Serial Numbers

[philip in china]

Where do I find the serial number on a Burroughes & Watts table?

[Geoff Large]

normaly stamped on top of each leg and reproduced in each timber part on the underside , some tables carry differant numbers on the cushions . on youre table it has Brand new replacement riley Aristocrat Cushions Phil .

Don't bother trying to find out any information on burroughs and watts serial numbers Phil , the Luftwaffe Destroyed by bombing burroughs and watts soho square offices and match rooms in world war two , resulting in all records being destroyed , the only table to survive was one that got taken out just before the war and donated to a church in nottingham , it is now or was located in loch awe hotel in scotland , it is Nuimber 19 table that came out of the soho sqaure Billiard hall .

I was watching a house in the country the other day on TV , and a table in a house near Bristol came into view the historian dated it at 1850s but it had steel block cushions on which where not invented until 1890s , and thats how we date B&Watts tables now days through leg and pocket plate designs , plus end name plaques and cushion rubber description on those plaques .
I am not questioning the Historian motives about 1850 dateing , there may well have been a table in that house around that time and it was listed in the house records , but it was not that one .

Geoff

[philip in china]

So what would be the date of my table?

[Geoff Large]

So what would be the date of my table?

youre table is around 1930s .

I was working on two identical tables today in Leicester . and dated them to around the same circa too . there where some still being made in that design right upto the 1950s so it may be possible it is a later one . the slate is 2 inch thick Welsh .

[philip in china]

I am surprised, and delighted, that it is as old as that. I suppose the professional refurb has made it look newer than it is!

Having moved it Iwas delighted at how heavy the woodwork is. Also the slate is as heavy as any I hve ever handled and heavier than most. I suppose it was made when tables were at their traditional best. You know my opinion on gold sprayed tables!

[throtts]

I am surprised, and delighted, that it is as old as that. I suppose the professional refurb has made it look newer than it is!

Having moved it Iwas delighted at how heavy the woodwork is. You know my opinion on gold sprayed tables!

You wouldn't like mine then...

[philip in china]

I think somewhere there is a whole thread about this!

You wouldn't like mine then...

[throtts]

I think somewhere there is a whole thread about this!

Yea, I remember it. Not one congrats throtts, just posters basically stating the Star is a pile of ****e, quality people..

Anyway, after 4 month of ownership I am so pleased I stuck with my decision, beautiful to play on.

All the best with yours..

[philip in china]

How ever did we get this far from the original topic???

I think it is "horses for courses" as the saying goes. What might look right in one setting won't look equally good in another. In the final analysis what matters is a true, flat and level table with accurate pockets and some bounce in the rubber. The small table which I have in China possesses all of those qualities and where it is it is ideally suited. It is a very cheap table but does what I want it to do where it is.