner Prize next year.
As for the competition itself, there was a first round of match point games. The players with the two highest scores then played in the final. After the first round the scores were:
Mark Fawke
18
Paul Robinson
17
Steve Barnes
16
Ian McLaren
16
Ian Cole
13
Tom Lederer
13
Guy Tunnicliffe
12
In the final, Paul and Mark played a steady game, although both disgraced themselves with a five. Paul's generous handicap of four kept him ahead though. On the penultimate leg, Mark threw it wide open with an eight-pin. Paul, though, kept throwing threes leaving Mark needing an eight-pin to stay in the match. Mark can usually rise to the occasion when faced with this sort of challenge, but not this time and Paul won 15-13.
The championships this year were held at the former National Westminster Sports Club in Norbury. The facilities are now managed by PowerLeague, although events cast doubt on the term "manage". Competitors arrived to find football players milling about in the car park, many in a state of undress and the intruder alarm going off. It transpired that the site manager hadn't turned up and the building had remained locked up since 9am. As there was some hope of a relief manager arriving, Bill Pearce stayed behind armed with a mobile phone while the rest of us decamped to Wetherspoons. Norbury newcomer Gordon Denne, meanwhile, went home. About halfway down an excellent pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord (£1.55 a pint), Bill phoned to say the building was open.
So, after a delay of an hour, the championships were on. There were nine players present, so one preliminary match was required - or two if Gordon returned. The first match was drawn while attempts were made to contact him at home.
The first match between Ian McLaren and Steve Barnes set a high standard for the rest to meet. (Unfortunately, nobody did. This turned out to be the highest scoring match of the day.) The Norbury players, who have been short on practice lately, started to turn a funny colour. Ian had an early floorer, while Steve, who hadn't played at this alley for two years, showed immediate mastery of the frame. There was still a tie in it for Ian on the final leg, but he lost it and Steve went through.
A second preliminary match was only required because Gordon returned. This turned out to be a popular move, because two of the leading players, Guy Tunnicliffe and Steve Hutchinson were drawn against each other. It was a tight game which ended 2-2 after seven legs. There was therefore a sudden death play-off which Steve won with an opportune eight-pin.
The second round began with a match between Paul Robinson and Tom Lederer. Both players took a while getting accustomed to the frame. After four legs of mostly fours, Tom was leading 1-0. Both then improved, Paul to threes but Tom to twos - and Tom won the game 3-0.
The next match, the first involving a Norbury player, was between Steve Barnes and Richard Matthews. Richard was returning to the game after a couple of years away and discovered that it's not like riding a bike. Steve was four ahead after five legs. Richard took the sixth, but it was too late and Steve won 4-1. Similarly the other Steve found it easy going against Norbury club captain Alan Winchester, securing the game 4-0 after four legs.
The last quarter-final was an all-Norbury match between star player Terry Davies and newcomer Gordon Denne. Despite most of the assembled company rooting for the underdog, Terry won easily.
The stage was now set for the semi-finals, which were played over nine legs. The first was between Steve Barnes and Norbury's Great White Hope, Terry Davies. It was a wonderful game, but Terry's bad luck and occasional lapses left him 2-0 down after four legs. The worst of Terry's bad luck was his valiant attempt at the so-called six-and-eightpenny shot. He sent the winger zinging across the frame, it struck the other pin but the cheers were cut short when it stubbornly refused to fall over. Going into the seventh leg, Terry needed to win the three remaining legs to tie. Maybe it was the pressure - he flunked it with a five and Steve went on to win 4-2.
The other semi-final was the ultimate needle match, Steve Hutchinson against Tom Lederer. It all seemed to be going Steve's way at first. After the fifth leg, which Steve won with an eight-pin, he was 3-0 up. Tom then staged a comeback, taking the next two legs. In the penultimate leg, he set a four. Steve, needing a three to secure the match, was left with the bridge after his opening shot. Steve finds it hard to resist a difficult shot, but prudence prevailed and he stepped out for four. In the ninth leg Steve set another four and Tom, needing to win the leg, did so with a three. Thus for the second time in the championship there was a sudden death play-off, which Steve won replying with a three to Tom's four.
So it was an all-Hampstead, not to mention all-Steve final. This was played over eleven legs. Barnes clearly likes the way the Norbury frame plays and he had been looking good from the start. To prove the point, in the first leg he replied to Hutch's three with a floorer, the second of the day. Barnes continued relentlessly, apart from a disastrous third leg. Here, his opening shot took only two pins at the back and his second left the bridge, meaning inevitably a five. In the fourth leg, Hutch needed the thirteen-and-fourpenny shot to tie Barnes' two. Unfortunately for him, his shot was too good and he sent the winger whizzing in front of the target pin. Going into the ninth, Hutch needed to win the remaining legs to tie the match. Like Terry Davies before him, he succumbed to the pressure and got a five, leaving an easy win for Barnes. The final score was 5-2 and a well-deserved win for Steve Barnes, who had looked like a winner from the start.
Although the number of competitors remained the same as last year, there were players from both clubs this time in contrast to last year's Hampstead only event. So roll on next year and hopefully an even bigger and better competition.
The Field House Cup (Pairs Competition) is finally under way this year. The idea in the first round is merely to set a score. On Saturday 10th November Guy Tunnicliffe and Steve Barnes played Mark Fawke and James Parry-Jones. The results show that Mark and James played to their handicap while Guy and Steve played rather worse than theirs. A further match was played on Tuesday 13th between Paul Robinson and Steve Hutchinson and Peter Greene and Ian Cole.
Due either to mediocre play or the excellence of the handicap system, as you choose, the decidedly average outcome so far is as follows:
Mark Fawke / James Parry-Jones
29
Steve Barnes / Guy Tunnicliffe
27
Paul Robinson / Steve Hutchinson
27
Peter Greene / Ian Cole
27
As it stands therefore, there is a three way play-off for the right to play Mark and James in the final. All this could be upset though, by the lovely Tina Lederer. A late entry appeared on the club noticeboard in the names of Tom and Tina Lederer. The club has been intrigued ever since by the identity of the enigmatic Tina. Tom has now revealed that this was just a delaying tactic while he courted long lost players such as Bill Hansen or possibly more recent sightings such as Ivar Soon or Bill Collins. Just hope one of them has got a little black dress secreted in the wardrobe.
After Tuesday's match and once the pressure was off, Paul and Steve played a blinder of a game. They discovered afterwards that if they had played as well in the pairs as they did against each other, they would have scored 42 rather than 27, knocking all the other scores into the proverbial cocked hat.
There was an interesting incident on Tuesday which will have us scouring the rule books. It concerns the situation where a pin is touched by the cheese and starts to fall, but the cheese comes to rest with the pin leaning against it. When the cheese is removed, the pin falls over. Has the pin been validly knocked over? This was a crucial question when Guy, on his first shot, knocked over eight pins and the ninth pin was left leaning against the cheese. Does it count as a floorer? I've recorded it as such on the floorer chart, but perhaps someone should table a motion at the AGM. (No Tom, that was a joke).
As well as the pairs match last Saturday, Guy played Tom Lederer in the semi-finals of the Page Cup. Sadly I wasn't there to see it, so I can't give a report on the match but the scores speak for themselves. Tom had a perfectly respectable game playing better than level threes, but he was beaten in 17 legs. Guy's average was 4.12 under and his tally included a floorer and four eight-pins. Having said that, Tom started off very much on terms and the match was tied after ten legs. It was only then that things turned round and Guy won six out of the remaining seven legs. Guy now meets Steve Barnes in the final.
Last Thursday we played a friendly match against the National Westminster Bank side in Norbury. Yes, there is another London Skittles team in existence! There was some debate about whether it had been three or four years since we last played a match. A quick search of this website shows that it was less than two years ago. There is a link to the scores below, but these are less important than keeping competitive play alive, renewing our acquaintance with our friends at Norbury and getting some practice on another alley which plays very differently (I punched a long double on the left and got it for heavens sake!). And the fish and chips were excellent.
The long awaited quarter-final match in the Handicap Competition between Tom Lederer and Steve Hutchinson took place tonight. Tom, plagued by injury and holidays in distant parts of the world, such as Malaysia and Norfolk, shrugged aside his recent bad form and put in a star performance.
Steve had a bad start, ended the first seven seven points down and never recovered. That's not to say that Steve underperformed - he played to his handicap overall, with a floorer and an eight-pin to his credit. In fact, he was steadily clawing his way back and at the 17th looked like staging the biggest comeback since Frank Sinatra. All that changed though with Tom's eight-pin in the 18th and floorer in the 19th, which put the game beyond dispute.
Tom's winning score of 53 is the best in the Handicap Competition for at least the past three years and it was achieved over only 19 legs. Tom now meets Guy Tunnicliffe in the semi-final of both this competition and the Page Cup.
Tonight's semi-final Handicap Competition match had an inauspicious start. Yours truly, the Match Secretary, had shown it as taking place on the 25th September, despite knowing perfectly well that it was arranged for this Saturday. Mark thought it was next Saturday and hadn't got the right shoes. Steve was aware it was this Saturday but complained of a dodgy leg and too much beer earlier in the day.
Despite all this, the protagonists agreed to play and the game got under way. And a cracking start it was too with a floorer straight off from Mark. Steve was clearly suffering, though whether from leg, beer or both wasn't clear. The players were both on a zero handicap but after the first seven legs Mark was seven points clear.
Steve was showing signs of a revival with an eight-pin in the sixth leg and continued it into the second seven. Two eight-pins on the trot put him only two points behind. But that was the nearest he ever got to catching up. Both players played a cracking game from then on, but Mark kept the advantage, playing one under overall. It's tough luck for Steve, he got six eight-pins in the match and lost. But he also got three fives, which you can't afford to do when your opponent is playing one under.
All the higher handicapped players are already out of the competition and Mark will meet Guy, Tom or Steve H in the final.
We sometimes talk about a player getting a 'full house', in a facetious and inaccurate reference to poker. What we are referring to is the player getting all the possible scores, floorer, eight-pin, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the seven legs of a game.
Have a look at tonight's game between Paul and Mark. Not only did the players between them get a full house over the first three legs, but each individually got a full house over the game.
Pretty good play and an honourable tie but 0/10 for consistency!
Click here to see these scores along with other notable games from the recent past.
It was far from a full house in the alley though. Just three of us playing - where were you guys?
Barnes Wins, Debate Goes On
15/09/2001
In a brilliant semi-final match in the Page Cup, Steve Barnes won a well-deserved place in the final. The game started off in spectacular form with Ian McLaren taking an initial lead, getting two eight-pins in a row. Steve replied to the second of these with an eight-pin of his own. By the end of the first seven though, Steve was leading 3-1. Both were playing out of their skins, Steve was five under, Ian one under. In the second seven, there was again an eight-pin tie in the second leg. Steve continued to inch ahead and by the 17th leg of the game it was all over for Ian, but both players had played well under their handicaps. Steve now gets to meet either Guy or Tom in the final.
