Did you know GCL billiards rent pool tables out to pub’s clubs and staff canteens on full maintenance contracts .
We have many tables now in a few club’s and pubs around the midlands area mainly East midlands , and we also have a major supermarket chain that uses GCL billiards
to supply their new supreme winner pool tables in their staff room / canteens on a rolling contract which we carry out a 6 monthly re-cloth service .
In fact we carry out two re-cloths every year on our tables included in the rental price of £80 per month and no VAT to pay !
We know of no other firm that offers this high maintenance service .
We only wish to cater for a nominal amount of sited rental tables so get on our books while you can , as we also have a full billiards firm carrying out re-covering and maintenance not only to pool tables but to snooker tables too .
we therefore only wish to have around 40 to 50 machines sited to run alongside our full maintenance billiards firm .
May we point out we are fully qualified billiards fitters and not a fruit machine mechanic who will be maintaining your rental table .
We are 100% cue sports people who understand cue sport players requirements to play on good maintained tables .
we are focused on cue sports rather than coin slot machines in general .
we therefore offer you a better more professional approach to having a fully maintained machine on your premises rather than a poorly maintained one .
initial contract is for 12 month and after that .
we carry out a 6 month rolling contract renewed at each re-cloth stage .
we change the balls every year , and supply two sets of balls from new .
you have the keys and all that goes in the cash box is yours .
all we ask is you keep to our contract agreement and pay each monthly the rental payment without missing any payments .
So good is this deal that we have two club’s one with three table’s installed and one with 4 table’s installed , as they worked it out that with tax relief it was better to rent than buy .
and not have to worry about paying expensive re-cloth or new cushions or new coin mech .
they just sit back and take the takings from the machine pay the rental each month and have no worries of breakdown costs or maintenance costs ,
and their table always look good with a new re-cloth every 6 months .
we only use top rated cloth Strachan 6811 tournament as our standard cloth and if you pay a little extra each month you can upgrade to Hainsworth Match cloth .
Tables are cleaned out too so no dusty balls or sticking balls on dirty rail system
we buy the latest green badge tables , so you know you are not playing on a reconditioned 10 year old machine .
the latest tables come with cast metal corners rather than the older plastic chrome corners of the old model .
and the wood finish of all our tables are Black Pearl .
Get in touch with Carol or Geoff Large at GCL billiards to order your new rental supreme winner coin op table and start making money from your new table as soon as it is installed .
We would like more sites in the Nottingham Derby Beeston Stapleford Long Eaton area especially , but we do have sites as far as Matlock , Lincoln , Nuneaton and Coventry .
WE HAVE TWO TABLES IN STOCK READY TO GO OUT ON SITE .
*** we would like to point out that your pool table in order to make it pay for your rental site , it must take at least £20 per week or £3 per day ,
that’s 40 games a week 0r 6 games a day at 50p per go .
if you rental site does not make this amount your commitment for the first 12 months is still £80 per month , we do not do 50% split taking site rentals .
and after all many tables take at least £60 to £100 per week what would you rather pay per month £200 split out of £400 takings or £80 per month ?
also do not forget if you attract pool players into your pub they also buy drinks .
As they say if you provide a better maintained new table you will attract more custom to your pub or club as the word gets around you have a good maintained table .
Maintained by GCL billiards
We have a client who wishes to sell a full size Karnehm and Hillman snooker table
condition is fair faded cloth and wood on one end .
all accessories in photo included including shade
as you can see the table is in good all round condition apart from some sun fading to wood at this end and cloth discoloration , but most would have it re-clothed anyway .
and it is priced to sell at just £250 .
~the table also has a BCE type scoreboard .,
the nets and leathers look in very good order .
photo from other end , polish is more darker this end
this is the faded wood end , not bad really and you will always get this in a private home the sun shines through a window or patio door as in this case and fades the wood .
in a snooker hall there is no windows and no fading but the table in a hall gets more hammer and use
The table ideally has to go by April
all inquiries to Carol or Geoff
c.large@btinternet.com
we will pass on any genuine inquiries for this table which is based in Buckinghamshire
if you require a quote to pick this table up and delivery assemble and maybe a re-cloth then also get in touch with Geoff at GCL billiards .
