Sherlock Holmes

[philip in china]

Not really history per se but after my previous mistake I thought I might as well post this.

There is a Sherlock Holmes story called "The Dancing Men". It is in the collection called "The Return of Sherlock Holmes". (The text is probably on the internet somewhere). By this stage Conan Doyle was running out of ideas and his stories had become somewhat formulaeic. They started with some wonderful observation which perplexed Watson. That is the interest of this story to a snooker enthusiast. Holmes mentions the chalk on Watson's hand the night before as being evidence that he had been playing billiards with his friend Thurston. I think the interest is that Doyle had been looking for yet another idea before he wrote this one and linked the game of billiards with the name Thurston. That makes me think that he had probably owned or at least played on a Thurston table.

Well I thought it was interesting!

[good19]

I too remember this reference to billiards. Are Thurstons still making tables? I seem to remember that the "International" was towards the top of their line. The pictures in their brochure from around the mid 80s showed a beautiful mahogony red table.

[Geoff Large]

Thurston where algimated into the Clare padmore and Thurston group of companies , they have since changed the name back to just Thurston because of its great history .

but realy they are Clare's owned . ( I think )

an interesting story is that during the early 80s , the Billiards and snooker trade association had a meeting to enquire if all the members where going to have Metric sized slates on modern build tables , they in principle agreed to look into it , Clare Padmore and thurston decided to jump the gun and order some Metric slates and make the new metric sized tables , they started production and had sold quite few , the other members got wind of it and decided not to make new tables to metric but to stick to imperial measurement sized slates , clare/thurston stopped production of the metric tables , but I have come across 3 or 4 on my rounds as a billiard fitter , they can catch you out when marking out the baulk and spots .
they are a little shorter by a couple of inches in lenth and around 1.5 inch in width .

[Barcicik]

In the film Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles Watson plays snooker with Sir Henry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHo3T...eature=related

[Watford]

Yeah it's the same company that makes Peradon cues.
I thought Thusrtons had taken over Clares becuase the Liverpool shop chaged names (we still call it clares like.) Don't know I just assumed that. Two of my mates went in the shop yeaterday.