Monthly Archives: March 2026

We have a client based near Shrewsbury , who has a nice mahogany Birmingham billiards Classic Monarch 10ft snooker table for sale , complete with the table are Balls , Cues , wall rack , Brush , 4 shade light , and cover , and scoreboard . I think he mentioned billiard ball set too .
Current price for a Classic Monarch from Birmingham billiards is £7600 + Vat fitted .
My Client knows the table will cost a bit to have collected and delivered and set back up .
so the price reflects this at just £1250 …could have asked for more but this is what they will go for these days second hand .
As you can see the table is in good condition , If the buyer would like a price to collect the table deliver and set up , then Geoff at GCL Billiards will quote you for this .
not many 10fts for sale on the market at the moment , they all seem to be full size , so grab a Bargain .
if you have not got the space for a 12ft full size then the next best thing is this 10ft by 5ft Table .

NOW SOLD

We have a table for sale from a client , now this table has steel cushions on it , and it is a Riley Table , but it has one small slate chip underneath on one joint , I have been informed this does not go right through the thickness and the top is not damaged , but it may mean one bolt fastener may not be available to use , making 5 bolts on that cushion rather than 6 .
also the slate muntin’s ( Slate bearers ) are not adjustable , which I would recommend on r the next set up that they have adjustable brackets fitted , this makes for a much more stable table leveling .
So the asking price has been drastically dropped from £3000 to £1600 .
The steel cushions alone are worth the asking price .

here are a few photos , for someone not bothered about one bolt missing and that may not be the case yet , who ever is used to dismantle and set up can make that assessment at that time , it could be a BARGAIN BUY , LOOK UP WHAT A RILEY STEEL CUSHION ARISTOCRAT IS BRAND NEW TODAY ?
I could source another set of slates from another table but these are not owned by the seller .
Price is for the table as it stands on site with all accessories , it does not include any dismantle loading transporting and setting back up , or the extra work of fitting 6 adjustable muntin brackets .
or the repair or replacement exchange of slates if required .

Now look at this chip of slate , it could be that the fitters dropped it on the corner edge as they placed it on the frame , it could be from overtightening of a slate cushion bolt , this could be cemented back together and the slate repaired on this underside piece , and it will not effect the top playing surface if it has not travelled the full thickness of the almost 2 inch thick slate slab .
It could be an easy fix and all 6 bolts be ok , at worse it could be only 5 bolts on that side cushion , if you are fussy then the cost of a second hand set of Italian slates ardessio biggio type is required .
But seen much worse than this on a table , mainly due to rough handling of a fitters not fit to do the work.
You can only look at any slate defect once the cloth is off .
You cannot go from this photo
But look at the price , I have seen these tables go for £5000 on the second hand market and none less than £3500 , my client is honorable seller and because he spotted this , has decided to take a lower offer because of the slate chipped out like this .
In my opinion , nothing a bit of Car body filler will rectify , seen much far worse repaired than this .

There are some manufactured slate bed pool tables that require a bit more equipment to do and with BAD DESIGN can cause a lot of extra time wasted out of my day working on them .
And require an extra set of hands on the job too …… resulting in two fitters on site to do one table .

I am at the age that I do not wish to have the headache of putting extra time in on a BAD DESIGN table when I can re-cloth two good design ones in the same amount of time .
or even a full size snooker table in the same time .

Some imported tables especially , not only from China but mainland Europe and Eastern Europe , and sold as designer tables , at some crazy prices .
Some having weird Z frame design , some are made from inferior materials and nailed on leather pockets .
I am not going to single out these types of tables , but if you want good advice on buying a pool table that you will not have any problem getting them re-clothed or maintained and are sold at reasonable prices .
and parts are ready at hands if you require them .
Then please ask my Advice .

I have been in this industry of maintaining and repairing re-clothing , re-rubbering logistics of tables for over 50 years , I have worked on early 1960’s ring pocket Reni Pierre’s and Rutigliani pool tables through the 70 /80s Super leagues and their copies and later 90s designs , I have worked from these small tables through to full size snooker tables , Bar Billiards / Bagatelle table re-cloths …and served a full Billiards fitters Apprenticeship at Elston & Hopkin Billiards ltd and Mick Robb at Belvoir billiards of Nottingham .

I look at some designs and think …they are going backwards in designs….. and I feel , I have because of my experience the right to speak out about what I will take on or will not .
I am not having them forced onto me to do .
I am about to contact one distributer in Bristol area to stop referring me for these types of tables to re-cloth .
I never asked them to do that and do not need any of that type of work .

And it is because of this I have decided at my age to not bother taking them on .
I have a few in my local area that I will do , but I am not going to do any more for other people .
So please do not be offended when I say send a photo of your table and I refuse to do it .

BUT I WILL refer other fitters that do do them .

Below just a few designer tables that I do not wish to get involved fitting or working on , but there are others , some even more often asked for .