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Always a pleasure to see you! We're back in action around 7:50pm UK time tonight...

Something to treasure.

Sorry front pin first skittles

Front pin is too hard-core for us! We're a sociable club and only have one league and one alley. Having said that, we have got new teams joining us this winter season, so might have to split into two divisions again for the first time since before covid. Still don't think making Division One front pin will be popular! Thanks for watching.

Nicely done, Roe. Great team name, btw. We've had some west country teams come up to play and comment that they need stronger glasses to be able to see the skittles down our long alley! We're sending a touring team down to Yeovil in a couple of months to tackle a local alley there courtesy of the Bowling Stones. 😁

Nice! For those of us who are children of the (early) 70s that's a good 'un!

@@skittlers on reflection, maybe one everyone could relate to… ‘the bow tie’?

@@warden1969 Or "farfalle pasta" for our Italian viewers?!

Glad you enjoyed!

You're not wrong! If we do it all again next year, fancy rustling up a team or two and joining in?!

Yeah, we had a few glitches and the laptop nearly melted, but we learnt a lot!! Thanks for watching.

Hi Sylvia. Sorry we didn't acknowledge you on the stream. When everything crashed it threw us a bit! Thanks for watching again...

Sometime, just sometimes, the opposite is true!

No! It helps our old eyes tell the difference between 7s and 1s from our remote commentary position. Although we're not convinced about his 4s...

Well, I’d take your point if his 1s were continental style too or if he has continental roots, I’ve seen the way they accent the top of their 1s but from what I’ve seen on the videos I’ve watched so far an English 7 would be perfectly legible. However, I think might have to agree to disagree. I’m years behind your videos having only just come across them, but enjoying them very much. I play in North Somerset, Weston Super Mare and the differences between our versions of Skittles are very marked and it’s been really interesting learning the rules and format of your game. Thank you.

Welcome! Glad you found us. Yes, we're a bit of a rarity this far east! The club started 60 years ago when a maltings was built in the town and initially staffed with maltsters from Bath and Bristol. A social club and alley was built for them, and the rules they came up with were a mix, but based on the western style. We still use Gloucester pins and are lucky enough to have a healthy supply of lignum vitae balls. We played mixed sex teams so our balls are turned to 4.5 inches. There are no other alleys in the county(!) so all the teams are based locally, and if you are away, you sit to the side of the alley rather than the end! Check out some of our recent live streams. We've gone a bit high tech and have thrown in a few more angles. Glad you're enjoying watching.

@@skittlers yes, I’m slowly getting through the videos and have noticed you’re a mixed league. In my town of Weston Super Mare, we have 3 winter leagues, 2 mens and 1 womens, we have a mixed summer league. There are around 20 alleys in Weston, a couple, only, not used and more in the outlying villages and towns with their own leagues. This means we have home and away matches, obviously, and the alleys, pins and (rubber) balls all vary slightly. In my league we have 33 teams of 12 in 3 divisions but some teams struggle for players and in the 25+ years I’ve been playing we’ve lost lots of alleys as pubs close or re-decorate. Maybe schemes like yours, bringing the game into the 21st century and utilising modern technology to reach more people might bring more players into the game. You’re doing a great job and it’s definitely something I might propose our league looks into.

@@brianwoodbutcher That's kind of you to say. At its peak in the early 2000s there were two divisions here with 22 teams in Division 1 and 22 in Division 2. Over time, numbers have dwindled, and we lost a few teams over covid who didn't return. So we chose to run just one division and we have 12 teams now. Part of the reason for pushing out on social media and doing videos and so on is to raise the profile and get some new people interested. We do have at least one new team joining us for next winter league, and we've got several new players in the summer league this year. We're hoping things like the videos and our 60th birthday event this weekend will help to spark more interest. Our problem has always been that to have a big enough squad to guarantee to turn out 6 players every week, you probably need a minimum of 10. And finding people who can rustle up that many new people is difficult! It's also tricky to join an existing team if you're a newcomer who wants to play but don't have a group you can bring. We're all a very friendly lot, but you do have to have a certain character to be able to walk into an existing group of mates and just join in! We're hoping that more people will see what a fun game it is, played in a friendly spirit, and open to anyone of any ability. Hope you continue to enjoy wading through our back catalogue! I've got two more games to add to your playlist after this evening's live streams. :)

@@skittlers hi. All you are saying is so similar to the problems we’re facing too. Like you said, to walk into a team on your own can be a bit daunting, especially if you’re a novice. Yes, you’re right, we can play with a reduced team, we can put up the lowest score up to twice more to help keep teams going so 10 players can post 12 scores. The main problem is getting younger players, the days of sons coming along with their fathers is long gone, but my team is lucky in that we do have a good group of younger players. One of them came across you guys about a year ago and has just reconnected in the hope of playing a remote match with you after your busy anniversary celebrations are completed. Good luck tonight, if you’re playing, I’ll be watching.

@@brianwoodbutcher Contact has been made and a plan hatched for a remote game. Watch this space. Agree with what you say about kids. It's a hard sell these days with phones and Netflix and all the other things that youngsters can do. I also think hanging about with a load of middle aged beards isn't cool these days!

We love all the variations there are! We're too casual to play headpin/kingpin before score. We're lucky to still have lignum vitae balls and a few stashed away for the next few years - rare as hens' teeth these days. We've got some west country teams joining us for our 60th anniversary tournament soon, including a Dorset side. We're looking forward to seeing some Dorset Flops on our alley! Thanks for watching, and as you hopefully have seen with our latest video we're now back able to stream live here and with multiple cameras, so hope you continue to enjoy our version of the beautiful game!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Give our regards to your league. 🙂

Some more coming next week! Thanks for watching.

Going forward they should all be coming to YT as well as Facebook. It's taken a while to get everything sorted to do that, but hopefully all good going forward.

@@Swag_N_Bear They don't play away games? ffs 😂😂😂😂😂

Send us an invite! This was a money down game of killer. Do you have that in the pro leagues down in sunny Bristol? Lot of tactical misses when there's a whole seven pound up for grabs! 😂

I lived in Bristol for a short while years ago. Near the zoo. Could hear lions roaring at night, which took a bit of getting used to when trying to kip.They had just installed those fountains in "The Centre" and the students emptied a couple of bottles of fairy liquid into them and made themselves an instant Ibiza foam party. Most of the inhabitants were lovely, although there were a couple of places you had to watch your step after dark. Seem to remember it not being easy to find a pub that served a decent pint of ale in the middle of town. I hope that's changed. Are the seagulls still noisy buggers and have the council actually employed anyone to clear up litter yet? I wonder how much the druggie got for the stereo they pinched out of my MK2 Golf. It only cost me 50 quid new from Halfords, but smashing the window on a rainy night was harsh. Happy times...

@@skittlers Those fountains are 20+ years old. of course Bristol has changed since then, the zoo is not even there no more 😂

@@jaydeebangz1299 And the rest... I left in 1999! I heard about the zoo. Sad they are going to build 6 storey tower blocks in it, I see... Any chance of them putting in a community skittle alley? You pro's could go and encourage the youngsters to have a go...

It's good to be back on RUclips, and now the live tech is (almost) sorted we'll be back to regularly streaming games here as well as Facebook.

Let's just say I'm working on a live streaming solution that should see us stream to FB AND to YT live everytime! Some test streams, hopefully a game or two over the next couple of weeks...

After a long delay, we're back! Make sure you are subscribed and allow notifications to get the next stream. You can also follow our antics on Facebook at fb.com/skittlers