The evening also saw the issue of Guy's publication The Skittler. As Guy produces his organ out of an old Mac, it is unfortunately not available online. You'll just have to visit the alley and pick up a copy. There was a long (and imho pointless) debate in the alley, and this was mentioned on the front page of "The Skittler", about the effects of annulling league matches involving a player who has failed to complete all his matches. In short, Tom and Guy seem to be saying that not only should the scores of the matches be removed from the league tables, but all the effects of playing the matches at all (esp handicap adjustments) should somehow be rolled back. I think Guy sums it up in The Skittler: "There are no doubt other league debating points to be discussed ...". Exactly. They're nothing more than debating points and we're a Skittle Club not a Debating Society.
Brightness in the Gloom
04/09/2001
After the recent electrical fault in the alley, the electricians were called out - and now the lights don't work at all. A skittle club that's survived two world wars doesn't let that sort of thing stop them though. In a spirit reminiscent of the blitz, Guy's extension reel and a couple of lamps borrowed from the bar staff (thanks Lucy) were pressed into service.
Doubts were expressed whether the lighting was adequate, but when Guy and Steve H started off with an eight-pin each these doubts were dismissed. Steve went further and suggested that we should turn the lights off altogether and he'd get a floorer. This led to a debate about whether blind people would be able to play skittles successfully. Steve later put it to the test by taking a throw blindfold. Remarkably his first shot hit the front pin. His second shot was an excellent clearing-up operation, although when the positions of the remaining pins were explained to him, he had to admit he'd been going for the pin on the left not the right. He then made the mistake of taking off the blindfold for a look, before putting it back on to take the two remaining shots - both of which missed.
Good news from Norbury. Their alley has opened for the new season and they're going to be hosting the Individual Championships (aka the World Championships) one Saturday in November. There will also be an inter-club match in October. Watch this space.
Last but not least, a remarkable pair of games from last Saturday. Guy played -7 against James and Mark played -6 against Tom. Click here for the full results along with other level two games from the past couple of years.
18th August 2001: The Clash of the Ians
18/08/2001
The last quarter-final match of the Page Cup was played tonight between Ians Cole and McLaren. But first there was the unedifying spectacle of a league match in which Tom Lederer played +5 and Paul Robinson played +6. It's a match both players would like to forget, Tom after his blistering performance on Tuesday and Paul for failing to take advantage of a rare opportunity to win against Tom.
The two Ians gave a much better account of themselves though. Statistically this should have been a one-sided game, but for the first half of the match Cole was well in contention. And that wasn't because McLaren was playing badly - far from it - he was playing level threes. In the second half of the match both players' performances dipped but McLaren's 25 years experience of the game showed through. It went to 18 legs though, McLaren winning 8-3.
There was ignominy for the competitors at the end of the evening when young Richard Robinson (10) and George Barnes (7) joined in a game of twenty-ones. Throwing from the end of the mat, they were both up with the pack in the first leg and had bettered the scores of both Ians at the end of the game.
Top Performance from Lederer
14/08/2001
To start with, the Second Round Page Cup match between Tom Lederer and Steve Hutchinson looked like being close. Steve took the first leg with an eight-pin and Tom took the second in the same way. Then, however, Tom got into a 3 2 sequence which he continued for twelve legs, interrupting it briefly in the eighth to get a floorer. Steve looked as though he was going to get back into the game when Tom slipped a bit and got a couple of fours, but it wasn't to be. Tom soon resumed his form and it was all over for Steve in the 18th leg.
This was a -2.33 game from Tom, the best in a 21 leg game this year and the best since Guy's -2.45 in the Handicap last year.
Meanwhile, Ian Cole, having got his first ever floorer last week, got his second this week in a league match against Steve Barnes. He now has the lowest "strike rate" (ratio of eight-pins to floorers) on the chart with two floorers and three eight-pins.
Once again our handicap system showed its worth as another match in the Handicap Competition went to the wire. The match between Guy Tunnicliffe and Ian Cole got off to a dazzling start as Guy got a 2*-1-2* hat trick. Ian, like a man inspired, followed this with a floorer himself, his first in three years skittling. After that the game settled to a steadier pace, with Ian matching Guy all the way, so that after 20 legs, they were level on 47 points. Guy always pulls off a good shot in a tight corner and tonight was no exception. He set an eight-pin in the final leg. Ian thus needed the second floorer of his career to win - or an eight-pin to tie. Far from being fazed by the task before him, he came desperately close to an eight-pin with his final shot. Unfortunately though, he was left with two impossible pins and thus lost the game by two points.
Well played Ian and bad luck. Click here for full result
Two league matches were also played, including one following which, bizarrely, Paul's handicap went up from two to three although he won and Ian McLaren's went down from three to two although he lost. League results
1250 And All That
31/07/2001
The origins of our traditional game are indeed lost in the mists of time, but the claim in a magazine this week that skittles at the Freemasons' Arms goes back to 1250 is pushing it a bit. This mag called "Distinction", an up-market version of the freebie rags that are pushed through most of our letterboxes, is delivered to "selected addresses" in North London. So if you're posh enough, you might have seen the article. It was on page 22 I think, just before the swimwear. It's the first time Guy has had his photo printed on the same page as Steps - and almost certainly the last.
London Skittles is multinational and the departure of the Estonian skittler last week coincides with the return of native New Yorker, Skye Ferrante. He's still on form, playing one under in a league match (against me, the bugger!) and getting an impressive half a bridge in another match.
Meanwhile, Bill Collins was unlucky to lose against Steve Barnes in the second round of the Handicap Competition last Saturday. It's not easy when you're giving away a point a leg, but Steve got five eight-pins in the match, including a hat-trick, and that gave him the edge. Nevertheless it went right to the wire and Bill only lost the match on the final throw. Click here for full result
Seven Under for Mark
21/07/2001
After last week's controversy about the number of floorers Mark got, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that he got three tonight. What's more, just look at his score in this match against Guy:
Thus Mark joins Guy Tunnicliffe and Steve Hutchinson in the Seven Under Club. As you'll see, he threw two floorers and three eight pins, including a 2*-1-2* hat trick. Well done Mark, shame about the four!
An honourable mention must also go to James Parry-Jones, who got his first ever level three game to tie against Steve Barnes. The presence of his partner and two small sons in the alley clearly didn't distract him at all.
Ivar drew against Paul in a gritty league match, both playing one under their handicaps. Ivar is now returning to his native Estonia, but I believe he'll be back if I stop making stupid jokes about his name. So au revoir and come back Soon. League result
Floorer Getting Men
10/07/2001
Summer's here and the time may be right for fighting in the street, boy - but there's not much skittles news. Last Saturday though, Ivar Soon continued his rise to prominence by getting a floorer in each of two successive league matches. These were Ivar's first floorers ever; I haven't heard whether he was initiated in the traditional fashion. Three league matches were played last Saturday, but unfortunately I omitted to bring away the results with me, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the tables to be updated.
If I am permitted to blow my own trumpet, I got two floorers myself tonight. Not bad for a bloke who has a struggle getting two floorers in the same month.
Re: 10th July 2001: Floorer Getting Men
My memory was worse than I thought. I also omitted Mark's two floorers - so there were five floorers altogether on Tuesday.
Re: 10th July 2001: Floorer Getting Men
A Judicial Inquiry headed by Lord Tunnicliffe has decided that Mark only got one floorer last Tuesday. The floorer chart has been adjusted accordingly.
floorers on July 10th
That's unfair comment.
I did not decide alone that Mark scored only one floorer on the evening of July 10 th.
A number of other people, including yourself, agreed that Mark played on game that evening, and that was against Tom. He threw a floorer with his first shot whilst Tom was out of the alley, but he only played one game.
He left before Tom, and before any end of evening games were played. Steve commented upon this at the time that Tom, Mark and Ivar had left early.
We all agreed on Tuesday 17 th July that Mark only threw one floorer that evening.
It was not a judicial inquiry, I am not a Lord, and the game is bigger than any single individual, including Mark, who as we all know does sometimes make mistakes, as do we all
Re: floorers on July 10th
I did say headed by. But it was meant to be a joke!
floorermania
Sorry, I missed the 'headed' bit...too busy looking juducial and lordly. Still couldn't find Mark's second floorer after collecting all the recorded matches played that evening from you and Steve.
Getting There Soon
16/06/2001
There hasn't been any news for a while, so here goes. (Come on chaps, why doesn't someone else do it just for a change. You can write this stuff as well as I can).
There was a gritty Page Cup match tonight; second round, between Steve Barnes and Paul Robinson. Over the first seven ends it was three all, with both players on level threes. During the second seven, however, Paul had a fourish period, allowing Steve to take a daunting 8-4 lead. Paul recovered, to be two behind with five ends to go, but it was too late. Steve won the next leg, then set a two, which Paul couldn't equal, to win the match in the 18th leg.
In close league match, Mark Fawke played Ivar Soon, probably Estonia's only skittler. Ivar, whose handicap is five, played level threes and threw only his second eight-pin. He was desperately unlucky that Mark was three under and, in his usual fashion, beat him by one chalk.
Ian Cole and James Parry-Jones played tonight in another first round match in the Handicap Competition. Ian took a strong lead. In fact, in the first seven legs, the two of them played to each other's handicap. In the second seven, more conventionally, they each played to their own handicap. Consequently, Ian had by now built up a lead that was going to be difficult to overtake. Indeed, Ian led all the way through the match and won 44-36 in the 20th leg.
Meanwhile, in the floorer and eight-pin stakes, Guy has passed the 100 mark in eight-pins. Also, my mathematical eye spotted that Guy is responsible for almost exactly a quarter of all floorers and eight-pins so far this year.
Paul Robinson continues to dominate the "Bollocks Chart" with a fine example tonight of the cheese crashing straight through the frame without touching a single pin. The traditional cry was muted however, presumably due to the presence of Paul's young son and James's even younger sons. Mind you, the lads expressed their own views of their dads' play with giggles and raspberries at missed shots.
Here, for the record, is the 2001 Bollocks Chart
Paul
6
Steve H
2
Tom
2
Lionel
2
Guy
2
James
1
With the scheduled competition match not played and no league matches there's not much else to report tonight. Last Tuesday, by contrast, four league games were played. In non-league play, Guy showed how it's done with a hat trick of eight-pins. Last Saturday, there was a tense match between Steve Barnes and Ian MacLaren in the Handicap Competition. It stayed very close until the 17th leg, when Steve got his second floorer of the match and zoomed ahead to win in the 20th leg.
There is a tradition among globe-trotting London Skittlers of getting off their return flight to London and dashing straight to the alley. Jonathan Bowker, who has been languishing in Sweden for several months, unable to afford to buy a beer, joined this tradition tonight. Clearly the worse for in-flight beverages, he arrived with a highly believable tale of resisting inducements from a female passenger to join the Five Mile High Club. None of this seemed to affect his (skittles) performance. He soon slipped into his old form and finished the evening (or his part in it) with two eight-pins. After that game, all that could be heard from the Bowker corner was gentle snoring as lignum vitae crashed on hornbeam.
Meanwhile, a further two league games were played. The League Competition has been a successful innovation and it's going well. Those with matches to play in the knockout competitions, by contrast, need to get a move on. The cut-off date is 12th June and both players will be eliminated if their match has not been played by then.
Blue Skies
28/04/2001
The New Yorker has style.
