• ‘Wash your greasy hands after eating pies, sausage rolls, crisps and sandwiches – No Smoking over the table’

By Andrew Atkinson

Posters from yesterday advised snooker and pool players at Acregate Lane Watering Hole in Preston, Lancashire, about the strict measures in keeping the green baize in tip-top order.

And that included remembering to wash your greasy hands – after munching pies, sausage rolls, crisps and sandwiches, along with no smoking over the table!

Ralph Heron: Recalls pool table baize cleaned with stiff brush and soapy water.

Ralph Heron recalled: “Back in the early 1980s I used to go to the Victoria on Fishergate, where Paddy Whitehead was the landlord.

“He asked his brother to clean the pool table baize – with a stiff brush – he did, along with a load of soapy water!

The result? One totally knackered pool tabletop. Oh dear.”

Caption: Important Notices for snooker and pool players.