– credit, Iconic Media, via SWNS
A long-lost sport once feared dead is being dusted off and played again in the villages where it was born.
“Knurr-and-spell” was once played widely in pubs across England’s South Yorkshire, but had all but vanished by the 1970s. The quirky ball game which bears a similarity to golf sees players hit a clay ball with a specially fashioned stick.
The winner is the person who can hit the ball—called the knurr or “pottie”—the farthest. The knurr sits on a stressed iron rod, which is triggered like a catapult by a quick tap of the player’s stick to throw the ball up in the air, at which point the player takes a swing at it.
Boz Davison, from Crane Moor near the county town of Barnsley is on a mission to bring back the game which he said suffered from elitism.
“I came across a book with some pictures of knurr-and-spell from 1933,” he told England’s Southwest News Service. “In the series of books called Played In Britain, it was described as a ‘defunct game.’ That was like red rag to a bull.”
Knurr-and-spell is believed to have its roots in the Germanic world, in part because of the name—”knurren,” meaning a wooden ball and “spielen,” meaning to play. A similar game is played in Switzerland.
While the traditionally carved, flexible sticks of hickory or ash are now almost impossible to come by, that has not deterred Mr. Davison, who first started by looking at how to make some of the equipment himself, and relaxing the rules a bit.
Boz Davison preparing to hit a knurr ball – credit, Iconic Media, via SWNS
Among those who have been watching Mr. Davison’s efforts with interest include former players from knurr-and-spell’s last revival in the 1970s.
“There’s a player at Grenoside, Eric Wilson, who won the World Championship in 1969, and he’s been… and another player, Tommy Chambers, who played in the 1972 World Championships,” said Davison. “We’ve played 4 games so far.”
Davison has relaxed the rules around the sticks for his version of the revival, he explained.
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“You had to have certain equipment and someone who could make the sticks. The sticks are a nightmare, if you had a go at trying to make them it would take you at least a week,” he said. “Years ago, people used to walk around with a walking stick practicing. All that has gone, the techniques have all gone.”
For his game days, he permits hockey sticks and hurling sticks, as they’re similar weight and heft to a knurr-and-spell stick.
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The next formal match is planned for Leeds later this year, and Davison hopes to set up games in Lancashire to reignite the classic Roses rivalry, referring to any match in any sport between Yorkshire and Lancashire.
While in the 1970s, players might have been less concerned about health and safety than people today, Davison has ensured everyone is covered having taken out a special public liability insurance in case someone takes a whack from one of the knurrs.
WATCH the game and its continental cousin games below…
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