Rochester Sports Museum lands another big item

Oct 26, 2020

IF YOU’RE ever to ask John Forbes about the great Walter Lindrum, the sports enthusiast could tell you countless stories about the latter's billiards prowess.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

And now a piece of Lindrum history is in Forbes’ possession thanks to a donation from fellow Mitiamo local Tom Burrowes.

The Rochester Sport Museum - which Forbes opened last year - is now home to a billiard cue honouring Lindrum’s record break of 4137 which occurred in 1932.

In a match against Joe Hall in London, Lindrum occupied the table for two hours and 55 minutes recording about 1900 consecutive shots.

It was just one of many records the Australian champion broke during his career, despite the rules continuing to be changed as the sport's governing body tried to curb his dominance.

And after buying the cue at a sportsmen’s night about two decades ago, Burrowes believes the prestigious item deserves a new home.

“I didn’t have the item displayed anywhere in my own home and I thought what better place could it go to then the Rochester Sports Museum,” he said.

“I brought the cue at a fundraising event for a significant amount of money. It got to a point where I thought I had gone too high, but I thought I would never have an opportunity like this again.

“I’ve always believed as a collector your don’t own these items, you are just taking care of them until the next person comes along.

“I can’t wait to share it with more people by having it displayed in Rochester.

“My mother, Beryl Sexton, has a strong connection to the district through Elmore so I’m really pleased I can give something back to the community.”

And you can expect the cue won’t have quite the same treatment it received on the first night it was purchased.

“We actually took it down to the local pub and played a few games,” Burrowes joked.

“It probably wasn’t the smartest decision at the time.”

For Forbes, he said he was excited to add another piece to his collection.

“Walter was an all-time great – not just of his sport but Australian sport,” he said.

“I can’t thank Tom enough for being kind enough to donate this to the museum.”

Rochester Sports Museum currently remains closed to the public, but they hope to make some announcements in regards to opening times in coming weeks.

More sport news

Rochester Little Athletics returns