Pub Games… FLY LOO – A PUB GAME THAT DEFIES THE LAW? 11 Nov 2020 Three years ago whilst browsing through a bound volume of late nineteenth-century copies of Tit-Bits I chanced upon an issue dated 28th May 1898 which included an article titled ‘Pastimes…
General… THE SILENT WOMAN/KING’S HEAD, WIDFORD, ESSEX 11 Nov 202011 Nov 2020 During my wife Maureen and my sojourn into Herefordshire in November 2018, we decided at the beginning of the week to visit the village of Bosbury which we had visited…
Dartboards and darts… COVID-19 – THE GREATEST-EVER THREAT TO DARTS AND OTHER PUB GAMES 4 Aug 20204 Aug 2020 While all around us (at least here in the UK) the plague that is Covid-19 appears to be easing, the UK Government allowed pubs and clubs to reopen from early…
Pub History THE FOUR ALE BAR 11 May 2020 Many years ago a member of the Pub History Society asked “What is the origin of the phrase ‘four-ale bar’? I had always believed its origins lay in 4d (four…
Pub Games ROLL CURLING 21 Nov 20195 May 2020 Whilst undertaking research during 2014 I came across an outdoor pub game I had never seen or heard of before called ‘Roll Curling’. The photo depicts Mr. and Mrs. Victor…
Darts History… THE JOLLY SAILOR, AN INTERNATIONAL DARTS MATCH AND ‘THE PIT’ 23 Sep 201923 Sep 2019 People familiar with my research, especially when reading pieces I have written for Pub History, the quarterly magazine of the Pub History Society (PHS),will know that when inspiration for pub-specific…
Darts History… YE OLDE FAKE HISTORY OF YE OLDE GAME OF DARTS 20 Sep 201920 Dec 2020 I have been friends with Arthur R. Taylor, the noted pub games expert for some years and was unaware until recently that he had, back in 2007 written about the…
Darts History… THE INDOOR LEAGUE 31 Aug 201917 Nov 2021 THE INDOOR LEAGUE The Indoor League was a ground-breaking British television series launched by Yorkshire Television (YTV) in the early 1970s. The series featured a number of popular English pub…
Dartboards and darts… THE BUNGAY DARTBOARD AND THE BROOME ELECTRONIC DART TARGET 28 Aug 201921 Oct 2019 The Bungay Dartboard The firm of Gibson and Balls is not one that immediately springs to mind when thinking about dartboard manufacturers. Names such as WINMAU, NODOR and UNICORN are…
Darts History… BEATING THE MEN AT THEIR OWN GAME – THE EILEEN TURNAGE STORY 21 Aug 201930 Aug 2019 Back in 1927 the popular Sunday newspaper, the News of the World, introduced an individual darts tournament. They called it a ‘test’; its purpose to find the best darts player…
Dr Patrick Chaplin 