Just a few words and Photo’s of my recent trip to Castlefranc in southern France to carry out a re-cover of 10ft billiard table level and sort the slate joints out .
I was met off the plane by Simon my client as arranged although I was a little early coming out of arrivals ,
and I was wandering around for 30 minutes before we found each other , and Toulouse airport is a very large one .
Simon and Sara have a traditional large French town house in the center of Castelfranc which is around one and a half hours drive from Toulouse airport .
Simon and Sara are keen vintage car owners and racer’s and hill climbers and own a variety of classic and vintage vehicles .
The side courtyard Garden steps up to the front door and above Balcony , the double doors on the ground floor is where Simon has the Billiard table located .
Simon calls his man cave the Cave du snooker or in french , La grotte de billard .
I did point out to my clients that there is no such thing as a snooker table and that snooker is a game played on a billiard table , and my job title was billiard fitter .
So having arrived i was shown my room which contained of course a 4 poster bed with ensuite , and views over my alarm clock from the window .
every morning at 7am the bells rang out waking the village up for work .
Simon’s water damaged Billiard table , the cloth had shrunk and came under intense pressure and gave way in two places by ripping .
Simon’s table was manufactured around or just before circa 1900 , manufactured by Thomas Padmore & sons of Birmingham but formerly of London .
Thomas had passed on and in 1871 his sons John and Edwin Padmore expanded and moved to 118 Edmund Street.
you can read up on the History of Padmore & sons from the snooker Heritage web site ,
Padmore’s where amalgamated into a trio of billiard firms of Clare and Padmore & thurston group around 1966 , they are now just known as Thurston .
Thurston being one of the oldest of Billiard firms .
please read this link for the full History of this group of companies .
http://www.snookerheritage.co.uk/company-histories/thos-padmore-sons/
the table is finished and myself and Simon pose for a photo at the end of the day .
Brand new Strachan 29 oz tournament cloth , with a new set of leathers , there where a few problems but we overcame them .
with a full 4 to 5 hours to kill before I had to be back at Toulouse Airport there was the chance of a walk around Cahors .
above the bridge over the River Lot .
Stunning Bridge spans this river at Cahors
It was just 3c temperature during the last night .
The temperature was just rising at this time in the morning and was around 18c at this time of day , and by the time we got to Toulouse airport it was 24c
When I arrived back in Birmingham it was overcast raining and 13c .
My hosts for the three days Simon & Sara , who I must thank for some fantastic prepared food .
Beef slow cooked in wine was superb , and the chicken cooked in a brick the next evening was also very nice .
of course when in France , endless supplies of red wine and the cheese board with some very tasty tangy cheeses .
Simon and Sara are keen Vintage Historic car racers , here is Simon in his 1930’s Riley .
and you can catch a video of Simon and Sara and Sara’s father Clifford , on you tube .