H.Nelmes & Co. Ash cue, help needed

[tammajock]

Been handed one of these cues by my father in law. He said at the time that his father had it before him and always told him that the cue was a good one from a maker from West George Street in Glasgow. The badge itself is immaculate as if it was made today however there is a bend in the cue which I hope to solve if users can advise me where to go. My question to users of the forum is...can anyone tell me more about the makers of the cue and can u help me with advice on straightening the cue. On a search engine when typed the cuemakers it came with a page from the bbc stating and i quote " they were the makers of the celebrated billiard table that W.Cook of London made the largest round break on that has ever been made,being 261 without 2 consecutive spot strokes. snooker and billiard items made by this company are highly sought after today" on that any help would be great

[gloveman]

Hi. I've only ever seen one- i had a hornbeam and ebony machine spliced cue, round badge with H.Nelmes & Co Glasgow on it. It was a very good quality cue. I too tried to get some info but to no avail. All i can say is you're right- they are rare and you should be able to get one of the top cue makers to straighten it. Whether it will stay straight depends on if it was abuse that caused the bend (standing at an angle against a wall etc) or if the grain just wants to go that way (in which case it will probably bend again). Not a great deal of help but i noticed that you hadn't had any replys at all. Good luck with getting more info and post it up if you do.

[tammajock]

Many thanks gloveman for helping me, its true to say that getting any info is hard...beggars the question how you price such a thing as the cue itself has that many venners and splices of different kinds and at the time of manufacture must have been over 70 years old at least, the craftmanship and quality is second to none...burroghes and watts are the closest par i can relate them too as they as well made snooker tables and whereas you have cues a plenty made from them on sale for e-bay, ive never seen a cue from this maker either on the forum or on e-bay...does that mean the rarity of the cue means the price goes up or is there a forum that can quote a price on the cue...The cue itself to explain was in its original tin case hangin up and the story i got...was that there was a fire and the heat has bent the cue near the tip end although there are no blemishes or marks or dents as it was in the case...i was reading dave coutts website and he quotes on his website the cost of repairing such a fault and it sounds reasonable enough...can i ask gloveman if you still have your nelmes and if not did u sell and for how much? i was in fact in the process of ordering a green plate hunt and osbourne but recieved an email only last week saying he isnt taking anymore orders,custom that is, and is only producing rack cues hence putting me back to square one but im thinking now of spending a couple of quid in putting this right..

[jrc750]

Can you put up some pics mate - so we can all see this rare cue ?

[tammajock]

can anyone interested please give me their e-mail address and i can send it on as i dont know how to add images to this site sorry...

[100-uper]

Considering that they were around for the best part of a century, I would have thought that their cues would be quite common, although I must say that I haven't seen many south of the Scottish border.

If the badge says "Silk and Nelmes" is should be worth a bit, as that would date it to the 1860s. However, Henry Nelmes set up on his own in 1870 and operated initially from 101 Wellington Street, and a decade later was at No.121, where they stayed at least until the start of the first War. At their peak they were not only making tables but also running billiard saloons (at least two that I know of) and supplying equipment on lease for others to do the same.

Old Henry seems to have been a bit of a litigator, with The Scotsman newspaper full of reports where he is suing someone or other, with mixed success. However, the trail goes cold between the Wars and I cannot say with any certainty when he moved to 181 West George Street. I have one reference to a Chartered Accountant being at this address in 1936, but this does not mean that Nelmes was not there as well, as these buildings in Glasgow tend to be on the large side. Nelmes was certainly in West George Street in 1948 and was still trading there in the mid-1950s.

Details of what the cue says on the badge would be useful, or preferably a picture.

[G30 MC]

H.nelmes & co

I have taken pictures off this cue and will post them up later:snooker:

[tammajock]

Nelmes & co

Considering that they were around for the best part of a century, I would have thought that their cues would be quite common, although I must say that I haven't seen many south of the Scottish border.