SOLD TO TRADE BUYER ….. YOU MISSED YOUR CHANCE TO BUY THEM AT VERY REASONABLE MONEY .
now a trader has bought them to sell on at much more money .
We have a set of brass billiard lights made by Christopher wray lighting emporium in the 1980s .
these retailed at around £1700 just for the main light when new .
and the wall lights would have been over £300 each .
and very rare to find matching wall lights X 3 is also included .
Regarded as the best replica Victorian gas style lighting ever sold .
some very ornate brass work and three fixing points rather than the bad one fixing points of copies of this light that where also hitting the market at the same period .
My client is asking for £650 for the complete set and it is based in North wales , but may be able to deliver if close by or on his run back and forth to London
a more close up photo showing detail
the three wall lights are on the far table in this photo
Metal shades rather than the Glass type , glass ones used to break when you used the long tackle , and lifted it on and off breaking the glass shades ,
causing damage to the bed cloth from falling sharp glass , so we do not recommend you buying a Victorian style lighting with glass shades , this one has been supplied with or upgraded to those metal painted shades .
Glass may look nice but they are dangerous to have .
as an example this light with glass shades is available on ebay at £250 second hand .
so you can see what value you are buying with the full size version.
GLASS is bad above a snooker or Pool table
all inquiries for the lights to Carol or Geoff Large at
April update My selling client says the table and the bench seat can go for £5000 buyer collects , which is a bit of a Bargain for such a rare table . Try finding a raise and fall full size Billiard table for sale on the open market at such a low price .
Extremely rare opportunity to acquire what can only be described as the holy grail of billiard tables .
The rarest sized billiard dining available , 12ft tables that rise and fall are very rarely seen never mind finding one for sale . Note the bench seat with seat base raised inside the sectional dining top is stored when not in use as a dining table .
We have a client who is based on the Wirrel in Heswall . and she has a very rare full sized billiard diner , the make I think is of George Wright manufacture circa pre 1895 . The tops are stored in a modern made bench seat storage which makes this an even more attractive buy .
The dining tops in use , very highly polished with only the odd mark on them . you may notice that the frame sides are shallow this enables seated people to get their legs under the table , you cannot use a normal 12ft billiard table with deep frame work as a dining table they have to be made like this shallow sided frame work .
The rarity of this 12ft dining billiard table must be pointed out , because you will see plenty of 6ft 7ft & 8ft and maybe a few 9ft dining billiard tables but as you get to the larger sized tables they become more difficult to find as they would be special commissioned tables. and not normally on a firms brochure to buy off the shelf so to speak . I know of one modern firm who made a full size dining table for a special order but this was done using the Riley type lifters this table has a very expensive and complicated wind up crank type that has telescopic legs , a much more complicated to make table and therefore not low priced when it was manufactured around the 1890’s .
The table has two wind up and down handles , up to playing height and low to dine off Both handles slot into the middle legs and have to be turned in unison to crank the 1 inch slate bed section up and down , there is a problem with this at the moment it seems to be stuck in middle height , the table would need to be dismantled to get at the gearing to fix this , but the table will be priced to a reasonable amount allowing any buyer to get this problem solved .Double cross section beam that is attached to both center legs you may notice the thick metal plate where the leg joins the frame work . the side frame work and legs are in fact all steel frame work clad in wood , this is what makes the table very solid and hides the gearing , which has to be packed with grease , and therefore is sealed away from the knees of the people sitting around the table .Twin anti bow beam muntins support the slate , these attache to cross sections of middle and end panels .End of frame work showing knee space under the slim frame work
The underside of the table has 4 anti bow muntin beams , plus double cross section beams , the gearing bars is in a U shaped steel girder that runs around the perimeter of the frame , and the top of the legs have the gears inside connected by these gearing bars . I know this because I have actually taken a 4 leg 9ft version of this table apart that had this same gearing mechanism , but slightly different in that the extending tube came out at the top of the leg this table has it coming out at the base of the leg , if you look where the bulbous reading of the leg stops you will see the round tube like shape , this extends when you crank the table thus lifting the table up or down . The rise and fall system is not working at the moment , I can put this down into why and maybe solutions
A ) the cogs may have lost some teeth , this is what happened to the 9ft table which only had 4 legs , the cogs are made from bronze and this is a weak point in these tables . the solution was to get some made at an engineering firm in steel one set was taken as a pattern to do this by the owner . this is the worse case scenario as it would be difficult in tracking down an engineer who could do this work , I would suggest a steam engine engineer who has a metal lathe and used to making pattern gearing .
