Sporty Sussex Goes Indoors

GOES INDOORS

Before the advent of computer games, we British kept ourselves amused with more home-spun hobbies, sports and pastimes – many of which centred around the local pub. Peter d’Aguilar explores a few examples with traditional links to the Sussex area

DARTS

Pop down the local, order a pint, whip out your arrows, and enjoy a very social hour or two, playing darts

In times past, nearly every pub or club would have a dart board. Despite television coverage turning the likes of Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Michael van Gerwen into household names, darts remained a sport of the people – inexpensive and accessible to all. Each player is generally armed with three darts and aims at a circular board, 7 feet 9¼ inches distant from a throw, or toe, line called the oche. The board is numbered one to twenty, with an inner and outer bullseye, worth scores of 50 and 25 respectively. Each numbered segment contains smaller double and treble areas. The maximum score with a single dart is 60, for a treble 20.

The classic darts format is 501. Both players start with a score of 501 points and take alternating turns. The points scored are removed from the total and the first to reach zero wins the game. Each player has to finish with a double. In the not

too distant past, league matches played between local pubs were very popular and very social, but with fewer pubs there are fewer leagues. Locally, there are many other games involving darts and a dartboard that remain popular; including; round the clock, killer, halve it and golf. It is believed that darts originated in medieval times Darts remained a sport of when bored soldiers would amuse themselves between battles by throwing the stubs of arrows or the people – crossbow bolts at a target on a inexpensive and accessible to all tree. The modern form of the game dates back to Lancashire in 1896. l

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BAR BILLIARDS

An easy to learn, entertaining game, involving cue action, strategy, mathematics, balls and pegs... that’s bar billiards

Another fading pub staple is bar billiards. While cue sports such as snooker and pool became popular in the nineteenth century and traditional three-ball billiards much earlier, bar billiards only surfaced in England in the 1930s. Originally a Russian game, bar billiards came to these shores via France and Belgium. As with all cue sports, it involves striking a ball, originally made out of ivory but nowadays from a combination of resin and plastic, with a long thin tapering stick fashioned from ash or maple called a cue. Unlike its older relatives, bar billiards involves scoring points by potting balls into holes on the playing surface of the table, rather than into pockets around the periphery. All shots are played from the front end of the table, towards the nine holes on the playing surface, each of which are assigned various point values ranging from 10 to 200. There are seven white balls and one red ball. Potting a white ball scores points as marked on the table,

potting the red ball scores double. Three mushroom-shaped pegs are positioned on the playing surface. If these are knocked over, the player loses points. Each game is timed to last for 15 to 20 minutes after which a bar drops to prevent potted balls being returned to play. Once the remaining balls are potted the game is over and the winner is the player with the most points. As the game is only played from one end of the table, a bar billiards table requires far less space than a traditional pool Bar billiards table. Competitive bar billiards came to these leagues exist in Sussex and the shores via France and world championship takes place each November on the island of Jersey. Male players from Sussex

Belgium have claimed the title ten times since its’ inception in 1981. l

TOAD IN THE HOLE

There aren’t many parts of the county where it’s legal to toss a toad into a hole, but in others it’s a serious pastime

Another traditional game that used to be popular around the pubs of Sussex is Toad in the Hole, also known in some parts of the county as Dumps. As a more refined version of the coin-throwing game Pitch Penny, it involves tossing four brass coins or ‘toads’ at a square lead-topped wooden table with a hole in the middle, from a distance of about 8 feet, often from the oche used in darts. Its popularity waned with the advent of darts, as the toad table took up slightly more room and reduced available pub space for customers.

If a toad goes straight down the hole it scores 2 points, or 1 point if it lands cleanly on the table without hitting the back. If it hits the back of the table or falls off, it Scoring is is void. It is therefore possible to score a grand total of eight points per turn. Scoring performed in a similar fashion to is performed in a similar darts, counting fashion to darts, counting down from 31. The first side to down from 31 reach 0 wins the game. The first competitor throws two toads, with their opponent then throwing three. From then on, they both throw all four. Like darts, players must finish on the exact score required – scoring too many results in the player being ‘bust’. At tournament level, participants play best of three, and best of five in the final.

The only known league in the UK is based in East Sussex, consisting of three divisions and roughly twenty teams from pubs around the county. Lewes Lions Club did run an international Toad in the Hole competition until the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted proceedings. l

CRIBBAGE

Find a friend, nip down the pub, order a drink, open up a deck of cards and welcome to the enduring world of cribbage

Originating in the seventeenth century, cribbage is recognised as one of the best and most enduring two-handed card games, combining both luck and skill. Its invention is attributed to English poet, soldier, and general ne’er-do-well Sir John Suckling. One of its most notable features is the cribbage board, which uses pegs for keeping score; a quicker and more accurate alternative to the usual pencil and paper.

While other combinations are possible, cribbage is generally considered to be at its best when played by two people, using a standard 52-card pack. The cards rank from Kings (high) to Aces (low). It involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. The highest possible hand in cribbage is 29 – the perfect cribbage hand. While the rules are relatively few, its unique scoring system, subtle tactics and strategic variations have given it the status of Britain’s national card game – and it’s the only one that’s legally playable on licensed premises without requiring local authority permission.

Cribbage features in The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. It is said that the rules of cribbage are simple to learn but can take a lifetime to master. It also features a range of interesting jargon – pone (opponent), nineteen hand (zero points), muggins or cutthroat (a way of stealing points) – not to mention skunk, one for his nob and two for his heels! l

The rules of cribbage are simple to learn but can take a lifetime to master