London Skittles Championships are Coming to Hampstead
By Simon__Lee | Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 14:39
Who would have thought Hampstead was the home of one of the oldest sports in the world. This week, an article appeared on Ham&High informing us that the world of skittles is under threat. And no, we're not talking about the sweets here...
On the 24th of this month, the Freemason's Arms hosts the world English skittles championship. It's an event that has been hosted in the pub since the 1930s.
Skittles seems to be a more aggressive but simpler form of ten-pin bowling (do bare in mind here that I know very little). Players toss a 'cheese' at nine pins and the aim (unsurprisingly) is to knock all of them over in as few throws as possible!
There is concern however over the future of the sport. Hampstead's own skittles club, based in the basement of the Freemason's Arms, is down to just twelve regular players. It's been suggested that this is due to a lack of interest from younger generations.
To be honest though, if you check out the club's homepage, the video at the bottom makes the whole thing seem pretty fun. I'm pretty tempted to pop down and check it out. Especially seeing as Tuesday evening practice sessions cost an epic 50p. Failing that however, the championships sound like a pretty good excuse for drinking beer...
Comments
I'm pretty intrigued by the whole thing now. Especially when you consider the 3D aspect rather than the 2D nature of bowling. I most definitely will try to get down and give it a go. This Tuesday's practice sounds like a plan... Who knows, maybe I'll be a natural.
3D chess is something that I love the idea of as well... Wouldn't even know where to start...
By Simon__Lee at 10:01 on 14/04/10
ReportHI Simon, and thanks for the write-up.
Paul was right in suggesting that some of the members might be a little miffed at our game being described as a simpler form of ten pin bowling.I have entertained many American visitors to our alley who had the same view.
Ten pin bowling did not exist for many centuries whilst the plucky Europeans were agressively hurling cheeses at nine pins. It was exported along with many other good things to the New World and was played on the eastern seaboard of the United States where it became corrupted by bad influences that involved gambling and other forms of 'low life'.
Not at all like the jolly skittlers of Hampstead. In order to quite simply avoid the changes in legislation that made nine pin skittles illegal, the established clubs added a tenth pin, sanitised the game, and carried on playing.
Yes, they even had pin boys to set up the pins before automation around the 1870's.
The main difference between the two games, and a crucial difference is the fact that ten pin is a two dimentional game only dealing in length and width, whereas nine pin skittles is a three dimentional game that involes both length, width and height. A more physical form of three dimentional chess.
If you want more....contact me.
best wishes
Guy Tunnicliffe
former secretary Hampstead Lawn Billiard and Skittle club
By GTunnicliffe at 20:11 on 13/04/10
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