B) a slight less of a problem , the drive cogs have sheared the fixing slit pins and the gears are are spinning on the drive shafts . simple fix drive new pins in after drilling broken pins out It would not be impossible to have the gears fixed and we are only speculating what is wrong with the lifting mechanism , nothing can be confirmed until the slates are off and the gears can be inspected from above the U shape channel and boxed leg sections . Our seller says the table worked perfectly 2 years ago , it maybe that who ever put it together may not have connected the gearing correct of maybe dry of grease .
As an example this is a 8ft George Wright raise and fall diner using the same geared system of the table for sale . As you can see the extending tube ( telescopic tube ) extends at the top of the leg between the frame and the top of the leg , this showing the table in its full playing height mode . on the full sized version they have made it to extend from the base of the bulbous leg and the pad of the leg .
Another photo of an un-restored 7ft or 8ft George wright wind up dual height table . they made a few this size but try finding information on a 12ft versions and I am sure this is the only one you will find on the world wide web as we speak for a full sized version and actually for saleextends from base of bulbous reeded leg
Now the cushions used to have top plates fitted to them , these have been filled in and standard concealed type plates fitted at some stage in it’s life , this may be due to the dining tops not aligning on the top plates and the cushion cappings and made better by fitting concealed plates
You may notice thin finger type inlays int he wood at each side of the leather , this is where a flat top plate used to be , the rebate for the top plate has been filled in with mahogany to match and then re-polished . they made a very good job of hiding these as at first glance I did not notice them .
What the pocket plates would have looked like before concealed type fitted . we call these top plates , or finger plates and some refer to them as billiard plates , these are pre 1895 design tables , so you can date most table with these top plates on as pre 1895 manufacture .
As I have stated the table will come with a very nice bench seat that was made around 1980s /90s , it is used to store the tops when the table is being used to play on , a very neat little trick and a must for any table top billiard diner as it solves the problem of where do we put the tops under the table is the normal answer , but they often get damaged when doing this .
The problem with claiming a makers name to the table is , who ever renovated it removed the ivory name plate on the end cushions , but from leg design of reeded , and the fact it has the rise and fall system that George wright used and patented , then I can be pretty sure it is a George Wright table .
Name plate removed at renovation , it maybe that someone stole it as is often the case , or a billiard fitter who renovated it collects them and took it off and filled it with mahogany Two prominent makers of wind up action tables where manufacturing dining billiard tables around this time George Edwards and George Wright in fact both made swivel top diners and sold them to department stores in London like Gamage’s department store But the lifting mechanisms where different on these dining tables only George wright did the tube geared extending leg version , the ivory George wright plate is what is missing from this table , and you do see them surface from time to time on ebay when a table is scrapped or had cushion upgrades .
Price ? What do you value a table that can only be described as like finding the holy grail . Try finding another 12ft full sized Dining billiard table for sale anywhere in the world , especially an antique one circa 1890’s . you may get a modern table made but not using the gearing system used here , unless you are willing to spend over £30.000. on a bespoke joinery made one , I doubt any billiard table manufacturer would take on a project as their normal run of assembly relies on same measurements and fixing methods , any special order like a full sized billiard dining table would be bespoke hand made . and to be honest some of these smaller bespoke joinery firms do not know how to make a billiard table in the first place , I have seen some shocking efforts made on design rather than functionality hit the market recently .
From the Antique specialist firms we have Hamiltons who may be the only one’s I know who may have one on their stock , if not they know where to find me . I know what a firm like Hamiltons would ask for this table . all their prices are POA if you look on their web site . So what I am proposing to do is first ask you the buyer what you would pay for it . A so very rare table that comes onto the market in what I think is in very good condition , except for the lifting system needs an overall , any engineering firm or small steam locomotive engineer could repair this system . The table is very heavy framed as it has some sectional U steel in it’s construction .
offers from private and trade will be considered ,
side of frame from low down angle shows the accessibility of seated persons to get their legs under the table of the shallow frame work , only billiard diners have shallow frame work like this , unless you find a fixed height Gillows table which have slender frames and legs . but they do not lower down to dining height .Do not forget the bench storage seat is included .
