Bristol’s vibrant pub culture in pictures

In this photo essay, The Cable captures the unique spirit of amateur pool at a series of drinks in pockets of the city where pub sports culture has been alive and well for decades.

“What rules?” Experienced regular B, who has been on the table undefeated for hours, asks a nervous newcomer the question as he jots down the name of his previous opponent on the board next to the pool table in the Plow Inn, Easton.

The new player shrugs before the regulars bother him with the house rules. Two shots do not count here, you can move the cue ball to the foul, but only behind the break line. A ball must touch a cushion on every shot.

The winner goes out, and B—a long-time player known for dominating the table—builds his cue, expressionless, as his next victim rises. He gives his partner, a jovial fellow sipping an imported Nigerian Guinness, a sideways glance as if to say “easy prey.”

The Plow is just one of dozens of pubs in pockets of Bristol where pool culture has been alive and well for as long as players can remember. Some regulars, like B, have been playing there for decades.

Whether it’s a tense winner-takes-all match at the Jolly Cobblers in Kingswood, home of the Wednesday night pool league champions, or a double-drunk game with friends in the Masonic in Bedminster, there’s a place for everyone.

The clientele around the table differs from pub to pub – just like the pints, some are livelier than others – so does the quality of the directions. The same goes for the tables themselves – they can’t all be clean, freshly brushed greens.

But that’s part of it. The crappy ones are for practicing chip shots because they’re already broken; the good ones for finesse technique because the balls will actually move in the direction you want them to on a quality table.

Photographer Gökçe Yeniev captured the unique spirit of pub sport and the spectrum of atmospheres that come with chasing it across town, from north to south of the river, in black and white.