Try ringing Roger Hope on a weekday night and he’s not the easiest bloke to get hold of.

That’s because he’s either playing skittles for Norwood Arms A in Division Two of the Cheltenham League or taking his wife Valerie, who plays for The Wildcats in the ladies’ league, to a match.

And they are not the only two members of the family who play the game because their sons and daughters – and their wives and husbands – also play.

And even one of their grandchildren – 17-year-old Ash – has started to play now. In fact there’s enough family members to easily field a 12-strong team and still have a couple of spares, if you’ll pardon the pun!

Roger has been playing skittles for the past 44 years and, apart from a six-month spell when he broke two vertebrae in his back when he fell off a ladder, has hardly missed a game over that period.

Now 61, Roger’s skittles career began at Cheltenham North in the early 1970s.

“I used to play rugby for the North,” said Roger. “My brother David played for them as well. I’d play anywhere – wing forward, prop, hooker, second row. I’d even play full-back.

“I just played for the enjoyment and must have been with them 12-15 years until I smashed my shoulder and that’s when I packed it in.”

His shoulder injury didn’t stop him playing skittles, however, and after the North he played for Harlequins, The Winners, Cheltenham Allsorts – he was with them for 20 years – and now Norwood Arms A with whom he has played for the past six years or so and where he plays alongside his son Mark and his boy Ash.

And you won’t be surprised to learn that there’s a wider family connection at Norwood Arms A because Roger’s father-in-law Brian Didcote also used to play for the team.

And these days, as well as Roger, Mark and Ash, Roger’s son-in-law Alan Lusmore (who is married to Emma) plays for Norwood Arms A in addition to Lawrence Elliott (who is the partner of Roger’s daughter Kelly).

In fact the only Hope who is playing on a different alley is Roger’s son Darren, who these days plays for Whaddon Sports after playing for the Allsorts for many years.

So, Roger, what’s it like playing week in, week out with one of your sons and your oldest grandson?

“Sometimes they try to bowl too fast,” chuckled Roger. “On some alleys it’s better to bowl a bit slower. But you can’t tell them and then they get frustrated.

“I just go out to enjoy it and if they fall, they fall. Sometimes Mark can be pretty good but sometimes he can be bleedin’ awful!”

Ash has been involved with the club, which these days plays at Hillview Community Centre, for the past three years.

“He was our sticker,” said Roger, a joiner by trade. “Now he sticks up and plays. We’ve got other people who will stick up for us but he wants to do it.”

So how long does Roger, who is in his second season as captain of the team, want to keep playing the sport that has been such a big part of his life?

“I’ll carry on playing for as long as my health is good,” he said. “We’ve got one player – Bill Udell – who is 80 and he’s still playing.”

And what about playing with a great grandson?

“I’m not sure about that,” laughed Roger. “I think that may be a little way off!”

And while that’s for the future he won’t get to play skittles with his wife unless the league introduces a competition for mixed teams.

Not that Valerie is short of a few Hopes when she’s on the alley at St Mark’s Community Centre because all four of her daughters – Helen, Emma, Rachel and Kelly – play as does Emma’s daughter Leanne. And it won’t be long before another granddaughter is playing because Leanne’s sister Courtney sticks up for the team.

All in all, it would appear that the Hope family will keep on rolling for many years to come.