And we do urge the trade to come forward and offer a deal that is acceptable to both our client and themselves that is fair , Geoff at GCL billiards have advised the seller as to possible values trade wise and private , and what the table could fetch if fully functional and working . the sale is not what is best for GCL billiards , but what is best for our client who has put their trust in us to find a buyer within the next few months . I was extremely excited at the prospect of seeing a full sized Billiard dining table as I had only seen the odd one in books and not one in the flesh . this table did not disappoint me . You should look at this table as an investment , because the way the market is at the moment the table can be bought at a very good buy in price especially for trade . the table will seat a large amount of people , so is ideal for a large Victorian Edwardian house , and if you look at my next coming soon advert I can also put any buyer onto a repro Brass Victorian christopher wray lighting system for this table …. with matching wall lights .
Offers for this table to Geoff
c.large@btinternet.com
or contact Geoff at GCL billiards . 07753466064 weekdays and early evenings only . please leave a message if no one answers I may be hands on fitting tables .
We had this Mawson table on our web site in our Private sales section for a client based in Sheffield , our Scottish client spotted the table listed and I gave all details for the buyer and seller to get together and discuss the price to pay . although this table was firmly set at £1000 no offers .by the seller . Our Scottish buyer then instructed Geoff at GCL billiards to collect deliver and set back up in Peebels Scotland .
This is the story of an early Mawson billiards table being relocated to a village just outside Peebles in Scotland , a two day job was the schedule to relocate the table which had to come downstairs and then back upstairs . This was not so bad as it had very thin slates and did not weigh that much . an ideal table for upstairs location . we set out on the 28th of January to Sheffield to pick the table up and load it Blanket wrapped onto our van . Then it was off to Scotland .
Around 4 hours traveling we arrived at the Scottish Border , a very nice presented border crossing on the Scottish side , large sign and flag flying , a well looked after pull in , this put the English border side to shame as you will see on my report further on , on our way back home .
We made our way through the Scottish borders to arrive at our clients home around 2pm , just in time for a well deserved coffee and unload of frame and set up , ready for some extra guys to help get the slates upstairs . our client had arranged for 3 more guys to come along to help lift the slate upstairs and onto the pre leveled frame .
3 section slate on and 2nd level check and fill in slate joints with soft sand car body filler . Note the very thin slates , this is the thinnest slate I have seen on a table of this size of 9ft .
We then made good time in fitting the bed cloth on and also the cushions by 6pm
Mawson of Leeds , transfer on end cushion , skillfully kept on by the refurbisher Cloth on and almost finished .
You may note that this Mawson table which is circa 1880 to 1895 has some very nice Mahogany figured wood veneer , especially the flat side and end frame parts , the center leg having a butterfly book matched veneer pattern each side of the leg matching like opening a book and getting the mirror image in reverse so to speak .
This veneer is called book matched veneer some very nice flame mahogany was chosen for this table making it an high end piece of furniture when it was manufactured circa 1880 to 1895
The veneer was very high class work of art , and the flame mahogany ran all around the frame work and into the ends .
Expensive flame mahogany on end of frame work , the legs too are figured mahogany , a sign of top end tables .
The table had a few indications to it’s age , one is the top plates that have fingers of brass each side of the pocket leathers , these where faded out from 1895 and by the end of 1899 they had disappeared from most billiard tables fittings and the concealed fixed plates started to appear from 1895 .
