After the closure of Leicester Square Hall in January 1955, the tournament was held at a variety of venues around England and Jersey from 1955/56 to 1957/58.

Generally, two matches were played over the course of one week at each of the selected venues in turn, but otherwise the format of the tournament remained unchanged.

The 1949 World Snooker Champion, Fred Davis, did not enter because he objected to the matches being played over three days rather than the normal six.

Davis received a handicap of −7, Donaldson zero, Chenier 13, Lindrum 13, Smith 13, Pulman 14, Mans 16, and Brown 19.

[4][5] The 1959 tournament was played under the snooker plus format, a new variant with two additional colours (orange and purple), allowing a maximum break of 210.

[6] The format, which was developed by Joe Davis, made its professional debut at this tournament on 26 October at the Burroughes Hall in London.