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 similarity to golf, sees players hit a clay ball called the 'knurr' with a specially fashioned stick. Boz Davison from Crane Moor is on a mission to bring back the game. "In the series of books called Played In Britain, it was described as a 'defunct game.' That was like red rag to a bull," he said.
“Knurr-and-spell was once played widely in pubs across England's South Yorkshire, but had all but vanished by the 1970s.”
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📎 Cite this article
Good News Good Vibes. (2026, January 30). Forgotten Centuries-Old Ball Game Making a Surprise Comeback After 50 Years. Retrieved from https://goodnewsgoodvibes.com/en/article/knurr-and-spell-ancient-game-comeback
https://goodnewsgoodvibes.com/en/article/knurr-and-spell-ancient-game-comeback
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Last reviewed: January 30, 2026
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