This attractive version of the game appears to be by Hawtins of Blackpool. You steer a large metal ball along a series of horizontal, increasingly perilous runs and your coin is returned if you successfully negotiate the hazards. Simple in concept and construction, these reliable games were popular with players and operators alike.

Popular ball steering game. This is the more common version with painted wooden backboard. After insertion of a penny, a large cast carousel inside raises the ball into play when the steering wheel is rotated. Your penny is returned for completing the course.

I used to play this actual machine back in the mid 1970s in Barrys Amusements, Bangor N.I. and got the chance recently to purchase it along with a Ring a Bell machine. I restored the cabinet to original colour scheme.

When drink driving was considered unwise but legal, this simple mechanical device, sited in pubs and clubs, allowed you to gauge your inebriation.

Insert a coin, which is held by a gate at the top, and press the spring-loaded green button, which is then held in place by a rubber sucker. At this point a battery contact is made to illuminate a bulb, the previous coin played drops to the cash box and your coin drops below the gate to rest on a pin connected to the button mechanism. You then wait until the sucker loses its grip, puts out the lamp, rings a bell and releases the coin. The coin falls vertically and you have to press the red button as fast as you can. The coin is stopped dead as one side of the channel closes against it. Your reaction time is measured by how far the coin drops against a scale, indicating your stopping distance when travelling at 30 mph, with comments about your fitness to drive. If you are fast enough (within 21 feet) you get your coin back. Patent GB786414

Insert a penny to release the two balls. The object is to shoot the balls up the barber's pole landing them upon matching coloured arrows for a payout. Unusually, the mechanism is electro-mechanical, the positions of the balls being registered with electrical contacts and the payout energized by a solenoid.

This unusual metal-cased variant of the Circle-Skill game rewards the winner with a single cigarette.

Insert one penny and turn the large handle on the right to release four balls; turn the small trigger on the left to feed each ball to the footballer, then pull back and release the large chrome lever to make him kick. The object is to fire a ball into each of the "Away" goals. Flags (mostly missing on this example) drop to indicate goals scored. Balls which under or over shoot are returned to play. The operator can choose which channels are "Away" goals by flipping the score card above, arranging three pins in the mechanism, and setting the payouts accordingly. When all "Away" goals are scored, payout is automatic.