Arriving as he did with a saxaphone in one hand and a girl in the other he proceeded to enliven the evenings proceeding with a solo rendition first on the sax and secondly with the cheese.
The walls vibrated to the sounds of the saxaphone possibly for the first time and were followed by the silent clenched -teeth cursing of first guy and then mark as the boy from New York city matched one player and beat the second.
His analysis in the second game included a floorer and was three under in his dispatch of the current league leader Mark Fawke.
What did he play?,-why Gershwin of course,and brilliantly with both sax and cheese.Hidden talents to impress a girl.
Mark and Guy are now seeking redress. It was suggested that the Immigration Department might be contacted to enquire into the possibility of deportation.
I have a friend who knows Jack Straw.
Barnes and Fawke make hay
14/04/2001
This from Guy Tunnicliffe, whose eustachian tube problem seems to be affecting more than his hearing...
From your silent host.
Saturday's silence was broken by the muffled sounds of skittles being played
in the alley with the follwoing results:-
JPJones 5) 3433335
S Barnes 2) 3321335
The Jones boy goes to 4 and the Barnes goes to 1
JP Jones 4) 433432*2
M.Fawke 2) 32*13423
The Jones boy goes to 3 and Fawke goes to 1
That concludes this evenings results- JPJ-alias 'The Jones boy' done good,
and played well having lost two matches and yet still played well enough to
drop his handicap twice.
Whoever sang 'Silence is Golden' has never been without hearing;should be
retitled 'Silence is leaden' , and uncompromising.
From you deaf host- hence the expression- 'deaf as a host'
A Lizard in the Lav
03/04/2001
The last South African visitor to the alley (see You can do it too) amazed everyone present by throwing a floorer in the middle of a game made up otherwise entirely of fives. Tonight though, Greg Smithies, also from South Africa, showed an early grasp of the game and a lot more consistency. After a brief introduction to the game and a few "trolleys", this was how he played his first match:
What's more, in a later game he lost to Tom Lederer only by one chalk, holding him to 3-2.
One league match was played, between Ian Cole and Mark Fawke (see Match Result).
And finally, as Trevor MacDonald used to say with similar stories...
... the small and malodorous toilet at the rear of the alley yielded a surprise. We are used to a rich variety of wildlife making its home in there, mostly of the arachnid variety. Now it seems to play host to reptilian life as well. Yes, a rather sleepy lizard was found to be inhabiting the loo. Readers will be glad to hear that it was well treated and carefully resettled out in the pub garden.
A Floorer Night For Pete
27/03/2001
There was another close match in the first round of the Handicap Competition tonight, when Guy Tunnicliffe played Peter Greene. This time it was very much "a game of three-thirds". Guy must have thought his number was up after the first seven, when Pete clocked up 20 points, including his second floorer of the season, to lead by eight points. In the middle seven Pete went to pieces and got four fives in a row. Consequently, by the end of the seven, he was trailing by one point. The last seven was nail-bitingly close, Pete first regaining the point, then losing it again to lose by a single point.
That wasn't the end of Pete's evening of mixed fortunes though. In the game of Killer that we played at the end of the evening, he was one life down, when he got two successive floorers. According to our rules, a floorer gives you a life back, so he was now an "extra virgin" with four lives. He then proceded to lose all of them, one after the other and had to take an early bath. Still quadrupling your floorer count in a single evening can't be bad.
Tom Wins In Tough 1st Round Match
24/03/2001
It was a cracking good match between Tom and myself in the first round of the Handicap Competition (I think I'm allowed to boast, as I lost). Both of us played two under our handicaps over the 21 legs. Aficionados will know that in handicap matches, a floorer or eight-pin scores an extra point. As Tom got three eight-pins and I got two, Tom won the match by a single point.
It was a tense match all the way through, but particularly in the final stages. I'm sure Tom thought he was already home and dry on the penultimate leg, leading, as he was, 49-46. From somewhere though I pulled out an eight-pin, so that Tom had to throw a three to secure the match.
Despite the disappointment of going out so early in the competition, it was one of those matches it's a real pleasure to have played in. And well done Tom.
Tonight was the night of the charity quiz night which the skittles club had planned to field a joint team with the pub staff. Four skittle players was all we could manage this week and at times the other customers in the pub were seriously outnumbered. So no quiz, but quite intensive skittles.
Paul Robinson increased his lead on the "Bollocks Chart" (which records the occasions when a cheese passes through a full frame of pins without knocking any over).
At 21s, Guy Tunnicliffe was faced with a dilemma after throwing two successive eight-pins. Should he go for five to win the game or try for a hat trick? Fame being a greater motivator than money, he went for the hat trick. He got it, then despite having therefore "bust", went on to win the game as well.
Another London Landmark
13/03/2001
It was just another club night. As is the recent trend, players arrived well before the kick-off time of 8pm. Consequently a record number of games was played. No alright, I don't know if it was a record, but after an evening of beer and skittles not many of us are counting.
One of my shots got a comment of "That's one for the web site", so with all due modesty here goes... It was the last leg of an otherwise mediocre game (on my part) when I got a Crystal Palace, no deads, no jammy rollers, just a perfect clip on the right shoulder of the middle pin.
The end of evening game was twenty-ones, which Guy won in three legs, as is traditional. Everyone played well though and gave him a good run for his money.
Tonight we had a visitor and prospective new player, a local resident called Richard. He decided straightaway that the tried and tested means of holding a cheese was not for him. He adopted the style last used in our alley by Nick Medawar, who is now the club president. Instead of holding the cheese in the palm resting on the fingertips, for certain shots he would hold it from above gripped between his fingers. Richard used this style for all his shots and it was surprisingly effective. He played his first ever game without getting a five until the last leg. The rest of us are asking whether it's ever possible to control the shape of the cheese this way. Still, could Richard be to London Skittles what Dick Fosbury was to the high jump?
Ian Cole got his first scalp, beating Steve Hutchinson 3-2. Unfortunately for Ian it wasn't a league match. Earlier Steve had beaten Ian 6-0. Steve ended that game four under, even though he got a five; the two floorers compensated somewhat.
The evening ended with a game of Killer, which being fiercely competitive really brings out the killer instinct. Each player throws once and loses a life if he doesn't equal the score of the previous player. Ian Cole pulled off some high-scoring shots but was desperately unlucky to lose a life by one point twice in a row. There was a final showdown with Guy on two lives and Paul on one. Guy set eight but Paul followed with a floorer. This reversed their fortunes (getting a floorer gives you a life back). Paul went on to win with a seven.
Good news! The alley at Norbury is once again open for play. Tonight was a rather low key affair with 8 playing members contesting a broken frames competition. I won with a rather dissapointing score of 2 over, however that is not the point, it was just nice to swing the arm again, (although it will take a few weeks to gain enough strength in the right arm!).
Club nights Tuesdays (until the Bowls season starts at the end of April) all visitors welcome - Bar Open, expensive fizz only i'm afraid.
2001 marks our centenary year, and no doubt Alan will provide further details of any events we propose.
Meanwhile in Hampstead, the competition started off with the Page Cup match between James Parry-Jones and Paul Robinson. Despite a dismal performance two over his handicap, Paul managed to snatch an 8-5 win. The highlight of the match must be when James was left with the "bridge" with a couple of deads and took both wingers but left the middle pin. One of the deads circumnavigated the middle pin (at least once) to take the right winger.
The league competition carries on apace. Despite the Page match, three league matches were played, making a total of 34 since the competition started a month ago.
It was a packed alley again tonight and yet again five league matches were played. A newly bespectacled Bill Collins reappeared and played his first league matches. First of all he put the wind up Guy by winning the first leg of the match with a two. Guy went on to win the match but Bill, with a handicap of nine, still played seven over.
In his second match, however, Bill notched up a win against a rattled Ian McLaren and this time was five over. Meanwhile, in another league match, Mark Fawke demonstrated his usual economy of effort, when Paul Robinson snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by allowing him a 3-2 win right in the final leg. Mark must just hope he doesn't end the competition tied for first place and needing to rely on his chalk difference.
At the end of the evening, Bill again impressed the crowd by starting the game of twenty-ones in classic style with two sevens. After two throws, only he and Guy were "in". Sadly Bill faded in the third throw and left Paul to take some small consolation by taking the money off Mark in a play-off. Still, well done Bill and can you tell us who your optician is please?
Once again the Page Cup failed to get started. The match arranged between myself and James was postponed last week because I was unwell and this week James was unwell. Still four league matches got played, so I think we're keeping ahead.
We had a visitor, Bob Mapes, who lives in the wilds of Norfolk, but used to play skittles when working in London in the early 1960's. Since he rediscovered the skittle club last year, Bob has been following our antics via the web site. If you're reading this Bob, hello and thanks for the pint.
How the Skye fell in on Ian
17/02/2001
The new League Competition looks like being a success. Steve Barnes, Steve Hutchinson and Guy are battling it out at the top having each won all the four games they've played. Mark is also on eight points but from six games.
Skye Ferrante has come back to these shores. He's returned in fine form, playing level threes to thrash Ian McLaren 6-1. If he continues in the same vein, he'll be joining the other three at the top of the table. Well done and welcome back Skye.
And here beginneth the results for the skittle session played on Tuesday 13 th Feb 2001. In the absence of our match secretary the boys 'done good' and recorded a record of five league games in one night.
Click here for the results and the new league table.
Ivar and Steve both expressed surprise at seeing each other in the flesh so to speak. Mark went on to record a total of nine eight pins and be on the verge of scoring a hat trick four times.
Like Ships in the Night
10/02/2001
Another result. One day I'll figure out how to input this information directly onto the site. (That's OK - Paul)
Whilst on the subject of Saturday night, Ivar Soon turned up asking who Steve Hutchinson was, as every time he came down to play people spoke about Hutchinson but he had never met him and was just wondering if he really existed, or whether the Saturday night skittlers were making up a mythical figure.
Ivar as we all know is Estonian, and as such must be the only Estonian playing London Skittles. On Saturday he brought his friend Anton. He is from Lithuania.......!!!
Yours Guy and best wishes to those playing the first round of this years Page Cup on Tuesday....... Paul and James.See you Tuesday.
Competition Crazy!
06/02/2001
"It's a filthy night", I thought, "I wonder if any but the diehards are going to turn up tonight?" Well, I'll tell you, 8pm isn't early enough if you want a game before nine these days. I arrived about 7:50 and there were six members in the alley, not to mention the pub staff who'd come to watch.
Four league matches were played. The momentum's really picking up now, with fourteen league matches played altogether.
At the end of the evening, the Page and Handicap Competitions were drawn. It was generally agreed to be a good draw, so we can look forward to some exciting 21 leg games.
The Hampstead Lawn Billiard and Skittle Club returned to form tonight - despite the large number of players present, only two league matches were played. And those were a result of the Match Secretary trying to lead by example. Well I've played twice as many games as anyone lese now, so I'm going to let the rest catch up.
Steve Barnes has been putting in a lot of appearances lately, on Tuesdays as well as Saturdays. As a result, he's amassed a total of nineteen eight-pins so far this year, about twice as many as the rest of the pack.
