Cues n Views by David Smith, a collector of Cues, Books and other related memoabilia and a keen observer of Snooker and Pool, is dedicated to Snooker memorabilia collecting and celebrating the worlds of Snooker Billiards and Pool.

Navigate the site using the Menu to the left to go to the item of your choice, or use the menu above to find the desired section. Most pages have a row of links below the Banner, use these to check the headlines for the latest additions under each heading.

Use the search facility above to search the site for references to something specific.

Collecting

  • How I Started

    More Views: I first started collecting Billiards and Snooker memorabilia in 1986 as a result of the reprinting of a book that I had only previously been able to read…

  • Themed Collecting – Tom Newman

    More Cues: I became interested in collecting items relating to Tom Newman after getting hold of a Tom Newman facsimile cue made around 1930 by the company that I like…

  • Colecting Cues

    More Cues: Colecting: Cues Collecting cues is to me a very interesting pastime; I have met many interesting people. When I first started, I didn’t realise that it was even…

  • Selection of Old Cues

    Collecting: Selection of Old Cues I have included this illustration to show the differences between, machine spliced cues and hand spliced cues, along with the variety of inlays, veneers and…

  • Commemorative Cues

    More Cues: Players from older era’s that you might still be able to find cues that commemorate them and their achievements include. John Roberts, William Cook, Cecil Harverson, John Roberts…

  • Collecting – Balls

    Balls! We collectors are a weird breed you know, I have even gathered together a small collection of balls. I have: These various sets of balls all play differently, the…

  • Temptation to Sell

    More Cues: The down side of owning a rare billiard or snooker cue is that the temptation to sell it can come upon you quite suddenly and after selling the…

  • Themed Collecting – W J Peall

    More Cues: W J Peall was a Billiards player who played at the higher levels of the game from about 1885 until 1920 his chief scoring method was the so…

  • Peradon Limited

    I have now completed my research about the makers Peradon, looking back at the cues in my collection. It seems that Peradon were a truly major maker of cues from…

  • Future Collectibles

    More Cues: To start a worthwhile cue collection is not as difficult as you might think. Some of the more modern cues are quite attractive and will no doubt appreciate…

  • Norman Clare and Roger Lee

    Norman Clare gathered together a wonderful collection of Snooker and Billiards memorabilia that is kept at the Liverpool offices of Thurston. Amongst this collection is a group of cues that…

  • Interactive Museum

    Interactive Museum 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…

  • Ivory Billiard Balls

    More Balls: Ivory billiard balls from Burroughes and Watts. David SmithCues n Views 

  • Balls

    Snooker balls – a load of balls!

  • Snooker Plus

    Snooker Plus, the billiard table game promoted by Joe Davis, Includes Thurston museum presentation of Snooker Plus balls.

  • Tom Reece – His Billiard balls and cue

    More Programmes: Tom Reece – his Billiard balls and cue. Also name plate cues featuring his name. This video also features a review of a Pathe News film of Tom…

  • Table Brushes

    Burroughes and Watts, Raper and Peradon table brushes.

  • Adam Cues

    A further selection of Adam cues from the Cues n Views collection. Adam cue images

  • Burwat Champion two piece cue in case

    Burwat Champion two piece cue – original, in case More posts about Burwat Champion cues: Photos of Burwat Champion cues:

  • Willie Smith Cues

    David Smith of Cues n Views talks about Billiards Pro Willie Smith and cues that bear his name including a fine example formerly owned by Dominic Dale. Willie Smith cue…

  • Snooker Balls

    A Cue Splices video on the subject of Snooker Balls. Stills from the video are below.

  • Rare Fred Davis Champion Cue

    A rare Fred Davis Champion cue; part of the Cues n Views collection. Fred Davis cue images

  • Tom Newman Cues

    Tom Newman cues by Burroughes and Watts, Peradon and Thurston. A quick look at what makes these cues so interesting. Tom Newman cue images

  • Burroughes & Watts with Dominic Dale

    More Programmes: This video is about Burroughes and Watts, Dadid Smith, Cues n Views in conversation with Dominic Dale about the famous company. More articles about Burroughes and Watts: Burroughes…

Picture Gallery index – cues, books, balls and cards.

  • My Favourite Cues – Photographer Viv Welch’s photos of some of the Cues n Views collection owned by David Smith
  • David Smith’s Cue Collection – These illustrations show part of my cue collection. Photographs by Mark Warwick
  • Cues – On this page are thumbnail images of cues featured on this site, click on a linked cue to see an enlargement or gallery and some information about the cue
  • Balls – Billiard balls, Snooker balls – a load of balls!
  • Books – On this page are thumbnail images of all the books featured on this site, click on a linked book to see an enlargement and some information about the book
  • Cards – I have gathered together a few examples of the variety of cigarette cards that are commonly available, these cards are of course related to both Billiards and Snooker collecting. Not strictly a Gallery yet, but there’s plenty to see

Special Sections

Collected Writings – By Andy Hunter, Dominic Dale, Norman Clare, Mark Wildman, David Thomas Lyttleton and Harry Smith. There is also a Competitions section. 
Advertorial Features – Features by David Smith reviiewing the cues produced by modern cue makers.

Cues n Views – Interactive – An interesting side of creating a Web Site such as Cues n Views is the number of people that get in touch and either ask questions or share information.

