I am sure that a a number of our regular subscribers who are 40 or over will be familar with the name Peter Gabriel.

In short Gabriel was the lead singer from the late 1960’s to the mid 70’s in supergroup Genesis and latterly carved out a very successful career in the late 70’s and 80’s.

What has all this got to do with Snooker or Billiards you ask ?

Well in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday in a column called “Family Detective” which details the family tree of famous people an interesting fact emerged.

It appears that Peter came from a very successful family background in South London who had a very profitable timber business. One of the main character’s to emerge is Peter’s Great , Great , Great Grandfather Christopher Trowell Gabriel who was born in 1797. He was the son in law of the famous billiard table maker John Thurston whose only daughter Ruth he married in 1833. It appears that at his death in 1873  he left an estate of £200,000 which was a vast sum for the period. Additionally he left an estate in Ely to his son and his wife received all the household goods from the mansion Norfolk House which they owned.

The business was started by Christopher’s father who founded the business in 1770 making tools and chairs before turning to the timber trade in 1812. It seems fair to assume that the young Mr Gabriel may well have supplied some timber to John Thurston for the manufacture of his tables. If so business was clearly brisk !

If anyone know’s anymore about this subject - please drop us a line.

We are delighted to report that we have two customers who are already utilising the opportunity that Snooker Mart offers. Both these customers have Full size Snooker Tables that will be advertised within the next week. Additionally we will also have the first memorabilia arriving in the shape of a Book signed by Joe Davis whilst playing at the Leicester Square Match Hall. This book which is in extremely good condition has been owned from new by one person. Keep watching for further entries and hopefully you will find exactly what you are looking for. Alternately take advantage of our increasing number of visitors to advertise your product.

We have for some considerable time now been operating under very difficult circumstances. We simply do not have enough space to accomodate the tables that we have . Due to this situation we have stock in three separate premises in Lincolnshire. This is clearly unworkable and needed to change.

In order to rationalise that situation and in order to have a more meaningful display area we will be moving at the end of December to newly refurbished premises in Gainsborough that are considerably bigger. We will then have our display , storage and workshop facility all under one roof. We will start the transfer process during December. Hopefully this will benefit all our existing customers and allow us to cater for the growing demand.

“So here it is Merry Christmas everybody’s having fun - look to the future now its only just begunnnnnnnnnnnnn!”

Thanks Noddy !

On a serious note December is almost upon us and we have a very busy schedule on the run up already. If you are keen to have a Cuesports table ready for the Christmas period or are looking for a Christmas present , please make contact as soon as possible so we can accomodate you.

The stock situation is moving all the time so please plan ahead.

SNOOKER MART HAS ARRIVED !

Do you have a good quality Cuesports Table , Collectable Cue , Lifepool Scoreboard , Antique Cuerack or collection of Ephemera that you are looking to dispose of ? If so then we have a new opportunity for you to assist you in achieving the best possible price ! Clearly selling your product to a dealer can be a quick fix. However if you are seeking to maximise your return , then selling to an end user is the best approach to achieve a realistic value.The Elston and Hopkin website is one of the most popular Cuesports websites achieving over 2000 hits a month. Our visitors are committed enthusiasts interested in all aspects of the various games of Snooker , Pool , American Pool and Billiards. A significant number of these enthusiasts return to our site time after time , to look at new products or enquire about our services. You now have an opportunity to advertise your top quality used products on our site. However we retain the right to only offer products that we deem suitable.

The Benefits

• We charge a one off advertising price and no commission.
• You deal directly with the buyer/seller - no intermediary .
• You agree the Sale price.
• You market to committed enthusiasts all over the world
• You get a detailed advert and good quality colour images online 24/7 52 weeks of the year.

The Costs

• We charge a one off advertising fee with no additional costs.
• We advertise your product until it sells - or until you instruct us to remove it.
• Advert for a Snooker Table costs £25 + Vat
• Advert for an American Pool Table costs £20 + Vat
• Advert for a Bar Billiards Table costs £15 + Vat
• Advert for a Pool Table costs £10 + Vat
• Advert for an Antique Cuestand costs £20 + Vat
• Advert for a Lifepool Scoreboard costs £20 + Vat
• Advert for a Collectable Cue costs £5 + Vat
• Advert for Ephemera collection costs £5 + Vat
• Advert for all other products costs £5 + Vat

The Seller

• We will only accept details that have a good quality digital image.
• We require an accurate description of the goods. The goods must include a price !
• We will require a card payment at the point of submission prior to being listed.
• We will only list items that have full contact details . These should include contact name , landline telephone number , town/city/village where item is located. Email /mobile number would be preferable
• If you do not contact us , we will contact you regularly to ensure the product is still available, In order that we can manage our listings.

The Buyer

• The Buyer has access to a huge range of additional product from legitimate sellers.
• The Buyer conducts all his enquiries with the Seller of the item.
• The Buyer has no fees to pay whatsoever.
• The Buyer must arrange with the Seller privately as to the delivery/removal of any item.
• The Buyer gets the opportunity to purchase products often not advertised nationally.

FAQ

We completed a job two weeks ago for a client in Suffolk who had to utilise our services due to a bad experience he had with the purchase of a Snooker Table from a company who had promised one thing and delivered another.

In short the table was allegedly fully refurbished but in fact was nothing of the sort. This practice is becoming more common and is very unfortunate for the individual that has paid money out in good faith.

It is certainly true that if the deal appears to be too good to be true it is invariably because you the customer are being short changed.

Snooker Tables are a relatively expensive item and the products that are utilised in their preparation are equally expensive.

Tips :-

Make sure that you clarify exactly what cloth will be used on the table. All good quality cloth is marked , make sure you are told exactly what branded cloth will be used.

Make sure that any rubber used on the table is of an acceptable standard. A lot of the Far Eastern imports are of a very poor quality.

Ensure that the table is complete in every way - especially bearers that support the slate.

Whatever you do ensure that you deal with an established company who are able to confirm previous clients and show you testimonials as to the work carried out.

Money is hard earned - make sure you get good value for it !

We will soon have a brand new outlet for Elston and Hopkin based in the Premier Snooker Club In Selby North Yorkshire YO8 4BG.

We will have a good selection of Cues , Cue Cases , Balls and Accessories available for customers who would like to call during the day. There is not a Cuesport specialist for some considerable distance and we hope to be able to offer our customers in North and East Yorkshire a far more local outlet than having to travel to North Lincolnshire.

 It is extraordinary how things happen by chance. We are due to install a 10ft Snooker Table in Basel in Switzerland in the last week of this month. This installation has been planned some considerable time and bizarrely we have at short notice now been asked to install a 9Ft table in Zurich.

This will be the third such event in the last 12 months and we appear to be more prone to visit Switzerland than other European countries at this point.

The trip via North Sea Ferries is always very comfortable unless of course we hit the type of storm that we did last time when an articulated trailer ended up on its side , even though it was strapped. It was an interesting journey to say the least. We are becoming accustomed to this as we had the mother of all journeys back from Bilbao a while ago when the Bay of Biscay did its utmost to ensure we had an uncomfortable trip.

Fingers crossed for an uneventful crossing without any Tidal surges such as the last few days on the East coast. Please can we have some calm weather !!!