Making the finest Cues for over 30 years

Keith Auld started making cues over 30 years ago and has in that time made cues for Jimmy White, Tony Meo, Stephen Lee, David Gray, Aidan Murphy, Lee Grant, Danny Auld, Hui Le, David Cheung, Frank Sandell and many others all round the world and more locally to Hampshire for top players, Dave Mumford, Jimmy Auld, Dave Lovejoy, Steve Cole, Paul Foster, Mike Jurd and others.

Keith Auld has also been responsible for teaching those wanting to learn the art of cue making either by direct teaching, by working alongside him or indirect teaching such as appearing on BBC Television showing how to make a cue or making cues in an open air arena such as the Royal Victoria Country Park as part of a crafts fair.

Keith Auld has now recovered from an illness that prevented him making cues for a number of years, but with a new lease for life, new workshops (complete with it own micro brewery) and machinery, Keith is now back hard at work with cue orders coming in from old and new customers alike worldwide - one thing you'll always know is that if your cue is made by Keith Auld it will come with a guarantee of genuine handmade quality and a wealth of experience.

Keith Auld - A Brief History

Surrounded by wood shavings and half-finished snooker cues in a First World War Nissen Hut in Locks Heath, Keith Auld says he feels like a 20-year-old again.

A life-threatening illness forced the Hampshire cue expert to sell all his equipment and dispose of his premises in 2007.

But a new specialist and a change of medication gave Keith Auld "a new lease of life".

He said: "After one week I thought 'what a waste of time. This is another load of rubbish that they're shoving down my throat'. "After two weeks, I felt a whole lot different. After three weeks it was like the magic bullet. "I felt like 20-years-old again. It was just incredible."

Reflecting on his illness, the 59-year-old, who has been making, modifying and repairing cues for 30 years, said: "I got to the stage where I could make cues but I couldn't finish them. "I wasn't going to turn out shoddy stuff so I decided it was time to retire. "I'd got rid of my workshop; I'd got rid of all my equipment. It was horrible. It was 30 years of my life going down the pan."

But now, thanks to a chance meeting with old friend Bob Jones in Park Gate Royal British Legion, Auld has set up shop again in a fully fitted out wooden Nissen Hut heated by a log-burning stove just round the corner from his home in Locks Heath.

Jones, a keen wood turner, offered Auld the use of his workshop. Keith Auld said he was "absolutely amazed" when he saw it. It's fitted out to the gunwales," he explained. "It's bigger and better than any workshop I've ever had in my life. "That joy countered the feeling of horror and disgust when I gave it up. I'm making cues better than I've ever done. "He said 'Keith, you can have it for as long as you like'. "He's a gem. I've made him a cue as a 'thank you'."

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Cue doctor Keith Auld has had professional snooker players crying down his phone in the middle of the night.

Originally based in Wimbledon, South London, Auld moved to Locks Heath in 1990.

He has made cues for Jimmy White, Stephen Lee and many other top players.

In fact, Tony Meo won the 1989 British Open with an Keith Auld cue.

"A cue is very personal," he said. "If you break it, you're going to miss it. It's something which becomes an intrinsic part of you - like having an arm. I used to get them phoning me up in tears at two o'clock in the morning."

Keith Auld, who featured on BBC TV's South Today in 2006, advises players not to leave cues in their cars. He said: "If you leave them in extreme temperatures, cold or hot, the joint will fall out or the ferrule will become loose. "The wood will react to the temperature in a different way to the metal."

Keith Auld's son Danny, now an estate agent, was a professional in the 1990s. His other son Jimmy was also a fine player. Auld himself has played a couple of matches (won one and lost one) this season for Park Gate RBL B, who lead the Southampton & District Social Clubs League's Premier division. Team captain Paul Tavender said: "Keith's a nice guy who tries his hardest when he has helped us out."

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In the mid 1980s, Dave Mumford turned up without his cue at Chalkies in Eastleigh for a game with Dave Ashley. The late Jim Watts leant him a one-piece ash cue. "I made a 120, 101 and 90 in the first three frames," Mumford recalled. He bought the cue for £30.

Years later, after problems with the ferrule, Mumford asked Keith Auld to lengthen it and turn it into a three-piece. He said: "The cue was special to me and Keith Auld knew that. To this day, it has never let me down. He is thorough and a good craftsman."

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There's not much that Keith Auld can't do to a snooker cue. As well as hand-making them and repairing splits, he can lengthen, shorten, straighten and re-joint cues. Keith Auld prefers meeting clients face to face in his Nissen Hut in Locks Heath, Southampton

Players can book an appointment by ringing 07771 622220.