You can see the type of pocket plate called the top plate , this had fingers of brass each side of the pocket that fixed on top of the cushion polished capping , these where discontinued after 1895 they became concealed pocket plates with no fingers of brass showing . many people say this is what the difference between a billiards and snooker is , but in fact all tables are billiard tables and that snooker is a game that you play on a billiard table . THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SNOOKER TABLE A phrase that has been passed down from billiard fitter to fitter . you can pretty much say any billiard tables with finger of brass top plates where made before 1895
On one cushion there was fixed a label that had a date of 1893, this maybe a re-rubber or modern rubber fitting label , as some rubber around that time was of different profiles , once a billiard firm had produced a better profile of rubber the other firms copied it , in these times of the 1890s they had thin layers of rubber cemented on top of each other much like laminating , the one piece L shape rubber became the norm around this time as the new modification to have and many tables had to have new blocks and rubber fitted to bring up to date . most tables where modified by late 1910 as the modern cushions where produced , this is why you see so many re-rubber names like the speedy reliable cushion or the arrowflite cushions as swift as an arrow . the firm i used to work for called there re-rubbered cushion the Empire Match cushion as can be seen from my photo of an old Elston & hopkin plate this is circa 1938 . But this paper 1893 label could be the Exact date the table was manufactured being just a couple of years before those top plates where discontinued by the majority of firms . and with a table number of 1275 this could be how many tables they had produced up to that date .
As an example and nothing to do with the Mawson table this is how a firm used to advertise the company by producing a plate when a cushion set was re-rubberized with say northern rubber and they had a name for their own cushion that they had worked on . In fact by this time all rubber was made by a handful of firms but the most popular and still is today is the northern rubber companies product made in Retford Nottinghamshire . by the 1980s it was deemed not lawful by the trades description act to carry on naming cushions if they where all using the same rubber so they stopped calling the cushions a personal named type . the trade description act also stopped the weight in ounces being stamped on cues too . and they replaced it with L / M/ H due to drying out and weights not being correct at time of sale . a fact not a lot of people know about .
We stayed overnight at an Hotel ( The Park ) in Peebles and our client paid for our stay over with meals and left us £20 for a drink behind the bar ( very nice of him ) we then returned to our clients home to check the level again and yes it had sunk a very slight amount into the carpet on two legs . a quick re-level and another cup of coffee and we had a very satisfied client who was delighted with the Mawson billiard table and with our work to relocate it for him .
The sign on the English side , very poor effort compared to the Scottish side The rag , the remnants of an English Flag , what a disgrace when you compare it to the other side of the road
even the flag pole had a fresh coat of paint on the Scottish side and although the wind has battered the flag it is still an acceptable flag to be seen . I am not sure if it is the tourist board or Northumberland district council who is responsible for the maintenance of the border signs and flags on the English side , but who ever it is they had better buck up their ideas , this sets an example of them not caring
Above Chettles industrial Estate on Ilkeston Road Nottingham showing weigh Bridge office . CIRCA 1970’s on the left My Uncle Ron Hume ( Curly ) he got me into Billiard fitting . a keen Golfer and member of the Variety club of Great Britain .
I came out of the Army in the year of 1976 , and started to work for my uncle’s firm Trent Valley Pool & Snooker tables Leisure firm in Chettles industrial Estate and office on lincoln Street basford . I worked alongside my cousin Gary Hume and A sub contract billiard fitter called Mick Robb who had a firm called Belvoir billiards . I stayed at Trent Valley Leisure for 4 years , then on advice from Mick Robb , I left and moved to Elston & Hopkin of Goldsmith Street Nottingham . although I still did a bit of work for my Uncle Ron and cousin Gary over the years while I worked for Elston & Hopkin , mainly at weekends or evenings and my boss at Elston & Hopkin did knew that I helped them out now and again . although their work and sales where nationwide and E&H where local east midlands mainly very little outside a 50 to 80 mile radius .so no conflict of interest . John hopkin was a very good Employer and Boss .
