#45 - Play London Skittles

Timeout says:
Try to knock down nine pins with a 10lb 'cheese' (more of a wedge than a ball) in as few throws as possible. A rare 'floorer' is the apogee, when all the pins are downed with one throw. Three floorers on the trot will earn you a place in London skittles history (17 were recorded in 1934, but the feat hasn't been managed since 1960). Sadly, this historic London game is nearing extinction, but there is an alley at the Freemasons Arms. Play it to save it!

Dave did:

To: enquiries@londonskittles.co.uk
Subject: Skittles Enquiries

Hello,

I read about London Skittles in my Timeout 1000 Things to do in London. I am
currently trying to complete all 1000 things (see www.timeoutinlondon.co.uk)
and I was wondering if me and a friend could come and visit the Freemason
Arms this Tuesday night to try a game?

Thanks,

David


From: enquiries@londonskittles.co.uk
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 9:25 PM
To: timeoutinlondon@gmail.com
Subject: RE: Skittles Enquiries

Hi David,

Yes, no problem. We start at about 8pm and play in order of arrival. You "stick" a game first (put the pins up for the players of that game), then you get to play. There's no charge for your first three visits. In the event that you decide to abandon the other 999 things and stick to skittles, the annual membership is £6 and games are 50p.

Regards,
Paul

Paul Robinson
Hampstead Lawn Billiard and Skittle Club


And so it was I found myself running out the office at 7pm to high tail it over to the north end of London. Fortunately I was not going to be flying solo for the evening as my old schoolfriend Ian agreed to come along.

We arrived at the Freemasons Arms to a very subdued and proper gastro-pub. A quick scout around confirmed that we may have found the wrong Freemasons Arms! But I had the quick-thinking to ask a member of the bar staff if they happened to play London skittles in the building, and fortunately they did...it was just downstairs and around the corner from the toilets!

I distinctly recall Ian suggesting it felt like we were heading for a bare knuckles underground boxing match...and the loud thumps and wooden grinds did not help dampen the though!

I peeped our heads around into a moderately sized room, with half the floor missing in the middle creating a gully that led to a diamond shaped platform where 9 pins stood in a diamond formation. Around this set were 3 proud members of the Hampstead Lawn Billiard and Skittle Club (they don't know why its a Lawn Billiard club...they only ever play skittles!)

We were quickly introduced to Steve, Tom and Paul, my contact from the earlier email exchange.

I had tried my best to read up a bit about the game before I had arrived (see www.londonskittles.co.uk) and understood that the game consisted of 9 skittles setup at one end of the room, and then the player was expected to throw a 'cheese' and knock down as many skittles as possible. Knocking all 9 skittles in 3 throws is considered the equivalent of a par in golf, knock them down in less than 3 throws is great, anything more you either score a 4 (if cleared in 4 throws) or a maximum of 5 (5 throws or more required to clear). With me so far? Me neither! When I originally read this my first thoughts were a) Thats alotta stinky cheese and b) Its gonna be very messy!

It's surprising how quickly you pick it the rules though (and rest assured the 'cheese' is actually a very dense circular plate of wood...denser than water I am reliably told!). Our entrance was welcomed with a rare event in London Skittles as one of these cheeses was broken in half after a throw!

A game consists of 7 frames (I think) and you play against 1 other player in turns. My first game was pretty solid, starting with a few 4's and 5's, and ending with a 3! I'm sorry to say my second game (after a few intervening ale's) was not so good and my 'technique' went out the window with a full set of 5's!


During play we discussed how I came across the club, and I explained about my 1000 Things. Luckily I had the book with me and the guys were ecstatic to find out they were #45...in the top 50! They did, however, object to Timeout's reference to the game heading for extinction...


All in all it was a brilliant night out, undoubtedly something a bit different, and hats off to Tom, Paul and Steve who were more than willing to teach us the game and let us play a few games with them. I would definitely place this in my top 5 things done so far!



109 down...891 Things to go!