Buying an old cue – When buying an old cue to keep as a collectable item, even if you do not intend to sell it, requires you to buy with care so that you are not disappointed with your acquisitions. In this article I have recorded some guidelines that are intended to help you buy with confidence; (includes a tip on how to tell the difference between hand-spliced and machine-spliced cues).

The Cues n Views archive
Cues n Views is about saving old cues for future generations to enjoy and a service that aims to inform those of you that are interested in old cues about their history, their design peculiarities and their current market value as a collector’s item or for insurance purposes.

The Essential Cue Collection – Slightly for fun and as a guide to new collectors, we have put together a list of the cues that might make up the ideal cue collection. 

Cigarette Cards In More Detail – I have gathered together a few examples of the variety of cigarette cards that are commonly available, these cards are of course related to both Billiards and Snooker collecting.

Where are they now? – As both Snooker and Billiards are now recognised as young men’s games, I find myself wondering what happened to certain players who graced our television screens only a few short years ago.

Mike Russell; is he the last of a dying breed? – Mike Russell, along with a small group of devotees has kept the game of competitive Billiards going over the past few years. Along with holding down a day job, he has also managed to maintain his skills and travel the world in search of competition.

The Ladies Game – In searching out the roots of both 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”.

Interview with Dominic Dale 2002 – For those of you not familiar with Dominic Dale he is currently ranked well inside the top thirty-two Snooker players in the world. His biggest success on the pro-circuit to date was winning the 1997 Grand Prix, defeating John Higgins in the final.

Advertorial Features

Robin Cues – I recently obtained a Robin Cook cue via a friend of mine from Peterborough, it is a single piece cue and looks quite like an old style Burwat Champion cue from the firm Burroughes and Watts.

Top Spot Club – To give you some idea of the type of Snooker Club that I am referring to its details are as follows, this club has 16 full sized Snooker/Billiard Tables and 6 7ft U.K. Pool Tables along with a three quarter sized Snooker/Billiard Table as well.

Coutts Cues – David Coutts is a skilled woodsmith who takes great pride in creating cues of great quality and perhaps more importantly, he creates cues that are taylor-made to the individual customers requirements.

Master Cue – If you are seeking a new cue, and want something a little different from the cues that we often see in the snooker clubs on a day to day basis, perhaps you might like to make contact with the company Master Cue in Thailand. 

Collected Writings

The Norman Clare Retrospective – Cues n Views is proud to present the Norman Clare Retrospective section, a tribute to the noted Billiards & Snooker Historian. Thurston, current copyright holder, has kindly granted permission to Cues n Views to present the articles written by Norman Clare and originally published in Cue World in the early nineteen eighties.

Mr Mark Wildman – We are pleased to welcome a new contributor to Cues n Views, former World Billiards Champion, top sixteen Snooker player, ITV and Eurosport commentator. He made the first century break at Snooker ever seen on television.

Harry Smith – This is the start of a series of articles looking at some of the less common areas of Billiard book collecting. Harry Smith is an avid collector of many of the books that you will see referred to in these articles, so look forward to sharing his experiences.

Competitions News n Views Index Page – Articles by David Smith on current and past competitions. An impressive Billiards tounament is the latest to be covered and the 2002 Benson & Hedges Masters is the latest Snooker competition to be covered.

Andy Hunter & David Smith – Collecting Old Cues – Andy Hunter is “The Cue Collector” of “The Amateur Billiard Player” magazine and co-writer with David Smith for Cues n Views. Collected together here are Andy Hunter & David Smith`s articles for Cues n Views on collecting old cues.

Dominic Dale – Articles by Domonc Dale about collecting and by David Smith about Domonic Dale, icluding an exclusive interview. We now have an item about a Sale from the collection of Dominic Dale, a gallery of collectables that will interest the more serious collector.

David Thomas Lyttleton Index Page – This is a series of articles looking at some of the less common areas of Billiard and Snooker collecting. Articles cover such subjects as table irons and brushes, cue tippers and cutters, rests, balls, trophies and medals.

What do you want?

Perhaps I should be more explicit; I collect old Billiards and Snooker cues as well as other items that take my fancy.

I have most of the cues that I want so am offering a kind of matching service to you as readers of this site.

I don’t want to make a profit but would take great pleasure in helping you to find what you want.

I also collect books and here again, have mostly what I want, in point of fact I believe that I have the books that I can realistically afford, however I have a network of friends who have items that they consider surplus due to duplication that they might consider passing on should the right circumstances present themselves.

If you are awaiting a reply to an enquiry for information on collecting old cues, please be patient as the number of enquiries has dramatically increased since our launch.

If you have items for sale or are looking for something please let me know I’ll do what I can to help you out.

All that I would ask is the cost of postage.

Billiards & Snooker Exchange Pages

Fun

Snooker Quiz One – Just for fun! David Smith’s first Snooker Quiz for Cues n Views. Test your knowledge, updated, now interactive.

Poetry – On Spring Bank Holiday Monday 2001 David and John Smith called at Borders book shop in Leeds where they decided to stop for a cup of tea and a snack, it just so happened that it was “Open Mike” poetry reding night. David decided to have a go at poetry himself.

Full Notes – A fun sketch by David Smith; Full Notes Interviews the Stars and truly puts their careers and performances in context for the pleasure of the surfing public.

Cues n Views
update of the week

Improve Your Snooker by Joe Davis

I have added a new book to the collection this month, the book is a first edition Improve Your Snooker by Joe Davis with original dust jacket. This I believe was the first Snooker book written by Joe and is a must for the Joe Davis fan.