If the badge says "Silk and Nelmes" is should be worth a bit, as that would date it to the 1860s. However, Henry Nelmes set up on his own in 1870 and operated initially from 101 Wellington Street, and a decade later was at No.121, where they stayed at least until the start of the first War. At their peak they were not only making tables but also running billiard saloons (at least two that I know of) and supplying equipment on lease for others to do the same.

Old Henry seems to have been a bit of a litigator, with The Scotsman newspaper full of reports where he is suing someone or other, with mixed success. However, the trail goes cold between the Wars and I cannot say with any certainty when he moved to 181 West George Street. I have one reference to a Chartered Accountant being at this address in 1936, but this does not mean that Nelmes was not there as well, as these buildings in Glasgow tend to be on the large side. Nelmes was certainly in West George Street in 1948 and was still trading there in the mid-1950s.

Details of what the cue says on the badge would be useful, or preferably a picture.

Thats great with the additional info ma man...if you send me ur email i will post pictures, it has however got 16 veneers and splices and im guessing how much that would cost to have done in the current market and how do u put a cost on such a rare cue? but thanks for the info and very interesting

[jb134]

It would cost 30 bob to do in the far east and coincidentally, the cue would end up bent too!

[tammajock]

nelmes

It would cost 30 bob to do in the far east and coincidentally, the cue would end up bent too!

Thanks for that constructive help and advice from the previous post, i suppose in truth, if you are genuinely not interested in the thread then you dont need to comment, like the tv, turn the damn channel and stop showing yourself up please? I have never seen or heard of a nelmes either on ebay or on this forum while ive been a member. In searching for a nelmes on a search engine, it only gave you one response in a bbc archive stating that these were very rare and very much sought after. I hold my hands up to not knowing either maker nor the cue hence the post. I never once stated that ive found a 1000 cue but im more interested in the history of the makers. Ive put it on a par with burroghes and watts as they too made snooker/billiard tables and made their own cues but whereas you can type in burroghes and watts on ebay and get about 20 or so cues for sale and are quite widespread, nelmes & Co are seldom available hence the thread!!!!! Thanks again to the other previous post once again in uncovering a lot of history on the makers and its something i will be following up on. I also asked advice and posted for help and advice to adr147 and he pointed me to a cue doctor,so to speak, and he himself called it a interesting cue on an email. I guess to conclude that it is a forum and that in itself means varied views and opinions but lets at least try to separate the interested and the non-interested ....

[jaybee136]

Unfortunately rare does not equal good and I have seen a "few" of these cues and they are probably club quality of the time, sorry if that is not what you want to hear! and I suppose the supply and demand comes into play, you don't get many so maybe people will pay decent money for them.

[jrc750]

I have taken pictures off this cue and will post them up later:snooker:

Its ok mate take your time

[G30 MC]

Will take as long as it take fella

[jb134]

[QUOTE=tammajock;505975]Thanks for that constructive help and advice from the previous post, i suppose in truth, if you are genuinely not interested in the thread then you dont need to comment, like the tv, turn the damn channel and stop showing yourself up please? [\quote]

I am in fact very interested being a Glaswegian cue buff. My post was in response to your comment about the cost of a multiple spliced cue in this day and age.

However now I am aware of your sensitive nature I will resist any further attempts at levity.

I apologise unreservedly.

[tammajock]

Unfortunately rare does not equal good and I have seen a "few" of these cues and they are probably club quality of the time, sorry if that is not what you want to hear! and I suppose the supply and demand comes into play, you don't get many so maybe people will pay decent money for them.

I would love to know the clubs you hang around bud?, 16 veneers and splices on a cue thats rare, check out the bbc archives, from a maker that built quality tables used in professional games that also made billiard rooms for the snooker. Compared to burroghes and watts that are regularly on ebay. Im not sayin the cue is worth thousands although how do you put a price on a rare cue from a reputable maker with the amount of work carried out on it? Has anyone else got a cue from these makers and if so please post some pictures and lets see how rare they are? The cue I have has now been sent to dave coutts to have a new ferrule and talisman soft pro tip, re-grained and polished to bring it somewhat to its former glory. "Reputable" people on this forum have stated that the cue is worth from 120- 150 pounds?