Wessex Heritage News
Introducing the game of 'Skittles'
Still played by many teams in pubs and inns throughout the West Country is the game of skittles, where nine wooden 'pins' or skittles are arranged in a square at the end of a wooden alley between 20 to 30 feet long. Each player from two teams throws three wooden balls or a 'hand' at all nine skittles standing down the alley.
If all the pins are knocked down with one ball it's known as a 'flopper' and the pins are all reset giving a possible maximum score of 27. When the nine pins are knocked down with two balls its called a 'spare' and the pins are reset. The ease at which this is accomplished depends on the alley, (which varies from inn to inn and pub to pub) and the skill of the skittler. The pins are re-erected by the 'sticker-upper' after each hand is played.
In some Dorset pubs, some skittlers use the infamous "Dorset flop" technique whereby the player launches from a squatting position, down the alley at which point both hands propel the ball towards the skittles! During 2008 Wessex Heritage Tours customers from the USA can pit their skills against a 'local' team in either The Royal George or The Royal Oak pubs in Somerset. All entrants are guaranteed to win a novel experience and new friends, with the highest scoring team of visitors in the year winning the 'Atlantic Skittles Trophy'.
A rumour has been heard that in some parts of the world a similar game is played with ten pins, and the 'sticker-up' has been replaced with machines! Surely not possible?
What do you get if you mix Sheep's Nose, Pig's Snout, Chibble's Wilding, Harry Master's Jersey, Broxwood Foxwhelp and Slack-ma-Girdle?
Well, in the south west of England these are all recognised as unique types of cider apple and are grown for their particular flavour and attributes for blending in the production of cider.
At Burrow Hill Cider Farm in Somerset, where cider apples have been grown and pressed for over 150 years, more than 100 varieties of cider apples are grown in the orchards of the lush countryside on the edge of the Isle of Avalon. About 40 of these apple varieties are grown and then blended to produce cider for drinking, or distilling. The blending of the different types of fruit is the key to the craft of cider making and at Burrow Hill this is the responsibility of Shaun Brownsey and Julian Temperley, who together have more than 50 years of experience.
2007 promises to be a good year for cider with Somerset experiencing an 'Indian Summer', which is expected to produce a bumper crop. Burrow Hill owner Julian Temperley says, "The orchards are looking fantastic and depending on the next six weeks we should harvest a bumper crop and produce excellent cider".
Travellers with Wessex Heritage Tours will be able to judge for themselves in 2008 with visits planned to Burrow Hill to sample the results of this year's crop.
The expected excellent harvest should also reflect in the quality of the unique Somerset Cider Brandy produced at Burrow Hill. However, visitors will need to return in 2018 to taste the results of this year's harvest as the cider brandy is matured in oak barrels for up to ten years before bottling.
The picture of Western Skittles is published by kind permission of Eric Brain, Bath University.
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