The entrance to Elston & Hopkin Empire billiard hall on Goldsmith Street . Now demolished to make way for the royal concert Center building in 1980 . Photo is Circa 1970’s
In 1980 Elston & hopkin where just being relocated from the very old Empire Theatre Building on goldsmith Street Nottingham where they had a billiard hall and a very fine fitted out Solid Mahogany sales counter for billiard table spares . cue sales and so on . I also got married in 1980 to my Wife Carol , who I am happy to say we are still together after 39 years of marriage and have two Daughters Helen and Kimberley and in 2018 our first Grand child Emily arrived .~ Sorry no Boys to carry on the business . Elston & hopkin moved into a workshop on Canal Street , also now demolished , and then into the Newark Street premises from 1980 . having a 18 table billiard hall , office and workshop on the top floor . of Davisella house right on the corner of Newark street & Manvers Street . Elston & hopkin moved out in the early 2000s and sold out to Universal logic in 2004 , I went with the firm to work out of a warehouse in Gainsborough Lincolnshire for the next 7 years . I look back on the 43 years I have been working as a Billiards fitter . I have learnt from everyone around me from my Uncles firm and Gary Hume to Mick Robb who was a big influence in my work , to Roger Perczynski and Alan Pykett at Elston & hopkin . I also learnt a bit of Computer presentation and promotion from my last boss Ted Roberts . I have had my ups and downs , but became self employed in May 2012 when I had started GCL billiards .
I have met some characters , and worked for some very famous people , as you can imagine it is not everyone who has a room for a full size billiard table , and most celebs and sports personalities do at sometime in their life have ownership or inherit through a house sale a full size table . But I get as much satisfaction working for normal working folk like myself as I do the high society and famous clientele . I look upon myself as the Caretaker in my time period of the billiard tables I work on . I am now approaching 65 years of age , and starting to feel the aches and pains of fitting such heavy tables . a bit of arthritis , a bad knee joint from my football days , and the normal getting old feeling that you feel creeping up on you . To the point that upstairs locations are now null and void and no go areas . let the younger fitters lift slate upstairs or into a basement . So I do not do this type of heavy lifting anymore , one bad job could put me off work for a long time so why risk it , just ground floor to ground floor locations and the van loading if I wish to carry on to my 70’s I do not know how long I will be doing this line of work , but I do aim to get to 70 years old at least full time . So at least another 5 years and two months to go yet . HEALTH PERMITTING of course . and maybe do 3 days a week then 2 days a week until retirement , but it is not unusual for 80 year old fitters to still be fitting tables and doing Re-cloths , At Elston and Hopkin they had an old fitter called Joe doing it until he was 80 odd years old . he fully retired just before I started there .
One of the best Snooker Players you could meet out there , Dennis Taylor My Granddaughter Emily .
SELLER HAS INFORMED THIS TABLE IS NOW SOLD VIA ANOTHER WEB SITE
SOLD SOLD SOLD !
We have a client who wishes to sell their very nice 9ft raise and fall dining table , the table was made by Hamiltons , and if you do your research this is a bespoke hand made piece that would be very expensive when made , and very rare to find a dining table / snooker table raise and fall type , and try finding one larger than 8ft . Try finding another 9ft snooker dining table that is 9ft playing area . once you get up to 8ft then finding one larger size than this becomes like finding a needle in a haystack ,, although we may have a full size George Wright windup action one coming up for sale soon so keep watching these adverts for that one .
Table is being sold as a PRIVATE SALE direct from the seller , who supplied the size of the slate bed , table is dismantled as we speak and is ready for collection , it may require a re-cloth
The table is a three section slate bed table for easy transport
All inquiries to c.large@btinternet.com
or contact Geoff at GCL billiards
Buyer responsible for collection , if you would like a quote from Geoff to collect this table for you and deliver it , then also please contact at above details
UNIQUE table not to be confused with low cost tables this one would have cost a lot of money when it was manufactured by Hamiltons
You only have to look at their web site , all tables are POA , why pay Hamiltons price when you can have the same for a fraction .
Wanted urgently a 10ft Karnehm and Hillman for a local Nottinghamshire client . prefer Buckingham model or turned leg model over a square leg one but open to offers of what is out there .
Snooker & Pool Table Recovers
Geoff Large, expert table fitter with 39 years of experience. All aspects of snooker, pool and 9 ball table recovers, repairs and maintenance.
My services include:
Recover of bed cloth and/or cushion cloth
Stretching of bed cloth
Re-rubbering of cushions
Fitting new pocket nets, leathers and rails
Refurbishment and re-polishing
Levelling of the table
Dismantling, moving, setting up, logistics and storage
Pool table hire
Service contracts
West of England 100% pure new wool first grade cloth used, no seconds.