With uncharacteristic dynamism, the Hampstead Lawn Billiard and Skittle Club decided on a new league competition at the AGM on Tuesday and got it underway with the first five matches on Saturday. It's probably just as well we got off to a brisk start, because we'll have to play an average of three league matches a night to get through the competition. The plan is that each player will meet every other player twice in the season in an ordinary seven leg match. If all fourteen players take part, that's 182 matches to play in about 60 available evenings.
After the league matches, there was a game of 21s which was won by Yours Truly. There were murmurings of discontent about the manner of my winning. On a score of 16 and thus needing five to reach 21, I stood in the alley, brain in neutral, no idea what I was going for and threw the cheese at the front pin. It hit the front pin square on and took what Steve Hutch calls the "dumdum shot" for five. I did acquit myself by winning my play-off against Tom with an eight-pin.
The AGM
23/01/2001
I always thought we were a sad bunch of old gits. Tonight ten keen club members - more than we get for the average club night - were in the Freemason's especially early, not to play skittles, but for the club's Annual General Meeting. Enough said, I think.
We were joined by an honorary member, the pub landlady Sarah - who has shown more enthusiasm for the Skittles Club than all her predecessors put together. There was lively discussion, much of which I have now forgotten due to exceeding my normal beer consumption by 50%. I guess we'll just have to wait for Guy to produce the minutes.
There was the usual pantomime of the chairman vacating the chair for the election of officers, followed by the reappointment of all the incumbents for lack of any alternative nomination. Finally, or at least before AOB, Sarah did us the honour of presenting the trophies.
The evening was rounded off with a monster game of twenty-ones which somebody won.
Full results
Tonight saw the final of the 2000 Handicap Competition between James Parry-Jones and Lionel Trippett, sporting handicaps of seven and nine respectively.
It was a shaky start for James, but he steadily improved through the first seven, getting an eight-pin in the fifth leg. He followed that with a brilliant long two on the left in the sixth, which he got with a punch shot. By the end of the first seven, James led by five points.
It was a tight middle seven with Lionel showing a consistency that James lacked. By the end of the seven, Lionel had nearly made up the deficit to be one point behind.
In the first leg of the final seven, James had a very jammy pair. He missed the pin he was aiming for, but somehow clipped the back pin which then fell forward and rolled across to take the middle pin of the back three. However, his luck didn't hold and Lionel slipped into the lead. It went right to the wire with James needing three in the final leg to force a tie. It wasn't to be and Lionel emerged as the worthy winner.
The Cup was presented, there were speeches, despite the fact that the cups are going to be presented all over again at the AGM next week. Lionel, who turned 65 a few weeks ago, claims to be the first pensioner to win the competition - in recent times at least.
Handicap Competition Semi-Final
13/01/2001
Full results
This long awaited semi final between Lionel Trippett and Guy Tunnicliffe, the club's two left-handers, was finally played at The Freemason's on Saturday.
It did not go to plan; at least not to Guy's plan, which was to blast off early scoring floorers and eight pins in the first seven and in this way claw back most if not all of the prodigious handicap advantage of ten points per seven frames that Lionel held.
Early scoring was all threes, fours and fives and by the time Guy got into his stride and into some consistency it was too late.
Lionel had also started to turn the screw by the middle of the game. With some well-placed threes and at least one two of his own, the match was all over bar the shouting - leaving Guy with a final deficit of some twenty points.
Lionel's strategy apart from the suspicious claims of a heart condition seems to have been to take route one. Throw the cheese straight down the middle and clean up the novices each side to grab a three - and it worked.
Guy has now booked into the nearest hospital for an angioplasty in the hope it will improve his game too.
Robinson is the Dog's Bollocks
09/01/2001
There is a phenomenon in London Skittles unknown in most similar games whereby the cheese can pass straight through a full frame of pins without touching any. In earlier and more dignified times this was known as a "blow through" or a "bolter"; it is nowadays known at the Freemasons' Arms as a "bollocks". (I am led to believe that this word is unknown to our American cousins which is probably just as well).
The first of these this year were thrown tonight. Paul Robinson, appropriately enough, had two, Steve Hutchinson, just the one. Steve followed his by knocking over eight pins. As he didn't knock them over on the first throw, he was unable to add this shot to his impressive tally of six eight pins in the evening.
It is alleged that a "bolter" (to use the traditional term) is the nearest thing to a floorer and as difficult to throw. We decided therefore to record all such shots on a "Bollocks Chart" to sit alongside the Floorer and Eight Pin charts. And Yours Truly is proud to head it.
Christmas and New Year News Roundup
01/01/2001
The Christmas Handicap (19th December) was due to start at 6pm, which is a bit ambitious for a weekday.
Apparently the Club Secretary changed the date from the Saturday to the Tuesday but forgot to change the time.
However some players made it on time.
Even the Club Secretary arrived in time to start at 6:45.
I won't go into a long narrative of the evening - you can see the results for yourself.
Suffice it to say that it was a cliffhanger of a final between Mark Fawke and Ian Cole with Mark winning by an eight-pin to a five on a sudden death play-off.
The last club night of the year (30th December) was remarkable for the match between Guy Tunnicliffe and Lionel Trippett.
Guy, unbeaten for fifteen games, plays off a handicap of -1.
Lionel, who plays off a handicap of +9 (and is fully recovered from his angioplasty, it would appear),
won the game 4-3.
Steve Barnes, who got the first floorer of the year, also got the last.
What's more he got it with the Bradford cheese, probably the first floorer it's got for well over 20 years.
Hutch's Revenge
12/12/2000
It was just an ordinary club night tonight, but Guy Tunnicliffe and Steve Hutchinson looked like they were still playing the Page Cup Final.
Their match went in the Bookables Book on account of both of them.
Ironically although Guy's average (-4) was better than Steve's (-3), Steve won on chalks.
1
2
3
Steve Hutchinson
2*
3
2*
3
2*
2*
4
Guy Tunnicliffe
3
2*
2
3
3
3
1
1
2
Tunnicliffe Triumphs
05/12/2000
Barely five months after the 1998/99 Page Final, the reigning champion, Steve Hutchinson and Guy Tunnicliffe did battle tonight in the 2000 Final.
The cliché I coined earlier in the year "a game of three thirds" applied again.
The first seven legs were extremely closely fought, ending three all with both players one over.
Play was interrupted after the second leg, when a stray cheese demolished Steve's pint.
After a fresh pint had been fetched and mopping up operations completed, play resumed.
In the fifth leg, Steve was left with the big bog.
He seemed to take the daring decision to go on the left to try for the lot with the aid of a dead pin, when he only needed three to win the leg.
He got the winger, leaving the long double on the right but the dead was now badly placed near the back pin.
In the event, though, he took the shot successfully to win the leg.
In the second seven, Guy went into overdrive.
Steve also improved to one under, but Guy's floorer and two eight-pins put him five under and he led Steve 6-3.
In the tenth leg, Steve's first shot left him the London Bridge.
Typically, he went for it and was desperately unlucky not to get half of it, when he cut the centre pin across just in front of the winger.
Steve had a mountain to climb in the final seven, but in the second leg Guy looked as though he might be about to let it all go.
He missed the novices to give Steve the leg.
When he got a four in the next leg as well, it looked like time for Steve to stage his comeback.
Again, however, Steve tried to get out in two when he only needed three to take the leg.
This time he didn't get away with it and only tied on four.
He lost the next leg so that he was 7-4 down and needed to win all the remaining three legs.
Guy set a three in the next leg and when Steve failed to clear them in two, the match was over with Guy the worthy victor.
An unusual scoreline tonight from club regular James Parry-Jones and Enrico Saunders, a South African guest of his.
Enrico, who had never played before, was instructed in the rudiments of the skittling art and proceded to throw the following:
Enrico Saunders
5
5
5
5
1
5
5
James Parry-Jones
4
4
3
4
3
3
4
Victory to James, but one week before his forthcoming marriage, Enrico pulled one out from the top drawer to stun onlookers with a perfect floorer.
Watch out Mrs Saunders...
Guy Tunnicliffe
Spotlight on the Page Semi Finals
21/11/2000
The programme of alley improvements by Messrs Tunnicliffe and Parry-Jones
continues apace. Tonight, with the addition of a spotlight not only could we see
the pins clearly, we could see the scores as well.
The match on offer to anyone who cared to watch was the second semi-final of
the Page Cup between Guy Tunnicliffe and Paul Robinson. At first we thought
nobody would care to stick, let alone watch. But by about 8:20 we had three
willing (or at least grudging) stickers and after the traditional warm-up game,
the match began.
The Page Cup is the scratch competition scored on chalks (i.e. the number of
legs won). Matches are played over 21 legs as opposed to the standard game of
seven legs. Guy had to be favourite, playing as he did off a handicap of minus
one compared to Paul's three. However the first seven legs were decidedly gritty
and ended level on two all.
Paul had the best of the luck, because the two twos Guy threw were wasted
against Paul's fours. The luck didn't last though and Guy's superior play
started to show through. Although Paul threw exactly the same (five threes and
two fours) as in the first seven, at the end of the second seven he was trailing
6-3.
Three chalks is a lot to pull back over seven ends and paul wasn't up to the
task. With four legs to go, Guy had reached an anassailable 8-3 lead to take the
match. This means the final will be between Guy and Steve Hutchinson.
Having finished the first round equal on 35 points, the two teams of Ian Cole
and Peter Greene and Steve Hutchinson and Paul Robinson met for the final
showdown in the 2000 Field House Cup. It was a dodgy start for Steve and Paul as
they fell behind over the first few legs, rather than starting to claw back
their six point handicap disadvantage. However there were a couple of tactical
blunders by Pete and by the end of the first seven legs Steve and Paul had only
two points to make up.
Play continued after a beer break. Pete, suitably refreshed, got a very
welcome floorer. Sadly for them though, Ian and Pete turned it into a "Lord
Mayor's Show" with a vengeance by following it with not one but two fives in a
row. Steve and Paul, with the aid of two eight pins from Steve, continued to
make progress and finally drew ahead. The fourteenth and final leg, however,
ended tantalisingly with the two teams level on 33 points. Thus after 28 legs
played in the competition, both had scored a total of 68 points. This must be a
triumph for the handicap system as much as for the players.
After a false start when Steve took a throw out of turn, Paul took the first
throw of the play-off. It was close to being an eight pin, but an easy pair was
left. In a kind of poetic justice, Steve failed to get the pair, giving the team
a score of three (which was what they had got from his illegal throw). It looked
set for a long play-off, but Ian and Pete could only manage a four, giving the
game and the cup to Steve and Paul.
Those who have been with this news page from the start will remember that
about a year ago, the skittle alley ceiling was replaced. Well since then the
two fluorescent tubes which light the frame during games have remained naked, so
that players have been suffering from glare while throwing. Now a major advance;
as well as tidying up the wiring, club stalwarts Guy Tunnicliffe and James Parry
Jones have fitted the fluorescent tubes with shades. Unfortunately, since the
spotlight which used to illuminate the scoreboard has gone, as soon as a game
starts the back of the alley is plunged into a Stygian gloom. Spectators stumble
about, knocking over beer. "What's the score?", "Dunno, where's the
scoreboard?".
