Snooker table dismantling, transportation and relocation – use GCL Billiards for this specialist service

We are getting a lot of inquiries to remove full size snooker tables and just getting rid of them , TAKE THEM AWAY FREE people say , this is not a FREE SERVICE I’m afraid , two fitters wages van use Fuel insurances all have to be paid for .
We offer a recycling service at a cost of removing , but we have to take the table all apart and remove all none recycling waste from it, cloth rubber metal tacks screws and bolts all have to be removed for our recycler to take the wood away , the slate is also recycled into fire places , but these have to be polished cut to size to make into a fireplace .
the cost to remove a table and recycle is down to distance , BUT please note we do not now take tables up or down stairs , we only remove Ground floor tables with no more than a couple of steps involved which we can ramp .
We used to do the stair work but as you get older this has become too much for us .
We are both in our 60’s now .

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 .

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 .

We do not own a snooker or pool club , but if you do require to find a club to play local to us , try Stapleford cue Club they are the closest snooker club to me 2 mile down the road .
Stapleford Cue club is situated at
148 Derby Road behind the pizza hut take away .
Stapleford
Nottingham.
NG9 7AY
tel 01159 394 504

if you are very close to Derby then try
Cueball
under rollerworld access to right in carpark
Derby DE21 4AW
tel 01332 360924

other side of Nottingham then try
Newark cue club
41 Barker Gate
NG24 1UA
tel 01636 612030

I get many phone calls asking if we are open to book a table to play on ?
We are not advertised as a snooker club , we are a Billiards /Snooker / Pool table or as a collective a Cue sports table MAINTENANCE company
This means we work on tables repairing or maintaining them .
our other business is long term contract of coin operated pool table hire to pubs and clubs we do not own our own club .
I am sorry to say it is getting beyond a joke at how many people phone us up sometimes at 12 to 2am in the morning and Today ( Christmas Day ) of all days to ask what time we shut or are we open today.
we suspect these are Taxi Drivers knocking off work or taking a break and wanting somewhere to play snooker or pool .
I do not know of any all nighter snooker clubs most close at 12pm at the latest .

but just to refresh what we are about .

This is what we do

If you require to book a table try Stapleford cue club they are the closest snooker/pool club to me
AND THIS WHAT A SNOOKER CLUB LOOKS LIKE

stapleford cue club

Cueball in Derby pool room and plenty of full size snooker tables

Newark cue club 41 Carter gate Newark Nottinghamshire NG24 1UA ………….tel 01636 612030 for booking to play on pool and snooker tables .

Hunters Bar Grantham 1 Union Street , Grantham next to lidl’s , NG31 6NZ……………… tel 01476 579493
Hunters bar has 7 UK pool , 4 american pool , and 6 full size snooker tables to play on .

We can take our time finding the right buyer for this Scoreboard .
They do not come up for sale as complete and in such good condition complete with lower ball cabinet and penny slots often like this .

The object of the game is you have three lives , revealed when you slide out each section , hidden is a star that you pull out if you lose all three lives , every player places a penny in their clot in the lower cabinet , if you lose the three lives , you buy a star life for an extra penny in your slot , as each slot can take up to two pennies, and you can see through the glass if a player has paid for an extra life .
The winner takes all the pennies and pays the marker a penny .

A fantastic talking point in your billiard / Snooker room , an appreciating antique and priced way below its true value when you compare what others are asking for them .

As a comparison on how competitive this sale is …….. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176914049044

So priced to sell at just £1000 NO OFFERS , first come first served .

Sale is direct from private seller , based in Nottingham , buyer collects .

