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BBC<\/p>\nJack Hadaway-WellerYorkshire<\/p>\n
BBC<\/p>\n
The 1972 Knurr and Spell championships were held in Greetland near Halifax<\/p>\n
Once a popular pastime across Yorkshire, the miners’ game Knurr and Spell has all but disappeared from public knowledge.<\/p>\n
The game, also known as Nipsy, Piggy and Northern Spell, was predominantly played in mining communities in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.<\/p>\n
Similar to golf, the game sees players hit a small ball which is launched into the air from a levered wooden stand, known as a spell.<\/p>\n
Nicola Harrison, who used to play the game with her grandfather, a former Lofthouse Colliery miner, said: “You had to strike the small ball, or potty as it was called, and hit it as far as you could.”<\/p>\n
Mrs Harrison, who now volunteers at the National Coal Mining Museum at Overton, said: “I suppose there’s kind of a similarity to golf in that the clubs were quite heavy.”<\/p>\n
Although the game itself may be similar to golf, the equipment for Knurr and Spell was far cheaper.<\/p>\n
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Nicola Harrison’s grandfather, Lawrence Sowden, worked at Lofthouse Colliery<\/p>\n
The clubs were often made from whittled branches of trees, but a number of miners were also known to use their pickaxe handles.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the ball, or knurr, was smaller than a golf ball and was often made of wood or pottery. Players had to hit the ball as far as possible.<\/p>\n
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Barnsley Museums<\/p>\n
A pair of nipsy sticks are on display at Experience Barnsley<\/p>\n
There are many variations of the game, with different types of equipment used in localised versions across Yorkshire, Lancashire and the wider North of England.<\/p>\n
In some versions of the game, the ball is placed on a block and chipped upwards before being struck, while in others it is placed within a spring-loaded trap mechanism, known as a spell, which launches it into the air before being hit.<\/p>\n
There is also a version more common in Lancashire where the ball is placed in a wooden structure, almost like a catapult, and struck from a static position.<\/p>\n
The game often took place on moorland but could be played in any area of green space.<\/p>\n
Nipsy: Yorkshire’s forgotten miner’s game<\/p>\n