The improvement in the lighting (of the frame, which is the important thing)
had its effect. Eight skittlers had gathered to play the first round of matches
in our annual pairs competition for the Field House Cup. Of the four teams,
three played well above their handicaps and the other pair were only slightly
under theirs. The matches are played over fourteen legs with both players'
handicaps added in (i.e. double length games with two handicaps).
Although two matches were played, pair against pair, a place in the final is
decided on the team's score. Two of the teams were the same as last year. Peter
"Two Pint" Greene and Ian Cole made a huge improvement from 26 last year to 35.
Guy Tunnicliffe and Ian "Big Mac" McLaren were let down by two fives in the
second seven. They scored exactly the same this year as last, 29.
Of the new pairings, Paul Robinson and Steve Hutchinson had the lowest
handicap but managed to keep the twos and threes coming and also scored 35.
James Parry Jones and the optically challenged Tom Lederer played well above
their handicap, but failed to get any floorers or eight-pins. This left them
with a relatively disappointing score of 31.
October has seen the welcome return to the alley of the Naked Skittler, Skye
Ferrante. Despite spending more than a year away from skittles in his native New
York, Skye has returned in fine form, taking the scalp of Steve Hutchinson in a
recent match. Great to see you back Skye.
Tonight was the Page Cup semi-final match between Steves Barnes and
Hutchinson. Despite their respective handicaps of two and zero, it was an
incredibly closely fought match. The first seven legs were a bit lack-lustre,
well so far as Hutch was concerned anyway. In the ninth leg there was an
ascerbic comment from the rear to the effect that there hadn't been a single two
yet. Thus barbed, the players livened the game up with a series of twos,
including an eight pin each.
With three ends to go, they were five-all and they tied the remaining legs on
threes. So with the match tied after 21 legs the stage was set for a "golden
cheese" play-off. First Hutch set a three. When Barnes replied, he left a frame
that was easy enough to clear in three for a tie, but with sudden death looming
he couldn't possibly risk trying to do it in two. In the next leg the situation
was exactly the same but with Barnes setting.
Just as the audience and particularly the stickers were starting to wonder
how long this was going to go on for, Hutch pulled an eight pin out of the hat.
Barnes could only manage a three. So after the longest play-off anyone could
remember, Hutch took the match to go through to the final.
This year we've been getting through the competitions like there's no
tomorrow. Yes, despite not playing the first match of the season until 6th June,
the semi-final of the Handicap Competition was played tonight. It was James
Parry Jones against yours truly, Paul Robinson. This time I'm going to abandon
my usual reporting style and give a first person account of the match.
It was always going to be a tricky match for me. James had a handicap of six,
while mine had risen to the dizzy heights of two after playing 1.4 over in my match
against Steve Barnes. I'm more used to playing with a handicap of four or five.
The handicap applies over seven legs, so over the 21 legs of a competition match
I had twelve points to make up.
It all started well enough. Over the first eight legs I played level threes,
i.e. two better than my handicap. You can never afford to be complacent with a
6-2 handicap disadvantage, but a lead of three points at the end of the first
seven legs was encouraging.
Then came the sporting equivalent of writer's block, whatever it's called.
Apart from a solitary three, I could throw nothing but fours and fives for the
next eleven ends. I tried several changes of style, a new mental outlook, then a
return to the style that had served me well over the first seven legs, all to no
avail. Despite all this, I was surprised to see that after the second seven I
was still two points in the lead.
If you look at James's match
against Tom, you'll see that he dealt the killer blow at the start of the final
seven by throwing a floorer. Well bugger me if he didn't do nearly the same
thing against me, by throwing an eight-pin in the second leg. Because of the way
the handicaps are applied, I went from being two ahead to nine behind in the
space of three legs. My play was getting no better and I was in the daunting
position of being eight behind with only two legs to go.
There was therefore still a mathematical possibility of winning the match if
James got two fives and I got a floorer and an eight pin. On the penultimate
throw I did pull something out of the bag and got an eight pin. What's more,
James did blow out on his final two throws and got two consecutive fives. So it
was with some amazement that I found myself still in the match and stepped up to
take the final throw, needing a floorer to win. Well the pressure told, I can't
remember what pins were left, but it was more than one and that was enough to
give James the match.
A rumour that London Pride is to disappear from the Freemasons Arms spread through the pub like wildfire tonight.
Queues started forming at the bar within minutes and customers were seen to ask for as many as six pints at a time.
The panic buying started after a light-hearted remark by a barman.
Many accused the landlady of making matters worse with her 'intransigent' remarks.
She said that the selection of beer was a matter for the brewery alone and any decision to replace Fuller's with Tetley's would not be influenced by protests at the pumps.
Meanwhile in the (real) skittles world, there appears to be a renaissance south of the river.
The only other London Skittles club is at the former NatWest Bank sports ground in Norbury.
The site is being redeveloped at present, but is due to reopen in November.
It seems there has been a lot of interest from new members.
So much so, in fact, that the club we still know as "The Bank" are threatening to field two teams in this year's matches!
I can remember the days of 'A' and 'B' teams in inter-club competitions, but it must be a good fifteen years ago.
Great news chaps! We're ready for the challenge.
Latest Competition Results
12/09/2000
James Parry Jones continues to storm through the Handicap Competition.
This Tuesday he defeated Peter Greene in the second round.
He now meets Paul Robinson in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile last Saturday week, Steve Barnes and Ian McLaren met in the second round of the Page Cup.
I've only just got the results, but it looks like it was a bit of a humdinger.
Unusually for the Page it went the full 21 legs with both players scoring two over.
Steve was one over his handicap and Ian was one under his.
Steve scraped a 7-6 win right in the last leg.
Saturday was distinguished by Mark Fawke getting six eight-pins in succession.
This is probably comparable with the fabled three floorers in a row, which has not been recorded at Hampstead in forty years.
Most players get five times as many eight-pins as floorers (see the current floorers and eight-pins chart).
The best players get one floorer in about thirty shots and one eight-pin in six shots.
So three floorers is going to happen about one time in 27,000 (303) and six eight-pins about one time in 46,000 (66).
My rudimentary probability calculations may be flawed here though - any mathematicians out there like to correct me?
Anyway congratulations to Mark on a marvellous achievement.
Robbo's First Hat Trick Lands Semi-Final Place
29/08/2000
The hot pace of this year's competition matches continued tonight with the second round handicap match between Paul Robinson and Steve Barnes.
It didn't look that good for Paul to start with, as he lost his two point handicap advantage in three legs to be seven-all.
Then Steve got an eight-pin and this must have spurred Paul on.
He finished off the first seven legs with three eight-pins in a row, the first hat trick in his skittling career.
Steve carried on consistently, getting six threes in a row.
Paul, by contrast, got a further two eight-pins in the middle seven but got fours the rest of the time.
Nevertheless, he went into the last seven legs nine points in the lead.
With two legs to go, Steve needed two floorers to two fives to win.
Thus inspired, he got an eight-pin so a tie was still a possibility.
Paul, however, replied with a three to give him a 50-43 win.
It might have been a contrived headline on 1st August, but if ever there was a "game of three thirds" Steve Hutchinson's second round Page Cup match against Peter Greene was it.
Pete started off with a hat trick of eight-pins and continued to dominate, so that he led 5-1 at the end of the first seven legs.
Steve, however, came back with a magnificent middle seven, scoring six under, one of a handful of such scores over the past decade.
Not surprisingly Steve won the middle seven 7-0.
Pete retained his composure in the final seven and pulled back level to 8-8 after eighteen.
Steve then threw a two and an eight-pin to win 10-8 in the twentieth leg.
It's a tough job overcoming a ten point handicap advantage, but Steve Hutchinson looked as if he was going to do it. In the first seven legs of his second round match against Lionel Trippett, he notched up three eight-pins to lead 18-15.
In the second seven though, Lionel was averaging fours, so that Steve needed a bookable -3 to keep up.
The floorers and eight-pins didn't come and by the fourteenth leg, Steve was trailing 30-32.
After that it just got worse for Steve with the "Grey Fox" keeping pace with his score.
By the nineteenth leg, Lionel had an unassailable 48-37 lead and thus took the match.
Lionel next meets Guy in the semi-finals.
In tonight's handicap match our newest member, James Parry Jones played our most accomplished player, Tom Lederer.
(Yes he is, he told me so himself).
In the British tradition of supporting the underdog, I don't suppose it's any secret that most of us were rooting for James.
Our competition matches are played over twenty-one legs as opposed to the seven legs of an ordinary game.
The first seven of this match were James's.
Although his handicap was six and Tom's was one, James was leading on scratch after five legs and
was still two ahead at the end of the seven.
The middle seven, by contrast, belonged to Tom.
He started off with an eight-pin and a two in the first two legs to match the two and the eight-pin in the last two legs of the first seven.
There was a third eight-pin in the thirteenth leg.
Things were looking dicey for James as Tom led by 32-27 at the end of the second seven.
Then James pulled off his master stroke by getting his first ever floorer in the first leg of the final seven.
With the floorer scoring five and the handicap being added in at the start of the seven legs, James's fortunes were transformed.
He immediately went from five behind to four ahead.
Tom, despite this psychological blow, managed to come back to pull level in the penultimate leg.
In the final leg, James's first shot left him a "diamond three"; surely an easy two?
But then disaster!
He knocked the middle one out, to leave the Gates and no sensible option but to step out for four.
When Tom stepped up, therefore, it must have been with some relief and the expectation of taking the match.
His first shot, however, left a bridge and he too had to settle for a four.
With the players tied 43-all, the match went to a "golden cheese" play-off.
It was Tom to set and he got them down in three.
James's first shot in reply left him with the novices - a fairly easy shot, but under the pressure of a competition play-off would James fluff it?
The alley held its collective breath - as James's second cheese took the three pins clean as a whistle, for a popular and well-deserved win.
Thanks to both players for an exciting and keenly-fought match.
The unusually high turnout of eight(!) might be attributable to the media attention in the shape of
Amanda Smith from Oz Radio.
She was in the alley to record the sound of skittles for a feature on pub sports.
After a lack-lustre game for the microphone, there was a match;
Guy Tunnicliffe v Ian Cole in the second round of the Handicap Competition.
Guy had a handicap difference of eight to overcome and overcome it he did in a performance which included two floorers and two eight pins.
He was five under over the first seven legs - a remarkable achievement in a competition.
Ian never let it faze him and got an eight pin (only his fourth ever) in the 19th leg when all seemed lost.
Unfortunately Guy matched it with an eight pin himself and took the match in the 20th.
In all it was an excellent evening's skittling, with six floorers scored, four of them from Guy.
Tonight was supposed to be a Robinson-Bowker contest, but the ephemeral Mr Bowker didn't show up.
However, Steve Barnes and Mark Fawke had serendipidously arranged a match for the same night.
So Barnes and Fawke it was and a tightly fought match it was too.
The first twelve legs were mostly tied on threes but Mark's floorer in the thirteenth made it two all.
After a bit of toing and froing, Mark led 5-4 as they went into the final leg with Steve setting.
Steve's first shot left a long pair on the left with a dead to possibly help him.
