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 .

Been up to the north Lincolnshire – Notts border today just east of Doncaster .
Work involved the strip down of cushions and re-rubber and make the pockets the same size as a Star Table to WPBSA template openings as used on TV tournaments .
Using best Northern Rubber by Hainsworth .
Then a re-cloth in Strachan 6811 tournament cloth 30 oz .
The table was an old Hixon & sons with thick Welsh slate and a good solid frame .
With recessed into capping cushion cloth retaining slot to mimic steel cushions .
The table I think is circa turn of the century 1899 /1910 period .
There is some history to the table , as there are some paper labels to the cushions from the 1940s re-rubber , stating it belonged to a School in Leeds , called East Moor School in an area called Adel .
On looking up this school I find it was a Reform approved school for wayward Boys , which first opened its doors in 1857 . it was closed down around the 1970s I think .
This table went through a refurb by an unknown firm in 1985 having another re-rubber , but the pockets where all over the place in sizes .
My Client bought the table with the house so inherited it around 6 years ago .
My client who is a WPBSA coach wanted uniformity and as close to WPBSA size as possible .
Which I pulled this one off bang on , as you can see the templates fit snug to the angles .
It is a pity that the WPBSA do not allow Billiard fitters outside World Snooker , to have these templates , I had to rely on some very accurate copies of templates to do this work .
Something I think the WPBSA should look into , they do a lot of good work promoting snooker and the training of coach’s , but do not let the Billiard Fitters access to WPBSA templates , we have to rely on copies .
If there is no uniformity in the Tables , then younger generation are learning to play on Club pockets or Buckets as we call them .
We used to have the B&SCC templates , Billiards & control council , which are a little larger opening , and some like their tables to have that size , I just would like to offer both sizes and do it with proper templates , it looks more professional .
They could be made low priced on 3D Printers and then offered to proper time served Billiard fitting firms .

Superb condition and priced to sell .
complete with accessories shown in the photos below . including light and iron .

If there was ever a Rolls Royce of billiard table makers then George wright would be it .
a lot of people go on about Burroughs and watts tables being the best , but ask any Billiards fitter who has worked on George Wright tables and they are made to a higher degree of workmanship .
thicker wood for the frames for a start , they where the first firm to use concealed pocket plates around 1895. and most have huge turned and carved legs , Reeded legs or fluted where the most favoured leg design along with tulip , which most firms used , but George wright made their tulip legs with more carving segments as can be seen in this example .
other billiard companies spaced the tulip carvings wider so they where easier to produce and less work . Tulip leg = a tulip flower opening upside down ..can you see it in the photos ?

Below a brief history from the snooker heritage site , please read more info of George Wright on that site if you wish .
George Wright & Co. (founded 1868) was a prominent London-based manufacturer renowned for early innovations in convertible billiard-dining tables, often featuring special adjusting screws for height regulation. They were also known for producing high-quality rollover tables and for being among the first to hold Royal Warrants from King Edward VII. snookerheritage.co.uk 

Key Achievements and Specializations:

• Convertible Tables: They specialized in billiard dining tables and bagatelle tables early in their history, with advertisements for these in 1870.
• Rollover Tables: Along with George Edwards, George Wright was an early maker of “rollover” snooker tables between roughly 1890 and 1920.
• Royal Appointments: By the late 19th and early 20th century, George Wright tables were favored by royalty, specifically Edward VII (when Prince of Wales) and later King George V.
• Exhibition Success: They won multiple gold medals in the 1880s at international exhibitions in Australia .

George Wright was a major competitor to established makers like Thurston and Burroughs & Watts by the turn of the 20th century, especially favored after Queen Victoria’s passing in 1901 .

Please visit the Snooker Heritage site to see what Peter Ainsworth the author has written about George Wright the billiards firm

link here https://snookerheritage.co.uk/articles/geo-wright-co/

My selling client is now selling this very nice condition table , which has been renovated at some point in its life so should play very well , as you can see the table is from a very grand house and the sale is through my clients PA . who I am in correspondence with .
I have explained the costing to my selling clients that a buyer would have to pay on top of any price of the table to have it relocated , so we have agreed a selling price of just £1500 for this grand piece of Billiards furniture .
If any buyer would like a quote to have the table relocated from its ground floor room to another Ground floor room then GCL Billiards would be happy to quote , but the buyer is free to choose any billiards firm in the country .
please study thy following photos of the actual table .
An early table from its 13 gold medal ivory cushion badge , and circa I think around 1889 onwards ?
I will find out from Peter Ainsworth on that date as he is the Billiards Historian on plates and dating , I am going from the none top plate pocket plates which where not used after 1895 , but here we see an earlier 1889 table design with later 1895 concealed plates , what I think has happened is George wright has taken the cushions in and recapped the cushions for concealed plates or made a later set of cushions and reused the ivory badge .
this was not uncommon as designs change and people wanting the newer design of 1895 concealed pocket plates without having to change the table .
so on this table we date it by the Badge and not the pocket plates .
I did notice from the photos of the highly flamed mahogany capping’s to the cushions
seen in the first photo , they may have upgraded that too .
a very desirable George wright table with history . have you a nice room for this table , this would make a very nice statement to a larger household.

