Stoolball news tagged with ‘history’

The decision by Sport England to recognise stoolball as a sport has led to a lot of welcome publicity for the sport in regional press, on BBC radio and television and on the BBC sport website. The Argus, in particular, wants to hear from players what they think the decision means for the sport. We’d like to see as many comments as possible to promote the game.

Read more on Stoolball recognised: Have your say…

We need your help. British Pathe has a collection of archive material which shows, among others, stoolball photos and film clips dated 1940 and 1951, which make very interesting viewing. We want to know who is in the clips.

We need your help and it may involve asking your mum, gran or aunt to go back a bit in time too.

We’re trying to find out which teams are involved, put names to faces and also establish where the games were played. The quality is very good for such old material, so we are hoping there may be people out there who can help us.

You can see the stoolball clips on the British Pathe website, and there are more stoolball clips on the ITN Source website.

For more information please contact Barbara Fitzpatrick at [email address available when you sign in] or on 01444 483162.

Sussex County Magazine published a detailed history of stoolball in its July 1928 edition, which sold for 6d. You can now read the article in our history section.

Major W W Grantham, who did so much for stoolball after World War One, was known to have commissioned various bats as he travelled the world on cruise ships. John Price, National Stoolball Association (NSA) Chairman, spent five years spent tracking them down before, in summer 2007, they were found in the Sussex hamlet of Town Littleworth, very near the Grantham ancestral home of Balneath Manor.

There are 11 bats of all shapes and sizes. One painted black has a large hitting area nearly 12 inches wide but a short handle; another is held together with very prominent nuts and bolts. Many of bats carry the name of the steam ship where they had been created and some bear the name of a port visited – Helsingfors in Finland, Vladivostock in Siberia, Russia and Kandy in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). They all show the date they were made, the earliest being 1924 and the latest 1937.

A stoolball bat from Vladivostok, Siberia, Russia made in September 1928

If you would like to see the bats, John and Kay plan to visit various league and divisional tournaments with the NSA equipment and would be delighted to bring the collection along too. We’ve also got photos of some of the bats in our history section.

If anyone knows the whereabouts of any early stoolball bats – perhaps one of your great grandparents’ sporting heirlooms tucked away in a loft – or old wickets, balls, scorebooks, club or county badges, indeed anything to do with stoolball history, do let us know. The number to phone is 01403 252419.

A party of five Americans will be in Horsham on Tuesday 19 June and Wednesday 20 June on a quest to find out more about the origins of baseball, perhaps their most popular national game.

The party comes from the media group who are responsible for producing and running the website for the Major Baseball Leagues (MBL) in New York and will be led by senior producer Samantha Marchiano and her Assistant Daria Debuono. Included in the party is author David Block, internationally recognised as the leading researcher and most published author on the origins of baseball.

Read more on American visit to learn about baseball, rounders and stoolball…

There has been a marvellous response to our request for old scorebooks. Kay Turner (nee Hitchcock) has turned out a box full of East Preston scorebooks going back to the 1950s.

Kay is still a member of East Preston Stoolball Club (near Rustington, West Sussex) and is also secretary of the Coastal League.

The East Preston club is over 100 years old and it was very exciting to receive not only the scorebooks, but also scorecards of games between Sussex and Kent, Surry and the Sussex Divisions, and between the Coastal League and Chanctonbury League. These scorecards are very similar to those produced at county cricket matches, and include the phrase: “this scorecard may not include the fall of the last wicket.” Very professional!
Read more on Memorabilia…

A book produced some 30 years ago, ‘West Sussex as seen through the eyes of the WI’, has some excellent articles including ‘Village Stoolball’ by Enid Dunlop from the Funtington and West Stoke WI.

She recalls how she started playing in 1917 and how the team travelled to away matches in a horse-drawn wagonette driven by a farmer, who also acted as umpire when they got to their match.

Later on she tells how the local coal merchant invested in a motor coach as a sideline to his business, which enabled the team to go further afield for away matches. Away games became an “outing” with at least one stop on the way home to “treat the driver” and buy fish and chips for the family’s supper. That really brings back memories.

She goes on to relate that the blacksmith’s wife and her three buxom daughters who possessed “remarkable hitting power” were amongst the keenest and best players. However, on one occasion when the umpire from the opposing team gave one of her daughters out, she disagreed with his decision:

“You wasn’t out Gert!” she bellowed from the scorebox. “You stay in!”

“She is out and she goes” asserted the umpire, swivelling on his heel to address the pavilion.

“Don’t you dare come out, my gal!” threatened the irate mum, but finally their captain had to intervene to pour oil on the troubled waters and the match continued.

There is a lot more to this most amusing article, and it’s worth contacting your WI to see if their records have any local history about stoolball. This book was compiled from information supplied by every WI in the county, and there may be similar publications for Hampshire, Surrey and Kent produced at the same time – 1975. There may even be some photographs because over the years they have produced postcards featuring local scenes.