After a "head inspection", he decided to go for it and got the pair with the aid of the dead.
Mark could only reply with a four, putting them level on five all.
So the match went into a "golden cheese" play-off.
Mark's first shot left him with the bridge.
Deciding that four wouldn't be good enough, he tried for the shot and missed altogether.
His two increasingly desperate remaining shots missed as well, leaving him with a five.
Steve, in reply, had a pair left after two shots, giving him the leg and the match.
It may be an eight o'clock start at the Freemasons' but tonight those who arrived at ten to eight found themselves fifth or sixth in the order of play.
There was no competition match to be played, so the evening was left free for concentrated club skittles.
That and poring over the August edition of PC Format magazine, where this site has appeared as Reader Site of the Month.
Peter Greene, who whitewashed Ian Cole last week, found himself getting the same treatment this week at the hands of Guy Tunnicliffe.
Nobody can begrudge Guy his victory though, scoring as he did seven under in this magnificent game:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Guy Tunnicliffe
1
2
2
2
2
2
3
Peter Greene
3c
4
3
3
3c
3
4c
This was a personal best for Guy and one of only a handful of scores of seven under recorded in recent years.
Greene Whitewash
11/07/2000
In another first round match in the Page Cup, Peter Greene beat Ian Cole 10-0 after 12 ends.
The upside for Ian is that his handicap goes up to eight.
He now has Guy Tunnicliffe, whom he meets in the Handicap Competition in two weeks time, firmly in his sights.
Ian also went on to throw only the third eight-pin of his skittling career later in the evening.
Again there was a great warm-up match between Guy and Steve Hutchinson which was bookable.
In the twenty one's game at the end of the evening, Guy and Pete were the only ones left in and both needed an 8-pin.
Pete threw first and got a floorer, thus "going bust".
Guy then followed with an equally good floorer. Tom went on to win.
Peter Greene
Leaves on the Line
08/07/2000
The Gates of Hell
The Candlestick
Tonight was the night for clever clear-up shots.
Mark Fawke seems to have been making a speciality of the Gates of Hell of late.
To get this difficult shot you have to clip the right hand pin high on the right shoulder to bring it across and take the other pin.
Along with a number of good but unsuccessful attempts, Mark again got this shot.
The most remarkable shot, though, has to be Paul Robinson's clearance of the Candlestick.
The cheese clipped the right winger, which took the two back pins (the Ife shot), came back to take the left winger (Round the Houses) then rolled back across the frame to take the centre pin as well!
A shot like this has got to be 95% fluke, but none of those present had seen it done before, so one for the record books.
(Although this shot was referred to as The Candlestick, there seems to be some doubt.
See the note in the Members Section.)
Meanwhile, Steve Barnes got a floorer and four eight pins over the evening.
Tom got a bookable -4 against Guy in this match:
1
2
3
4
5
Tom Lederer
2
3
3
3
2
2c
2*
Guy Tunnicliffe
3
2
2
4
3c
4
5
1
2
The evening finished with a game of Twenty Ones which is traditionally played for money at the end of the evening.
Incidentally Skittles is one of the few games which can legally be played for money (small stakes) in English pubs.
In Twenty Ones, each player in turn takes one throw at the frame.
The object is to accumulate a score of exactly twenty one.
If you bust (go over twenty one), your score goes back to twelve, so that you then require a floorer to reach twenty one.
Instead of the more usual long slog over four or five rounds, four of the five players were
in
after two rounds.
Guy and Tom both got twenty one in three rounds.
Guy eventually won a tightly fought sudden death play-off to go home £2.50 the richer.
A Magnificent Skittles Night
04/07/2000
In an effort to finish last year's competitions whilst continuing the progress with this year's, not one but two competition matches were played.
Peter Greene met Steve Hutchinson in the final of the 1998/99 Page Cup, while the two Ians joined battle in the first round of the 2000 Handicap Competition.
But first there was a magnificent warm-up match between Mark and Guy. Guy must count himself desperately unlucky to lose 4-2 when his score was a bookable -3.
But Mark's floorer and his hat-trick of eight-pins won the day with a score of -4.
The final of the Page was an exciting match.
It was nip and tuck with a floorer from Steve and two eight-pins from Pete, so that after fifteen legs it was all square.
Steve then dealt the knockout blow with three successive eight-pins.
Pete matched the third of these, but it still left him two chalks behind.
A fourth eight-pin in the twentieth leg gave Steve the match and the Cup.
The first round handicap match was the clash of the Ians.
Ian Cole, our newest member, sported a handicap of eight.
Ian McLaren, our most longstanding player had a handicap of three.
An advantage of five is hard to play against any day, but it was anybody's game for a long time.
Then Ian Cole chose the twelth leg of the match to throw only the second eight-pin of his skittling career.
This put him a clear five point lead and he went on to win 36-32.
Ian Cole now meets Guy Tunnicliffe in the second round.
One has top feel a twinge of sympathy for Mark Fawke - knocked out of the 2000 Handicap Competition a mere four weeks after winning the previous year's competition. In this first match of the first round, he met Steve Hutchinson. The players were evenly matched over the first and second thirds of the game. Then a pair of successive eight-pins from Steve gave him a five point advantage which he kept to win the game in the twentieth leg. Steve goes on to meet Lionel in the second round.
There was a poor turnout for this Tuesday's skittles night.
The long awaited final between Steve Hutchinson and Peter Greene had to be cancelled after Pete fell off a roof in Suffolk.
It has to be said though that the lack of skittlers probably had more to do with the England v Romania match.
Mind you, if the outcome could have been predicted we would have had a full alley.
You'll be glad to hear, by the way, that Pete suffered only minor cuts and bruises.
The previous week saw the second round match in the Page Cup between Guy Tunnicliffe and James Parry Jones.
The outcome, a 9-2 win for Guy after 14 legs, doesn't do justice to his opponent.
James, who had previously only ever got one eight pin, scored three eight pins in the course of the match.
Thus he quadrupled his eight pin score in the space of a few minutes.
Only the previous Saturday James, together with Mark Fawke, had won the Pairs Competition.
Once he gets a bit more consistent the rest of us will have to watch out.
Tonight was the night when, about six months behind schedule, the semi-finals and final of the Pairs Competition were played. At stake was the Field House Cup, a trophy which was presented to the Amateur Skittles Association by the Tooting Constitutional Club back in the mists of time. As the sole survivors of the ASA, we now play for it every year.
The New Millennium Starts
06/06/2000
The evening started with Guy being interviewed by a web journalist, a breed I hadn't come across before.
This chap, Tom, is doing a feature on traditional games for lifebyte.com which is aimed, I think he said, at 15-24 year olds.
This is good news for us. We could well see the average age of the skittling fraternity in London halved.
After Tom headed off for a nine o'clock assignation with "a blonde", the serious skittles got underway.
Tom Lederer was playing Guy Tunnicliffe in the first match of the 2000 season.
Yes, the Hampstead Lawn Billiard and Skittle Club has had an even more relaxed start to the new millennium than the London Eye.
As you can see from the full results (click here), both players got off to good start with a floorer and three eight-pins in the first seven legs.
At this point Tom was leading 3-2.
Then Tom had a bad patch and Guy quickly took a 5-3 lead.
Tom never really recovered from this and Guy won 8-5 in the 19th leg.
Guy now goes on to play James Parry Jones in the next round.
Who Wants To Be A Skittler?
24/05/2000
Just after our low-key evening on Tuesday, after we had gone home to our beds, "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" was running on ABC in the States. In fact it was the "Tournament of Champions". Contestant Dan Blonsky (a former $1 million winner) got the following question for $32,000:
"Which of the following games is most closely related to the English game of skittles?"
A: darts B: ping-pong C: bowling D: shuffleboard
As there's an on line version you can play along with at home, it seems a lot of Americans started doing a search on skittles. The London Skittles site now ranks highly on many of the search engines (second only to the site for Skittles sweets when searching for "skittles" on AltaVista). Consequently this site got its highest ever hourly hit rate between 1am and 2am BST.
Meanwhile back in the studio, the contestant wasn't sure and decided to ask the audience. The results were:
darts
17%
ping-pong
15%
bowling
29%
shuffleboard
39%.
Blonsky had already used his 50/50 lifeline but still had his phone-a-friend lifeline remaining. He decided to go with the audience though and guessed "shuffleboard", which meant of course that he went home with one thousandth what he did before.
Thanks to Jerrell Brenner, Walt Wayne and others for this story
A Mathematical Curiosity at Twenty-Ones
23/05/2000
With the coming of summer, there's little to report in the London Skittles world and I'm reduced to headlines of the "Minor Earthquake in Turkey - Few Hurt" kind.
At the end of the evening we often play a game known as twenty-ones.
(One of the advantages of not having an automatic pin-spotting mechanism is that you can play whatever style of game takes your fancy).
Each player has a single throw per turn and the aim is to reach a score of exactly twenty-one. If you "bust", your score goes back to twelve.
The scores on Tuesday were as follows:
PR
3
9
TL
6
12
18
GT
9
15
21
SH
3
9
PG
6
12
Every score divisible by three from the start until Guy got his 21.
... I told you there wasn't any news...
Actually Pete still had a throw to take after Guy and scored five...
A Stormy Evening at the Freemasons'
13/05/2000
There was an ominous feeling in the air Saturday afternoon. A thunderstorm brewing after a sultry day and that meant only one thing. That all the people who'd been enjoying an afternoon on the Heath or a pint or three in the Freemasons' garden would be crowding into the pub when the storm broke. And so it proved, although under Sarah's management we no longer have the agonising wait for a pint we've been used to in the past.
So down to the alley and to the skittles. Steve Barnes and Lionel were both present so it was time for the other half of the virtual pairs match played on Tuesday (see 9th May). This time the set-up was even more Byzantine as their pacemaking opponents were a pair of pairs - Paul and Tom for the first seven legs and Guy and Mark for the second seven. Paul and Tom, already partners in the competition, won on Tuesday and Guy and Mark also set the pace against Steve Hutch and Jonathan on Tuesday. After some initial wrangling about handicaps, which seems traditional in the pairs competition, the match commenced.
Steve and Lionel were always in with a good chance with their handicap of eleven. They played steadily and after the first seven had reached a score of 22, thus beating the trailing pair's score of 21 over the full fourteen. By the tenth leg they had qualified for the semis with a score of 28 points. The eventual score was Steve B/Lionel 33, The Rest 34. The way is now clear for the semi-finals. This will be seeded, so that there will be a rematch between James/Mark and Guy/Ian McLaren, Guy and Ian having gone through as best runners-up. The other semi will be between Lionel/Steve Barnes and Paul/Tom.
Pairs Competition Hots Up
09/05/2000
Like the London buses, after weeks of no pairs partners being available to play their matches,
six all turned up at once (albeit one looking harassed after a cross-London dash from Shepherd's Bush).
First up were Tom and Paul playing Pete and Ian Cole.
Tom and Paul made a poor start and with Pete and Ian benefitting from a handicap advantage of seven,
it was all looking a bit dicey.
However they recovered gradually and then Paul pulled off his first floorer for three months.
