One of the main aims in creating this site is to give some of snookers newer supporters the opportunity to get to grips with the history of the sport and also to get a quick insight into the collecting side of the hobby.

We intend to give those of you unable to get hold of items of interest the chance to at least see them and read a detailed description of them in these pages.

I myself have often seen images of items in books and so on that I thought it unlikely that I could ever own such an item. So to offset this feeling of inaccessibility we will also talk about some items that are only a few years old and sometimes available through second hand shops or out of print retailers in the case of books.

I have items in my collection that I take pleasure in owning yet to others they may seem quite trivial, the main thing should be, I think, your collection should give you pleasure and it should be a pleasure to put together.

I do not intend to go into detail about old tables or many of the larger pieces of billiard room furniture like scoreboards, as most of us will never own such a thing. I prefer to look at items that you may be able to get hold of with perhaps a little saving?

Some items are considered worthless by serious collectors, as they were mass-produced, these items include books, cues and cigarette cards and the like. You might have items that you consider worthless but would like to know more about their history before you decide what to do with them.

If you would like an opinion as to the value of any item, please feel free to send me a copy, in colour of the image of the item.

If I don’t know, I will ask my network of contacts and get back to you with a valuation and description of the item’s history.

We will show the pictures of many items on this site, in the hope of creating a kind of interactive museum. Where you can eventually look at a catalogue of items that are around and enjoy a more detailed appreciation of days gone by in the field of both Snooker and English Billiards.

We may also put stories about your discoveries or articles by our guests on the site as well. We also intend to make the site as responsive to the requests of our visitors so feel free to comment on anything you see on the site, we can take even negative comments should you be so inclined as to make them, I hope?

David Smith