Yes, the SAM Balmoral pool table features a “ProActive” cushion system designed to emulate the performance of steel block cushions found on professional snooker tables.

These are £4499.00p on john parrot sports web site , my client says the cloth is a bit bobbly so it will require a re-cloth . although no rips are in the cloth . it was just the wrong choice of cloth when fitted .

Or if you are happy with it use it as is for a while as it is , if you wish just to buy it then save for a re-cloth at a later date .

My client is looking for just £1500 for the table A BARGAIN PRICE for one of these as it stands on site .
NOW REDUCED TO MAKE A REASONABLE OFFER !

I relocated this table for my client a couple of years ago from his fathers house .

And noted then it was in extremely good condition .

As an extra a re-cloth can cost anywhere between £350 and £450 depending on cloth grade and colour .

The price of the table is as it stands on site with its original cloth on it , the buyer is responsible to organise the dismantle and loading onto their van to take away .

This table is a free play table finished in Oak .

See photos for shade of oak finish cabinet and legs .

7ft

Exterior Dimensions – 214cm x 122cm

Slate Dimensions – 186cm x 94cm

Weight – 250kg

Even if you paid for a re-cloth the price would still be below £2000

and a whopping saving of around £2500 from new price .

Sam pool tables are built like a tank , where more lower cost UK tables are made from low cost materials , these SAM tables made in Spain are made from the best materials , and therefore cost over twice as much as say a supreme winner the market leader here in the UK , you may even see these SAM Balmoral tables for sale over £5000 , but John parrot was the lowest price I could find of £4499.00p

I have a few clients who swear by the quality of their Balmoral or Atlantic 7ft pool table .

The Balmoral in my opinion is made for the Home with its modern rounded look , while the Atlantic with its sharper angled lines and faceted diamond chrome embellishments is for industrial pool hall use .

The Atlantic looks more fun fair bling table

The Balmoral just sits right for in the Home .

If you would like a bespoke dismantle loading , traveling unloading and erect on site with a re-cloth of choice , then GCL Billiards will quote for this Ground floor to Ground floor only .

The table is located close to Loughborough / Leicester area . and is on a ground floor room .

I have the best Hainsworth cloths in stock even stock Ultimate pool in teal .

PLEASE NOTE , the cost of a re-cloth and removal delivery and set up is not included in the £1500 price of the table , for a quote for these extras please contact Geoff at GCL Billiards for a quote giving post code in full and NO STAIRS .

Been local very close to Belvoir Castle to renovate the Riley Snooker table of Mark , a returning client .
A table I moved from a neighboring village to him and owned then by a well known Sky TV sports reporter .
of which I moved the table for him also a few years back .
Well the cushions where a bit dead the last time I relocated the table , having had some inferior cushion rubber fitted to it around the early 1980s .

The best snooker / billiards rubber to fit to a table is Northern Rubber , used to be made in Retford Nottinghamshire , but now manufactured all in house out in Malaysia but still to the old Nottinghamshire N.R. based specification , and owned and run by Hainsworth a UK Leeds firm .
Photo above my gluing board , allows all 6 rubbers backing to be covered in glue in one go .
Rubber is sanded to give a key to the gluing surface , before glue is applied .

The cushions stripped and cleaned of old rubber and glue , rebate sanded to give a key to surface
and coated with glue .

Cloth of choice and asked for by this client was Strachan 6811 Tournament 30 oz weight .
all pure new wool .
I do give my Clients a choice of cloth and colour and grade and advise then to the play to expect
form the different brands and thickness and grades and cloth mix .
2 main cloth firms I use are Strachan and Hainsworth …both I am please to say UK manufacturers of the highest grades of Billiards cloth .

Mark standing , looking at the finished table , he was delighted in the cloth colour , and the workmanship
The table is located in a out building .

Looks very nice with the new nets and leathers .

Centre pockets flush to slate fall , some fitters do struggle to achieve this , but you will find that Time served fitters do work to this high quality .
We have seen some shocking work by so called fitters , based all around the UK , so be careful who you employ to dot he work for you , I was sent one photo only this week by a fitter and he found a shocking attempt to do a re-cloth and pull the cloth nice and neat down the fall .

As an example of what we may find on a table from previous fitters work .

To finish off , Mark was that pleased with the work he let me fit one of our GCL Billiards name plates on the Black ball end of the table .

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 .

We have a pub client looking to start a pool team up , and need a supreme winner or Prince mechanical coin operated pool table , Price paid will depend on model and year of manufacture ( AGE ) , and if cushions are good or bad , and cloth is in good or bad condition .
We are looking for tables around the £500 to £1000 price range , and tables from 2004 onwards .
Some features will inform me the age of the table , but looking at late twin red stripe badge / Green badge and black badge tables .
Top hinges need to be in good order and no warped top or dished slates .
Client prefers Winner shape over the Prince .
Cloth condition is not a problem , but I need to know if cushion bounce is past its best .
The players are pretty fussy about playing on really bad tables in this league .