I have just come across an excellent site for all of you interested in the hobby of collecting valuable antique cues. The Cue Collector.com is the brainchild of Gordon Radford who has been ably assisted by Andy Hunter.

Andy previously wrote in detail about cue collecting for the “The Amateur Billiard Player” which was published by the EABA from 1996 until 2003. I will not go into too much detail as you can see for yourselves the care and attention that has been put into this wonderful informative site. It complements the site created by David Smith “Cues n Views” perfectly. I did not really have a favourite cue , but I would be delighted to be the owner of a Black Arrow cue made by Blackpool Billiards works circa 1950. An example of which is shown in the picture.

www.thecuecollector.com

The game of Snooker is supposed to be a peaceful way of passing a few hours. The variety and the number of accidents relating to snooker are surprising. Here’s a few we have come across !  

Fire crew in baize rescue

Mirror, 1999Pool player Delroy Harvey, 17, had to be freed by firefighters after getting his arm stuck while trying to find his mobile phone, which had fallen down a table pocket in Wolverhampton.

Pot Stuck

Mirror, 2002Firemen freed a pool player, 46, who got his arm stuck in a table when he reached in to grab a ball in Lewes, East Sussex.

Boy Recovers After Snooker Cue Impaling

June 6, 2000. GRIMSBY, England (Reuters)A British schoolboy impaled himself on a snooker cue which pierced his scrotum and emerged through his stomach. Surgeons at a the Diana, Princess of Wales hospital in Grimsby, northern England, worked for an hour to remove the cue. A spokesman said Monday the boy, Porl French, 11, was recovering at home.

“Other children say he was stood on a chair pretending the cue was a pogo stick. He was apparently holding it between his legs when he slipped off,” the manager of the snooker club, Tony Graham, told a Grimsby newspaper.

Hans de Jager gets Jimmyed

The following is a Bob Jewett contribution to alt.sport.pool, reproduced with permission.One of the shots in Artistic Billiards called the “Jimmy” — I don’t know why it’s called that — has you shoot a stick- vertical masse shot near the corner in which the cue ball hits the first ball and then at least four cushions in that corner before coming out to hit the second ball. The shot requires a special technique to get the stick out of the way bacause the first object ball is less than half an inch from the cue ball. You have to pull the stick away from the ball just as you hit it.

Anyway, Hans de Jager relates the story of a competitor at a championship (World? European?) who moved sideways at the wrong time after pulling the tip out of his free-hand bridge on the up-stroke. Took most of a finger off. Blood all over. The other players had to move to a different corner for that shot. Something to think about the next time you feel sorry for yourself for whacking your knuckles on the table. Hans gives classes in Artistic Billiards, and as far as I know has never lost a student.

Woman survives being skewered by snooker cue

(Ananova 21/6/01) A woman was pinned to her car seat when a snooker cue pierced her body following a crash in Nottinghamshire.The cue had been in the boot and the 21-year-old was a back seat passenger. The cue entered the woman near her kidneys and re-emerged through her thigh.

It took fire and rescue workers two hours to free her. She was taken to hospital with a section of the cue still inside her, but released after three days.

Doctors at the Kings Mill Hospital, near the accident scene in Mansfield, said the cue had missed all her vital organs.

The woman, who comes from the Beeston area of Nottingham, has not been named. Two other people in the Kia Mentor car suffered minor injuries following the crash in the early hours of Saturday.

Sergeant John Blaylock, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “We are very grateful the injuries suffered by this woman were not more serious. Something like this could easily have proved fatal.”

He said she had been left with puncture wounds.

And he added: “It appears the car she was travelling in collided head on with a second vehicle. The circumstances of the accident will be investigated to see if any criminal action will be taken.”

The driver of the car, Ian Butterworth, of Britannia Avenue, Nottingham, said his friend had complained of a pain in her back following the accident.

He said: “I put my hand behind her and there was something piercing her.”

The Mirror reckoned the cue went into her back, emerging inches from her navel.

Have a break… use a rest!

James Newman writes:”A friend of mine, Richard Grainger of Gloucester, broke his toe while stretching for a shot with the rest.”

Intriguing. Did he hit it on something or did it just break spontaneously?

James replies…

“Nope, It just broke. I was busy laughing at him as he was having to use all the furniture (extended cue, extended rest etc.). He was also hampered by a red, so he had to stretch up on tiptoe to even see the shot properly; next thing I knew he’d dropped everything, sending balls flying, and was on the floor clutching his foot!”

Its always nice to receive a positive response from a customer. We recently installed Two full size Snooker tables including a Match table in Yorkshire - our client has kindly written the following response.

Dear Ted & team,
I’d like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you for the consultation and installation service your company provided us with at Swillington Miners Welfare Club in Leeds. Right from the first contact which was an initial email enquiry requesting a consultation, I received nothing but what can only be described as a first class service, something which is difficult to find these days. We requested an initial face to face meeting to enable your company to put together a solution to solve the problem of two very sub-standard snooker tables at SMWC. The appointment was made, the site survey was carried out and a detailed report supplied back to myself which enabled me to put together a viable business plan to present to the committee of the club. After pitching to the committee it was decided that an investment would be made in the snooker facility at SMWC with Elston & Hopkin being hired to remove and replace both the snooker tables.

The two tables were installed within what was a rather tight timescale and to a very high standard. From a financial perspective, E&H provided an affordable solution which suited the very tight budget SMWC actually runs on. We purchased a refurbished K&H snooker table which was presented in first class condition, ready to play with all accessories. The second table we have taken out on a rental scheme. This is a Riley Aristocrat refurbished table, set up as a tournament table, once again left ready to play with all accessories. The Aristocrat has provided the club with the facility to stage big matches, a few of which have already taken place, and feedback from all the players has excellent. More importantly, Swillington is now firmly back on the map as a top club in the area to play snooker and consequently we are getting more customers, more events and most importantly, more revenue generated securing a healthier future for the club.

One of the old tables was dilapidated and disposed of, and the other was removed and refitted in a private property nearby with minimal fuss. Not many companies would be able to offer such an all round tailored solution and bespoke service with professional advice, first class fitters, and business acumen as E&H can and did.

From start to finish, E&H have proved to be a fantastic partner in the big changes that have taken place recently at SMWC and I would have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever in recommending them to anyone.

Thanks again to you all and we look forward to seeing you in February for the 6 monthly maintenance visit!!!Cheers, Rob.