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Thread: Can Welsh Handball Bounce Back From the Brink of Extinction?

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    Lightbulb Can Welsh Handball Bounce Back From the Brink of Extinction?

    Can Welsh Handball Bounce Back From the Brink of Extinction?

    The ancient sport of Pêl-Law hangs on, barely, at the last court of its kind. A campaign to revive a related game may help bring it back.

    DDD58D87-28E0-481A-BB32-3F1723CCF3D5.jpeg
    The handball court in Nelson, South Wales, August 8, 1969. The three-walled court and home to Pêl-Law, the Welsh version of the game, has stood in the town since 1860.

    The Nelson court is the last venue for a sport that may have descended from a version brought to the British Isles by the Romans some 2,000 years ago. The peak of Welsh handball’s popularity was in the 19th and early 20th centuries—the simple “ball and a wall” game was popular with miners—but it’s been on the decline for decades as flashier sports siphon off potential players. Now, Dicks and a handful of other enthusiasts hope a new version of the game can keep the long tradition alive.

    3EE557C0-2E62-46F9-88A2-0E914F08E6C0.png

    During Pêl-Law’s Industrial Age heyday, courts spanned the country, drawn out on the sides of collieries, schools, churchyards, houses, and, of course, pubs. The sport drew large crowds of spectators, including those who wagered the equivalent of thousands of pounds today.


    C36D2F2C-2F63-4CA9-A2F6-5C697F42AC4E.png


    60234FB6-F058-4EC1-B2A2-CA1ABC9FD432.jpeg
    In the nineteenth century handball (‘Pel-Law’) was a popular sport in Wales. Similar to squash, but played with the open hand, games were played in the yards of pubs in front of spectators. At Nelson (circa 1860), near Ystrad Mynach, the landlord of the Royal Oak built a bigger court to poach the lucrative handball trade away from his rival landlord at the nearby Nelson Inn. The court is the last surviving handball court in Wales.

    https://www.atlasobscura.com/article...pel-law-nelson
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    donttread (08-01-2021)

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    Quote Originally Posted by DGUtley View Post
    Can Welsh Handball Bounce Back From the Brink of Extinction?

    The ancient sport of Pêl-Law hangs on, barely, at the last court of its kind. A campaign to revive a related game may help bring it back.

    Attachment 41320
    The handball court in Nelson, South Wales, August 8, 1969. The three-walled court and home to Pêl-Law, the Welsh version of the game, has stood in the town since 1860.

    The Nelson court is the last venue for a sport that may have descended from a version brought to the British Isles by the Romans some 2,000 years ago. The peak of Welsh handball’s popularity was in the 19th and early 20th centuries—the simple “ball and a wall” game was popular with miners—but it’s been on the decline for decades as flashier sports siphon off potential players. Now, Dicks and a handful of other enthusiasts hope a new version of the game can keep the long tradition alive.

    Attachment 41321

    During Pêl-Law’s Industrial Age heyday, courts spanned the country, drawn out on the sides of collieries, schools, churchyards, houses, and, of course, pubs. The sport drew large crowds of spectators, including those who wagered the equivalent of thousands of pounds today.


    Attachment 41322


    Attachment 41323
    In the nineteenth century handball (‘Pel-Law’) was a popular sport in Wales. Similar to squash, but played with the open hand, games were played in the yards of pubs in front of spectators. At Nelson (circa 1860), near Ystrad Mynach, the landlord of the Royal Oak built a bigger court to poach the lucrative handball trade away from his rival landlord at the nearby Nelson Inn. The court is the last surviving handball court in Wales.

    https://www.atlasobscura.com/article...pel-law-nelson
    We played handball in junior high and high school.
    Cutesy Time is OVER

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    I cannot believe that in 2021 one of the nordic countries fined it's women's handball team for wearing shorts instead of or over their bikini bottoms. Good grief. Sometimes the Woke have a beef!
    I mean I get it to get men to watch women's sports sex is part of the marketing. that's entertainment. Did you ever wonder why the ability to sing or act seems to be somehow linked to the really good looking gene for both sexes? Even back to your grandmothers day and those famous leading men.
    But a requirement to wear a bikini during an olympic sport? I think the free market can solve this as many lady golfers and tennis players figure this out and model on the side. They are not about to cover up their brand too much



    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/...kinis-n1274453
    Last edited by donttread; 08-01-2021 at 09:35 AM.

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