Skittles club marks 60th anniversary with festival

ABM Skittles Club uses traditional wooden balls and pins

A skittles club is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a weekend festival.

Associated British Maltsters (ABM) Skittles Club in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, will mark the occasion with a free two-day Festival of Skittles on 21 and 22 June.

It is the only place in the county where people can competitively play the traditional game.

Member Matt Wright said the festival would be "a celebration of skittles and the community" around the club.

Even though the league is competitive, the club said that "most players are mainly attracted by the camaraderie"

Skittles involves bowling at pins, and has been played for centuries in British public houses or clubs.

The traditional pub game of London skittles is played with nine pins, but there are regional variants such as Northamptonshire skittles, in which players throw round "cheeses" at the skittles and bounce them off the table's cushions.

In Wallingford, they use traditional wooden balls and nine pins set up in a diamond formation.

They play throughout the year with both a winter and summer league.

The club's description says that although the league is competitive, "most players are mainly attracted by the camaraderie" and "low bar prices".

Mr Wright said that initially, the club had been formed as part of the work culture of ABM, later called Paul's Malt, which does not exist today.

"Wallingford was famous for its maltings and the original skittles' players came from Bath, where [the game] is prevalent," he said.

"In the early 60s, the maltings installed a skittle lane to keep the workers happy."

The club's longest-serving player of 60 years, Peter Abery, said he had "enjoyed 60 years of friendship and friendly competition".

Mr Wright said festivities would begin at 18:00 BST, with a charity event in support of Wigod Way Wallingford Family Centre on Friday night.

On Saturday, team skittles will be played from 10:00 BST until late, with food, drinks and music offered throughout the day.

The club was set up in 1964, as part of the work culture of ABM in Wallingford