Growing up near Great Yarmouth, we really were spoilt when it came to the arcades. In addition to the awesome arcades down the seafront, we had arcades on holiday camps and in pubs. One holiday camp in the village where I lived even had an OutRun DLX!
Back in the day, pub games rooms were fairly common. Adults would be in the bar whilst the kids would keep out of trouble in the games room. There was one pub within walking distance from my house with a cool games room. The pub was short walk down a dirt track, across a field and along Breydon Water. The pub was called 'The Fisherman's Inn' and I remember going there after school and playing Cisco Heat, Shinobi, Street Fighter II' and Toki, among others.
After one Summer, the pub was refurbished. The games room became a restaurant and the arcade games disappeared forever. I recently contacted the pub, enquiring about the whereabouts of the old machines. I knew it was a longshot, and a couple of days later I got a reply. "I'm afraid I am unable to advise what happened to those gaming machines as they would have belonged to the tenant at the time of The Fisherman's Inn." I was grateful to receive a reply, even though it was pretty much what I had expected. It was worth a try I thought.
And then the unexpected happened!
A little while later I received another email. "I just had a thought...I cannot remember the last time they got played on, but at my Mums house, she has old school arcade machines. The age where they use the old 10p coins".
It turns out that the Mum had moved in to a former Bed and Breakfast around ten years ago, and the machines had sat there in the basement all this time.
And so begins tomorrows Raid!
jase382018-05-13 21:12:52
Back in the day, pub games rooms were fairly common. Adults would be in the bar whilst the kids would keep out of trouble in the games room. There was one pub within walking distance from my house with a cool games room. The pub was short walk down a dirt track, across a field and along Breydon Water. The pub was called 'The Fisherman's Inn' and I remember going there after school and playing Cisco Heat, Shinobi, Street Fighter II' and Toki, among others.
After one Summer, the pub was refurbished. The games room became a restaurant and the arcade games disappeared forever. I recently contacted the pub, enquiring about the whereabouts of the old machines. I knew it was a longshot, and a couple of days later I got a reply. "I'm afraid I am unable to advise what happened to those gaming machines as they would have belonged to the tenant at the time of The Fisherman's Inn." I was grateful to receive a reply, even though it was pretty much what I had expected. It was worth a try I thought.
And then the unexpected happened!
A little while later I received another email. "I just had a thought...I cannot remember the last time they got played on, but at my Mums house, she has old school arcade machines. The age where they use the old 10p coins".
It turns out that the Mum had moved in to a former Bed and Breakfast around ten years ago, and the machines had sat there in the basement all this time.
And so begins tomorrows Raid!
jase382018-05-13 21:12:52