All inquiries to …. c.large@btinternet.com

Here we have a very nice Genuine Rotating cue rack
*Please note Cues are not included

Now you can buy a reproduction in low cost wood for around £500 and it would be very poor quality
I have seen cue racks like this Antique one advertised for as much as £1950 , but that is too much and way overpriced , , the true value is around £750 to £1000

SEE £1950 one here which is almost the same rack…….. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205500976453

So my Client is asking the bottom price for this cue rack of just £750
Sale is due to a bereavement and the process of the deceased Estate
GCL Billiards is acting as the sales agent , and to place what we think is a come and get me price

photo below , please note scoreboard and cues not included
it is just the cue rack here that is for sale .

if anyone is interested in the George wright score board above the cues that is £150 and that’s a great price too .

And the two end billiard cushion markers are £60 each or £100 for both .

Here we have a very nice raise and fall billiard dining table , priced so affordable as to allow for any costs in removing it for the new owner please no offers at this price .
Price does not include removal transportation delivery and set up , you will have to get a quote for this either from GCL Billiards or use any Billiard firm you wish closer to you .
The price is just for the table on its own no accessories , but balls and triangle are included .

As you can see the cloth is in very good condition and is ready to go

The table has a Riley click clack raise and fall system
Not sure if this is a Riley table or a table made using the patent Riley raise and fall system .
The tulip legs are not really a riley design on these type of tables .
Raise to playing height lift to hear click pin locate in raised position one end at a time , remove the table tops for play , level from screw thread shown here
To dine off a simple lift up to release the click pin slot and slowly lower down to dining height one end at a time , place a good water proof barrier on top of the cloth and then place the polished table top sections x5 to dine off .
Also place a thick heat pad dining cover before table cloth to protect the polish

The polished table tops in position and I am sure the seller will include that protective table cover which looks to be the heat thick pad type .

There looks to be a chip of wood out on top of one of the cushions . a bit of masking tape and stain it , then drop some brown wax into the damage and scrape with a razor blade to same level , then remove the tape , it looks worse here as it is a close up of a small chip out of wood .
Probably caused by the table top being put on miss aligned .
*Always put a protective spill cover over the playing surface before placing table tops on all these type of sectional table top diners .

*The table is located in Nottingham , and is part of a deceased Estate , as the only reason for sale .
This is a private sale direct from the seller , We always advise to view before buying .
It is the buyers reasonability to arrange the removal of the Billiard dining table .

*GCL Billiards has not seen the table in the flesh so to speak we are going from photos here .
Please shop around and see the price some are asking of these 8ft raise and fall billiard diners , then you will see what a Bargain the table is priced at .

All inquiries to ……………………… c.large@btinternet.com

Geoff Large
NBSA approved billiards fitter
GCL Billiards

Here we have what only can be described as a mint condition OAK Signature Huntsman 6ft pool table ,
Only being sold due to my Clients late fathers passing , he only purchased it 6 months ago at a cost of over £4400.00p .
This is a 6 foot table and comes with three sets of balls , reds and yellows / Spots and stripes pool balls , a snooker set , triangles x2 one is a diamond , snooker scoreboard , matching table tops , dust cover , a very nice themed pool light , cues and a X rest . most of these where extra costing to the table .
Being a 6ft these are not bad to move and relocate , just a small transit type van and few blankets is all you need .
Or you could find a trusted firm to relocate it for you . GCL Billiards will quote you to bubble wrap or blanket wrap load , deliver and set back up to Ground floor , or advise for a more local fitter , if that works out at a lower cost .
We have a chain of contact fitters dotted around the country , who would be happy to quote any buyer to relocate the table , you do not have to have GCL Billiards to move the table for you
The table has multi leveling pads under the slate look at last photo , so you will not get any slate sagging from this table .
All you see in the photos is with the table accesories wise .
The cloth that is on it is Strachan Super fine in silver grey . an extra upgrade to the normal thick club cloths that come on them as standard .

Now price wise the Selling owner would be willing to let all this go for £2500 buyer arrnages collection , and thats a very good price for one of these in this almost Mint condition 6 month old table .
As you can see the Owners father did not get chance to play on it much , before he sadly passed away .