This gave the pair the fillip they needed and Tom immediately followed it with an eight pin.
There was no stopping them after that and the final result was Paul/Tom 32 - Pete/Ian 26.
This match out of the way, that left a match between Steve Barnes/Lionel and Steve H/Jonathan to be played.
The prospect of getting these four in the alley on the same night was deemed somewhat less likely than arranging
a match between Elvis and Lord Lucan.
So a virtual match was decided on. The two pairs would each play their games without actually meeting.
Steve and Jonathan therefore played a 'pacemaker' team (Guy and Mark).
Jonathan seemed to have lost none of his newly-found form from earlier in the year,
but as the game progressed the pair fell behind
(this may or may not have been due to their opponents awarding themselves a hugely over-inflated handicap).
Be that as it may, Steve and Jonathan ended with a score of 21 against Guy and Mark's 25.
So with Steve Barnes and Lionel still to play the scores in the competition are:
Mark Fawke and James Parry Jones
40
Paul Robinson and Tom Lederer
32
Guy Tunnicliffe and Ian McLaren
29
Peter Greene and Ian Cole
26
Steve Hutchinson and Jonathan Bowker
21
Pete through to Page Final
02/05/2000
The alley now has magnolia walls and ceiling, the pictures are starting to go back up
and Guy has done sterling work polishing and varnishing the Lawn Billiards cues for display on the wall.
So it was a bit of a downer when The Leak reappeared.
Yes, dear visitor, water started dripping through the very hatch which has been newly installed at the spot
where Peter Greene chalked LEAK on the joist.
No, no, it'll all come right in the end.
And it was plumbing expert Peter Greene who prevailed in the semi-final of the Page Cup.
It has to be said that neither he nor his opponent Ian McLaren played brilliantly.
There was a distinct lack of the floorers and eight-pins we've come to expect with the new pins and
at the semi-final stage of the Page.
However, Pete won 6-3 over 19 legs and he now plays Steve in the final.
(We don't know which Steve though as the semi-final between Steves Hutchinson and Barnes has yet to be played).
Mark Fawke Through to Handicap Final
15/04/2000
With the ceiling newly plastered and most of the pipes and wires neatly boxed away,
there was a definite improvement in the ambience in the alley this week.
The next stage is a coat of magnolia on the walls and some decent lighting.
In the second semi-final of the Handicap Competition, Guy Tunnicliffe met Mark Fawke
in a tightly fought match.
The handicaps were equal, so it was effectively a scratch game.
Both players were two over over the twenty one legs,
but although Guy scored a floorer,
unusually he got no eight-pins.
So Mark's three eight-pins gave him the advantage
which won him the match in an exciting finish right on the last end.
Mark now plays Tom Laderer in the final, scheduled for Saturday 29th April.
Hutch Triumphs After Spectacular Play in Individual Championship
Although the London Skittles Individual Championship is open to all players, the ten who competed this year
were all from the Freemasons' Arms.
When the early comers arrived in the alley, it was good to see that the ceiling has at last been replaced.
Well plasterboarded if not actually finished.
Well, there were cables and stuff suspended across the alley in the players' line of sight,
but a bit of judicious propping up in the true spirit of Heath Robinson and we had a functioning alley.
Barnes Pulls Through in Page Cup
18/03/2000
In a tightly fought but distinctly low-key match, Steve Barnes beat Guy Tunnicliffe
7-5 over 20 legs in the first round of the Page Cup.
Steve put in a better than average performance bringing his handicap down from two to one.
Incidentally, this match was originally to have been played on the 26th February.
That afternoon, Steve was at his sister's and had his first look at this web site.
"This is quite up-to-date" says Steve's brother-in-law.
"Look, it says here you're playing Guy Tunnicliffe on the 26th February".
Exit Steve, to make an apologetic phone call.
(And in another miracle of modern technology, Guy, who had already left for the alley,
got a message on his pager saying Steve couldn't make it for the match.)
Could this be the first practical use of the Internet in London Skittles?
Meanwhile, in a recent friendly game between Guy and Steve, Steve scored a bookable -4 and
without a three or an eight-pin in sight:
1
2
3
4
5
Steve Barnes
1
4
2
2
4
2
2
Guy Tunnicliffe
2*
5
3c
3
4
2*
3
Steady Twos and Threes Put Tom in the Final
19/02/2000
Another Saturday, another match in the Handicap Competition and this week it was Tom
Lederer against Paul Robinson.
Tom's performance outclassed Paul and gave him a 45-33 win after 19 legs.
No floorers, but two eight pins, only one four and no fives meant that Tom played at about
two under off a zero handicap.
Paul, by contrast, played at about four over off a +2 handicap.
So a well deserved win for Tom who now meets either Mark or Guy in the final.
When Saturday Comes...
12/02/2000
In the continuing saga of this years handicap competition Ian McLaren was
unlucky
not to defeat three times winner Mark Fawke whilst going down 37-38. Mark
will now play
Guy in the semi final of the competition.
In the preliminary game, the warm up match for the big event, it was
decided to play a
three way match point game between Steve Barnes, Tom Lederer and Guy
Tunnicliffe.
In a match point game in which straight threes are thrown the total would
amount to 14 points;
suffice it to say Tom and Steve amassed 10 points each whilst Guy threw:
3
4
2*
2*
1
2*
2*
giving
a total of 24 points from seven ends.
In the process Guy scored the first
five in a row seen
in the alley since the days of yore when men were men and a charger wasn't
something you
plugged in, but rode galloping to the rescue of damsels and
dames.... (I've cut the rest of the hyperbole - Ed)
The other highlight of the evening and a pleasurable one for ALL concerned
was
Steve Barnes' suggestion that the evening be brought to a close by playing
Broken Frames.
As with the conventional game of skittles the advent of the new pins has
altered the results
and everyone struggled with the easy shots, the novices and the rooks.
It wasn't really
until the usually more difficult combinations, Waterloo and Fender, that
people started
amassing points only to lose them again on the long two's and long
three's.
Mark finished up as winner with 26 points but almost everyone else achieved
double
figures in excess of twenty points, which is considerably better than past
results
have been in this often neglected variation of Old English Skittles.
(An ideal teaching game free from the stress of floorer and eight pin
accumulation)
Guy Tunnicliffe (who else?)
Hutch is on Form
08/02/2000
This week it was Ian Cole who got the Hutchinson treatment.
Steve was six under in a game which included a hat trick - two eight pins and a floorer.
(Purists might argue that only three floorers in a row counts as a hat trick -
but nobody has done that for forty years).
Here's the full result:
1
2
3
4
5
6
Steve Hutchinson
3
2
3
2*
2*
1
2
Ian Cole
4
5
3
5
3c
5
3
Meanwhile last Saturday, Paul Robinson won 42-37 against Steve Barnes in the Handicap Competition.
Paul now plays Tom Lederer in the quarter-finals on 19th February.
Seven Under Again for Hutch
01/02/2000
While Tom Lederer repeated his -5 score of last Saturday,
in a later game Steve Hutchinson won with a magnificent -7.
Here's the full result:
1
Tom Lederer
3
3
2
3
4
3c
3
Steve Hutchinson
2
2
3
2
2*
2
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
Meanwhile last Saturday, Ian McLaren beat Lionel Trippett 28-27 in the Handicap Competition.
Ian now plays Mark Fawke in the quarter-finals.
There's No Justice With These ''New'' Pins
22/01/2000
In any other world there would be a law against losing a game whilst
being
-4, however this
is not another world.... this is 'World Skittles' where anything can,
and
usually does happen.
Tom Lederer defeated Guy Tunnicliffe with the following -5 score:
1
2
3
Tom Lederer
3
2
2
1
2*
3
3
Guy Tunnicliffe
2*
3
3
2
2*
2
3
1
2
Its never been quite the same back at the alley since the right stuff
arrived in the shape
of perfectly formed pins in the right medium. As such it was always
predicted that the world
would change and it comes as no surprise that it has.
Mark Fawke crept ahead by another floorer and is now leading the chart with
eight in less than a
month.
For the first time in two years the Hampstead team ventured
south to the distant reaches of Norbury for an inter-club match.
The Norbury alley is in what used to be the National Westminster
Bank Sports Club before the site was sold off to developers in
1998. The alley has fortunately been retained and the
"skittle club formerly known as the Bank" are playing
there again this season. A number of changes were immediately
apparent to the visitors, others transpired as the evening went
on. The most noticeable change is that instead of being
surrounded by playing fields, the club is now in the middle of a
housing estate. Some visitors missed the turn-off and carried on
half-way to Mitcham.
As there is no longer a bar, our skittle-playing landlord,
Steve Barnes, was engaged to supply a polypin at a knock-down
price. Excellent beer it was too and I think most of us put away
rather more than usual. (Steve's pub is "The Wenlock
Arms"). The alley itself is much the same as before
although the chandeliers have gone and frankly they always looked
out of place in a skittle alley. The Gents though has undergone a
transformation - painted pink throughout, the urinals removed and
most mysteriously the sign outside changed to "Ladies
Toilet". None of this deterred the skittlers from using the
facilities. The other change was the security guard who regularly
poked his head in the alley. He told us his shift ended at 7am
and so far as he was concerned we could play all night. All night
skittles - the mind boggles!
As to the match itself, the sides
were unequal but with some generous loaning of players we put
together a match. In the same format as last time, a series of
six singles games of six ends were played, followed by three
doubles games. The Norbury team have undoubtedly upped their form
in recent years despite being without their alley for a year.
They must have needed the break. Hampstead however won through
to take the game 25-12. The highlights of the match must include Alan Winchester's
spectacular floorer, his second of the season.
Guy Tunnicliffe produced the only other floorer of the match in an otherwise unremarkable game.
The other highlight was Jonathan Bowker's performance in his debut match.
He was three over in his singles game
and played level threes in partnership with Steve Hutchinson in the doubles game.
Hampstead: Steve Barnes, Jonathan
Bowker, Steve Hutchinson, Tom Lederer, Ian McLaren, Paul
Robinson, Guy Tunnicliffe
Norbury: Terry Davies, Richard Matthews, Bill Pearce, Alan
Winchester
Greene Defeats Bowker in Page Cup
18/01/2000
It was an early start this Tuesday with the first game already
underway when I arrived not long after 7:30. The reason - a
contest arranged between Peter Greene and Jonathan Bowker and
Pete wanting to finish in time for his traditional early
departure for the quiz at the Load of Hay.
At stake was a place in the
semi-finals of the Page Cup. Jonathan has been playing
well since his return to the game and he played +2 over
the first seven legs. Pete must have started to get nervous as
Jonathan went into the lead and led for most of the middle seven
legs. However he started his comeback from the middle of the
game, playing level threes from that point on. It looked like the
end for Jonathan in the 18th leg when Pete got an eight-pin, the
only one of the match. Jonathan replied with an effective opening
shot but he had a difficult leave, the "Ife". This he
cleared to perfection, tying the leg and now needing to win all
the remaining legs to tie the game. He set three in the next leg
but Pete replied with a two, clinching the match. The final
result was an 8-4 win over 19 legs.
