Highlights:
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.
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Balls
Snooker balls – a load of balls!
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Sidney Smith Billiards Champion
This Sidney Smith Champion cue was made to commemorate Sidney Smith’s award of the United Kingdom Billiards Championships in 1947 and 1948. Smith won this tournament less times than he…
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Ivory Billiard Balls
More Balls: Ivory billiard balls from Burroughes and Watts. David SmithCues n Views
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Riley billiard tables truck by Corgi
Riley billiard tables truck made by Corgi.
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Green Baize visit
Green Baize Limited More Posts: Green Baize visit A friend wanted to go to Green Baize Limited. Naturally, I was delighted to accompany him. The trip was a joy. The…
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Charles Dawson Cues
David talks about Charles Dawson from Huddersfield and cues that bear his name. Charles Dawson cue images
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John Pulman Snooker Balls
More Balls: John Pulman pre-owned Snooker Balls My most important set. Previously supplied to John Pulman. Absolutely mind; he had not changed over his previous set when he sadly passed…
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A E Perry Billiard Balls
More Balls: Billiard balls from A E Perry & Son, Billiard Table Makers, Brighton. David SmithCues n Views A E Perry History
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Riley Burwat Snooker Plus Balls
More Balls: Riley Burwat Snooker Plus Balls Riley Burwat Limited, Acrington, London and branches Snooker Plus Balls set. David SmithCues n Views
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H J Davis
Although he claimed that his business had been established in 1896, the first reference to him trading independently comes in 1902, shortly after his arrival in the Kentish town of…
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Kent & Co
In 1913, Leonard Kent was joined in partnership by Edward Cleal who, having taken over the factory of the Bonzoline Ball Co in Queen Street, London, was involved with the…
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Burnley Billiard Works Enquiry
Dave, North Wales enquired about his machine spliced cue and shared an image of it in September 2025, Cues n Views historian, Peter Ainsworth replied as follows. Your cue was…
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The Essential Cue Collection
More Cues: 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. As…
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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 sport and…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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
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.
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.
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.
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
Snooker Quiz One – Just for fun! David Smith’s first Snooker Quiz for Cues n Views. Test your knowledge, updated, now interactive.
Snooker Quiz Two – Just for fun! David Smith’s second Snooker Quiz for Cues n Views. Test your knowledge.
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
Guide Dogs for the Blind cue
At the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield one year, I purchased a Guide Dogs for the Blind cue from Roger Lee. This cue is in virtually new condition and is of course full length with a large tip. These cues were made by Peradon along the same lines as the Tom Newman Champion cue that was available a little earlier; they are a nice cue, though not as collectable in my opinion as a good named player cue. It is a nice hand-spliced cue though and well worth adding to a cue collection.