That is a massive saving of £1900

Be the envy of our friends with this craftsman made Pool Diner at a fantastic saving .
If you want your table to make an impression and stand out , and is good to play on , then this may be the pool dining table for you , as for oak dining tables , price one of those up in oak and see what a normal dining tables cost made to this U leg design in solid oak legs .
Ball return drawer , pushes up and out the way , and is hidden when not in use , most people would not know it was a pool table .
The fact it can convert just by taking the tops off to a pool table and dropping the ball return drawer down , is a bonus .
And for all you Men who want a pool table in the house and the wife says no way , then talk her round with this bad boy .
She may love it just as much as you will as a piece of furniture .
Years of fun , a great design for the home as a dining table , a family heirloom to pass down from Parents to son or Daughter , or Grandchildren .
Mush better than those boring pub pool tables that do not fit into house decor .
this one is for the Home …not the Garden Shed or Garage man cave .

Contact Geoff at c.large@btinternet.com
for more information and dismantle delivery and fitting back together costs ,
Table is based in the Coventry / Nuneaton area not far from Junction 3 of the M6 .
As a private sale direct from seller with no middle men fees, We advise a buyer to view and to try the table out before buying .

We have a client who is selling all her billiard room equipment sepperatley from the table .
please look at other items listed sepepratley to this , for any other pieces you may be interested in , there are 6 very nice cues for sale too , two handspliced .
this advert is just for the cue rack

Here we have a very nice tall pedastal rotating cue rack , I think 8 cues per side and there are three sides , so this rack will take 24 cues , a very nice piece of billiard room equipemnt to display your cue collection .
£750 please , I sold one exactly the same a couple of years ago for that price .
this cue rack will dismantle for transport but seller prefers collection .

A smaller modern repro chinese round standing rack is £600 at john parrots sportshop on line , why buy a low cost one at that price when this one is just a bit more , have a look just compare the quality

https://www.johnparrottsports.com/snooker/table-accessories/snooker-room-equipment/peradon-tall-circular-cue-stand-1265.html?site=froogle&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18507985908&gbraid=0AAAAAD3tzejh1M5xnziwG_AHmw-kzLkBL&gclid=CjwKCAjw2brFBhBOEiwAVJX5GAXcin7bzMxPSvDCqwXfrS9WVQC8Qkl7CwfZdKxBH9lsRIKBmS-DTxoCJ-8QAvD_BwE

Private Sale from client

Very nice to find these for sale , and these are Genuine ones not copies or repro .
A bit of staining which proves originality of Age .
Original frame and glass .
£195.00p collected .

All enquiries to Geoff Large
GCL Billiards

We have a client who is selling a few Snooker and billiards items
and in the room we have a nice Billiards glass display case , a montage of billiard items
Diplayed in such a way to incur interest and curiosity to the display .
Also a nice 3D wall art of crossed Billiard cues , R F knight which is a modern Repro sign
My client would like £195 for the pair collected .

All enquiries to Geoff Large at GCL Billiards

We have a selling client who has a very nice VERY RARE maker of John Pook for sale
A very rare collectable item ( find another ) .
Not a name that I am familiar with , so I asked Billiards Historian Peter Ainsworth for his view on this board . We value it at £495 it could be worth more but we think this value is spot on .
A couple of ivory buttons missing , and these could be found from some billiards firms who have spares or oddments lying around .
but in very good working order .

Free standing and not wall mounted boards are very hard to find and this board is unusual .

Peters observation on seeing the photo of this FREE STANDING board
please note this board is 3 foot 9 inch wide and 5 foot 2 inch high

The John Pook scoreboard is very rare. I haven’t seen another. I’ve attached a brief summary of Pook’s career from which you can date it as most likely between 1866 and 1871, although it could be as early as 1854. I suspect that as the style looks even earlier than that it would do very well at auction.

link to John pook

file:///D:/GCL%20Billiards/Downloads/Pook%3B%20John%20(London)%20(2).pdf