In searching out the roots of both english Billiards and Snooker it would be remiss of me not to include a little something about the women’s or as it used to be known in gentler times, "The ladies game”.

I am lucky enough to own a video with a little footage of both Thelma Carpenter and Ruth Harrison on it, this video was taken from Newsreel films originally taken a number of years ago.

When I think of ladies Snooker and Billiards I always think of the following names; Joyce Gardner, Thelma Carpenter, Ruth Harrison, Vera Selby, Allison Fisher, and Kelly Fisher.

On closer inspection there are other names from years gone by that I feel bear closer investigation from someone more in the know than I, such as Vera Seals, Helen Futo, Agnes Morris and Maureen Bennett. I wonder what stories exist about this group of pioneer women and their achievements, they must have been determined characters to succeed at a game that at the time offered so little opportunity for them to progress within it.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Vera Selby, twice world ladies Snooker champion and nine times world Billiards champion and was impressed with her friendly and confident manner. I wished that I`d had more time to talk with her about her career and the people that she had met. Ms Selby was on official business refereeing a Billiards match and so could only spare a moment or two.

Not so long ago a friend of mine named Kim, an excellent long potter on the Snooker table, was drawn at an away venue in a knockout match. The secretary of the club where the match was to be played seemed more worried that Kim might damage the cloth on the Billiard table with her nails than with her performance throughout the match. It just shows that attitudes can be slow to change in the quieter corners where Snooker is played.

If you are a lady player with a story or two to tell, even if you prefer to remain anonymous, please e-mail them to me and I will reproduce them on Cues n Views. Maybe it is time that this section was expanded beyond my previous reference to the two Clark McConachy cues presented to Joyce Gardner elsewhere on the site.

David Smith