Yet Another Saturday Night of High Tension
15/01/2000
... and Incredible Results
Taking it from the top, the main headline attraction featured
the world skittles champion Tom Lederer in the blue corner
against Iron Ian McLaren in the red corner. No contest you might
have thought....not so. The Mighty Big Mac came out punching and
was three up after seven. A middle period saw Tom claw back three
chalks only for Ian to match those three and for Ian to round off
the evening with a satisfying and completely justified victory
7-3 over his opponent..... Tom was heard to mutter:- 'well
there's still the handicap'. Ian, who had remained almost
trance-like in his relaxation throughout the evening (he almost
fell asleep between legs eight and eleven), now looks odds on to
proceed further in this competition than he has over the last ten
years.
Other news of significance....if your name is Fawke. Mark
started a seven chalker by throwing a 5 followed progressively by
a 4 and we all thought give the stickers a break....so he did.
What followed was almost majestic 1-2*-2-1-2*.....not quite a
threesome but a noteworthy effort none the less giving-4 overall.
Everything else paled into insignificance. Roll on Tuesday.
Guy Tunnicliffe
Jonathan's Storming Return
08/01/2000
After coming breathtakingly close to defeating Guy in the
Handicap Competition, Jonathan Bowker proved he has come back to
the game none the worse for a year's lay-off by scoring his first
ever floorer tonight. Well done Jonathan and welcome back!
In fact it was a grand night for floorers with Mark getting
three, Guy two and Tom one. Well done all!
New Management at the Freemasons'
04/01/2000
It seems we'd only just welcomed the new landlord Marc Aylott
to the Freemasons' when he told us today that he's off to a new
high-powered job within the company. I can't remember what he
said his new role is, but corporate buzzwords like Business
Processes figure in it. In all seriousness though, it's the
career move he wants and we wish him all the best. Within days of
his taking over the pub, the long-standing problem with water
flooding the alley was being sorted out. What's more, the
condition of the beer improved immensely and London Pride has
made a welcome reappearance. Thanks Marc and good luck.
The new landlady takes over on the 10th January. Apparently
she has been running a riverside pub near Oxford. She is
therefore familiar with the phenomenon where summer starts, the
weather turns nice and lots of people want to sit in a pub garden
and drink. (The one that seems to have taken most of her
predecessors so much by surprise that they run out of beer).
Meanwhile down in the alley, Guy has done sterling work
replacing the dark green backcloth to the frame with a
light-coloured canvas. The 'new' pins
really stand out now and perhaps we can look forward to a further
improvement in scores.
A New Dawn
01/01/2000
As the World Celebrates a New Dawn, Four
Guys in Hampstead Just Carry On Skittling
It seems most of the population of Hampstead spent Millennium
Eve knee-deep in mud watching the festivities from the vantage
point of Parliament Hill. But four hardy souls decided to spend
the evening after the night before playing London Skittles.
For the record:
First floorer of the millennium
...
Steve Barnes
First eight-pin of the millennium
...
Guy Tunnicliffe
First bookable score of the millennium (-4)
...
Guy Tunnicliffe
A Close Shave for Guy
28/12/1999
Guy scrapes through in one of the highest scoring
Handicap Cup games of the decade
Jonathan Bowker gave Guy Tunnicliffe the fright of his life in
their second round match in the Handicap Cup. Despite his absence
from the game for most of 1999, he played +3 over 21 legs
compared with his handicap of +8. Guy had to pull out all the
stops and that's exactly what he did with a floorer and six
eight-pins. He needed every one of them, because the game went
right to the wire. Jonathan went into the final end needing at
least an eight-pin for a chance of finishing ahead.
Guy was a worthy winner but Jonathan was desperately unlucky to
go out of the competition as a relative novice on such good form.
It was a wonderful match and a fitting one for the last skittles
night of the millennium*. Well played both.
* OK pedants, I know it's not until 30th
December 2000.
Christmas Handicap
21/12/1999
I missed this myself due to a dose of XYZ virus - whichever
one it is that's doing the rounds this year. I am indebted to
Steve Hutchinson for his recollection of the outcome. Apologies
for any inaccurate or missing results.
Eleven players took part this year including: the welcome
return of Jonathan Bowker after several months absence, newcomer
Michael (sorry don't know your surname) and visitors Bill Pearce
from the NatWest Bank team and Malcolm Bowden from the dormant
Aquatics team.
After the first round the scores, including handicaps, were:
Jonathan Bowker
14
Michael H
10
Steve Hutchinson
15
Bill Pearce
15
Malcolm Bowden
17
Steve Barnes
17
Lionel Trippett
??
Guy Tunnicliffe
13
Peter Greene
6
James Parry Jones
??
Tom Lederer
14
Therefore Malcolm and Steve Barnes went into the final,
Malcolm clearly not suffering as a result of his lack of a club
to play for (or were we too generous with the handicapping?).
Steve Barnes won through however, beating Malcolm 15-13 in the
final.
Freemasons beat NatWest Bank
16/12/1999
In the first inter-club match to be played for
eighteen months, the Freemasons Arms beat the National
Westminster Bank team 16-12.
After an enforced break last season while building work went
on at their site in Norbury, the National Westminster Bank team
made the trek to Hampstead for a friendly match against the
Freemasons Arms. Being only four strong against Hampstead's
seven, they accepted the loan of Ian McLaren and played Richard
Matthews twice to even up the numbers. First, six "man
against man" games were played followed by three pairs
games. The games were played over six legs to make sure the
NatWest team were home and tucked up in bed with a cup of cocoa
before midnight.
The Freemasons had a bad start when Lionel Trippett went down
5-0 to Bill Pearce. Tom Lederer improved matters by beating the
Bank's ringer Ian McLaren 4-2, but Steve Hutchinson really turned
things round by winning 5-0 against Richard Matthews. Paul
Robinson played his traditional adversary Alan Winchester and
clinched a 3-2 win. In the fifth game, Guy Tunnicliffe beat Terry
Davies 3-1 and finally Richard Matthews in his second appearance
beat our 'new boy' James Parry Jones 2-1.
Things followed much the same pattern in the pairs games with
Hampstead winning the first two games 3-2 and 3-0, then tying the
last game 2-2.
Fullers' London Pride makes a welcome return to the
Freemasons
Meanwhile in the bar upstairs, Worthington Bitter has been
replaced by Fullers' London Pride. So with a choice now between
Pride and Bass what better time could there be to visit the
Freemasons' Arms and try an evening of beer and skittles?
High Scores Continue With 'New' Pins
11/12/1999
The change of pins seems to have caused a definite improvement
in scores. A match between Steve Barnes and Mark Fawke ended in a
run of five successive eight pins with Mark getting the hat
trick. Steve went on to get an eight pin in the opening frame of
his next game and so getting a hat trick too. Our record books
currently record games with a score of three under or better and there is
a chart of hat tricks (three successive floorers or eight pins).
Already there are calls to downgrade these because the new pins
are giving much better results. Myself I think we should wait and
see. Talk of a return to the glory days of the 1930's is over
exaggerated.
Pete Greene Through to the Next Round of the Page
30/11/1999
Club Chairman Peter Greene beats Lionel Trippett 10-2 in the first round of the Page Cup. The 'new' pins continue to show how they got those spectacular scores in the old days.
The Page Cup is our scratch competition played over 21 legs. It has to be said that Lionel's forté is the Handicap Competition and Pete beat him easily over fourteen legs. The Page is played on chalks, that is a point is scored for each leg won. Thus with Pete 10-2 up after fourteen legs, Lionel's best would be a 10-9 lose over the full twenty-one.
Our recently-acquired pins are falling over like, well like nine-pins. They're more top-heavy and stubbier than the pins most of us have played with hitherto. As well as falling better in the opening shot, they roll around much more and make the more difficult clearing-up shots worth going for. Trouble is, we have to keep reminding ourselves they're not magic and you do still need to throw a decent cheese to start with.
'New' Pins at the Freemasons
23/11/1999
Instead of the battered looking pins pictured elsewhere on this site, there is now a handsome set of pins standing on the frame at the Freemasons' Arms. Although referred to as the "new pins", they are well over 20 years old and some at least may date back to 1931.
On Sunday 21st, I received the following email from Guy Tunnicliffe:
Guy's Speech
17/11/1999
At the Keats Grove Library, Hampstead, Guy Tunnicliffe, skittles archivist, made his first foray into public speaking with a talk on 'London Skittles and South End Green'.
The fact that most people were watching the England -Scotland football match at this time and on this particular day, leads inevitably to the conclusion that the Wembley football was deliberately organised at the same time as this talk to attract people away from the skittles lecture. The popularity of skittles has always led to other less interesting sports resorting to underhand tactics.
The significant areas of Skittles history explored were the early Eygptian finds of Sir Flinders Petrie, a Hampstead resident as well as recorded evidence from Bernard Levy, a former landlord of the Freemasons Arms, and recorded views of perhaps the most famous of London Individual Champions, Frank G. de B Hart, winner in 1948.
Reopening of the Alley
23/10/1999
The alley reopened after work to remove asbestos from the ceiling.
There's still no ceiling and the alley's looking even scruffier than usual at the moment, but it does mean we can play skittles!!!! And so can you, so come down!! The alley will have to close again at some point while the ceiling is replaced; we'll keep you informed...
The old geezer with the red face in all the photographs, the one holding the Championship trophy was slightly embarrassed. 
left to right: 2008 winner Steve Barnes; 2009 winner Guy Tunnicliffe; 2009 runner-up Steve Hutchinson; 2008 runner-up Peter Greene
Gaffer tape saves the day
Winner Steve Hutchinson smiles as he desperately tries to keep his trophy in one piece whilst Guy Tunnicliffe holds his runner-up trophy aloft
A hug for the runner-up. A firm handshake used to suffice in the old days.
Winner Steve Barnes (left) and runner-up Guy Tunnicliffe
Club Chairman Peter Greene presents the trophy for second place
The winner receives the cup
We have had a spate of expat skittlers turning up recently, unfortunately I missed Guy who was here last Saturday as he managed to add on another floorer to his tally.
forbids), there was little in the way of skittling brilliance. What is more to the point
is that a rattling good evening was had by all and there was wild talk of some of the
Norbury players coming up to Hampstead for a game on a Saturday.
Another second round Page Cup match was played this Tuesday, this time between Tom Lederer and Steve Hutchinson. Tom took an early lead but uncharacteristically went on to put himself behind in the latter half of the first seven legs. Steve was getting all twos and threes, including an impressive "round the houses" shot in the fifth leg. 
At the end of the first seven Steve had a lead of three chalks and, with some toing and froing, that's the way it stayed. Towards the end it looked as though Tom might cling on to force a play-off, but in the 19th Steve set a three and Tom's first shot in reply left him needing the difficult "brandy and soda" shot. In a valiant effort and with the aid of a dead, Tom got the difficult pins but left the left winger up. This meant Steve was the winner with a place in the semis.
One of my shots got a comment of "That's one for the web site", so with all due modesty here goes... It was the last leg of an otherwise mediocre game (on my part) when I got a Crystal Palace, no deads, no jammy rollers, just a perfect clip on the right shoulder of the middle pin.
The Gates of Hell
The Candlestick
At stake was a place in the
semi-finals of the 
