In the evenings across mid-Somerset, men and women are keeping busy throwing balls at pieces of wood as they have a drink.

An ancient game, skittles has escaped the strict rules and regulations that games like football now have, making it an affordable way for a group of friends to spend an evening together.

The game has been good for charitable causes whether it be through sponsored events, or prize money being donated. Recent beneficiaries from local leagues include Somerset and Dorset Air Ambulance, the Royal United Hospital in Bath, and St Margaret's Somerset Hospice.

Played on alleys in pubs and social clubs, the game provides an important source of income to those establishments at a time when pubs and clubs are under pressure, and many have closed.

Two teams in action last week were Unity C and the Likely Lads, playing on Wednesday of last week at the Unity Club, Street, in the fifth division of the Street and District League. With the game under way players gathered at the end of the alley, chatting as they wait their turn.

Tony Hooper, of Street, has played for Unity C for more than 40 years. As wood bangs on wood and balls roll, he talks about the Cowmead raw materials factory at Clarks, from where the team originated.

Now team members work in a variety of jobs including mechanic, insurance worker and IT worker. Although the team has not won any silverware for a long time, all the players get on well together and never fall out.

Mr Hooper said: "It's a good night – more of a social night.

"If you win you win, if you lose you lose – it's still a good night whether we win or lose."

Max Thurgood, of Street, who also plays for the team, said: "Unity C is an excuse in the mid-week to come out, mix with friends, have a drink and have some fun – with a little bit of friendly competition thrown in for good measure."

As for the captain of the team, it's generally accepted he attends meetings, encourages the team, rounds people up, and sends scorecards off to the league.

Andrew Hill, of Wells, plays for the Likely Lads, meeting on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The team was a group of farmers originally, but as farmers have diversified into other jobs, there are few farmers left among them.

The team has been up from the bottom division to top of the league in the past and recently come down again.

He said: "You'd think that something you've done every week for 30 years you'd get better but we don't seem to get any better really."

At points during the game, players stick their hands in their pockets, and hand coins to a player who's just scored a spare – hitting down all nine pins with one or two throws of the ball. Mr Hooper doesn't think the game has changed much since he started, but he says there are fewer players now, echoing what others in the skittling fraternity have observed.

He says there used to be seven divisions in the Street and District League, and foresees the current six dropping to five.

Teenager Charlie Atkins is the sticker up for the game, stationed at the noisiest end of the alley, kicking fallen pins away, resetting them, and sending balls down the chute to the players.

He said: "It's fairly easy, simple to do.

"It gives you a bit of extra money as well – it gets you used to going to work."

Skittles facts:

Around 3,000 people play in skittles leagues in the mid-Somerset area;

Skittles is played with nine pins arranged in a diamond pattern, compared with American ten-pin bowling where pins are arranged in a triangle;

There is no standard skittle alley – sizes vary from place to place;

Skittles terms include flopper, spare, bolter and oxo – all words representing particular scores;

The game has been traced back to Germany in the third or fourth century when monks would throw stones at a club or kegel, which represented sin or temptation;

Quilles de neuf is a French variation of the game with 3ft long pins which must be knocked down in a special order;

London skittles is played with a round cheese instead of a ball;

Some players sometimes throw the ball with two hands, known as a Dorset Flop;

While skittles is not an Olympic sport, boccia is and will be played in the Paralympic Games, with athletes launching a ball at a target from a distance.

For more skittles pictures, turn to pages 70 and 71.