Date
20.3.2017
Contact at Y Lolfa
fflur@ylolfa.com
WHAT IS THE TRUE NATIONAL SPORT OF WALES?
The debate about the true national sport of Wales has been raging for years between rugby and football fans. But a new book claims that the first and true national sport of Wales is neither of these, but the little less know sport of Handball.
In industrial Wales Hanbdball (or Pêl-law) was the predominant sport – drawing crowds of thousands to watch the game that could be described as similar to squash, but without the rackets. Courts were to be seen in many parts of the Welsh valleys and it was played in yards of pubs in front of betting spectators. The game was a national obsession, with people travelling from far and wide to watch thrilling matches between the sporting heroes of the day, and fortunes being won and lost through side stakes and gambling.
Today only one ball court survives, in the village of Nelson in the Caerphilly Borough.
In Handball - The Story of Wales' First National Sport, handball player and former miner Kevin Dicks’ meticulous research traces the long history of this folk sport played with any ball on any wall, from Welsh myth and folklore and the outlawed ‘devil’s game’ of the churchyard, through its glory years in the 18th and 19th centuries and strong links with the mining industry, to its decline in the 20th century as it failed to modernise, and its reboot in the present day. He questions the origins of the grammar school version of the game known as fives, and precisely dates the Nelson ball court – a date that has eluded historians for years.
The book also shatters a widespread modern myth regarding an Irish origin to the court and therefore to the sport in Wales.
‘This is untold story of Wales deserves a wider audience’ said Kevin Dicks, ‘Nothing has been written as in depth as this on any folk sport in the UK’.
‘After a while it dawned upon me that I’m the last miner to play handball in Wales, and it then became somewhat of duty continue the research and complete a work on the subject. It was as if the last man left in had to tell the tale’ added Kevin.
The cover of the book feature the classic 1906 handball at Nelson. Two players and two officials stand on the ball court with a crowd of 1,200 in attendance.
The author Kevin Dicks has been a Welsh handball player and official for nearly fifty years. He has written extensively on handball for various outlets including the BBC, the Daily Mail, the American Welsh paper Y Drych and the Caerphilly Campaign. He has also spoken on the subject abroad in Ireland, Canada and Italy and has contributed to the United States Handball magazine, and this book is the product of 22 years of trawling the archives. An ex-miner, he formerly worked as a Surveyor’s Assistant at Deep Navigation, Treharris. A part-time writer he now works for Admiral and currently lives in Ystrad Mynach, Hengoed.
A refreshing look at a sport devoid of modern commercialism, this is a lively story full of colourful characters, a revealing glimpse into social history, folk sport and the passions of the working man, and a fascinating insight into what can fairly be claimed as Wales’ first national sport.
Handball - The Story of Wales' First National Sport by Kevin Dicks (£14.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.
Handball - The Story of Wales' First National Sport
Publishing date
March 2017
Price & ISBN
£14.99 9781784613761
Author
Kevin Dicks
Tel., email, website
01443 862 698, 07570 212378 , kevinjohndicks@gmail.com
Congratulations to my very good Welsh Handball friend Kevin Dicks who has finally published a comprehensive and exhaustive research on Welsh handball. It took something like 20 years in the making but Kevin's determination and unwavering willingness to stick with it never relented.It was a labor of love and his meticulous and painstaking work to the book is clear to be seen.
I had the pleasure of meeting the very affable, efficient and former Welsh Secretary a number of times both in Ireland and over in his beloved Nelson. In 2000 Myself and Kells man John Boy Molloy travelled to Nelson where we eventually brought home the Welsh doubles title a first for an Irish doubles team defeating a very strong Philip Rees & Ashley Lloyd in an absorbing final winning it 21-14 and in 30 degrees of heat. I can clearly remember Kevin showing me numerous historic old black and white handball photos that adorned the walls in the Royal Oak Hotel directly opposite the famous handball court in Nelson.
In fact the the entitre Welsh squad stayed with us along with Irish international Officer Tom O' Connor in 2001 on route to the Irish One Wall Nationals in Sligo. I had the pleasure of showing the team a number of sights in Kells, Trim and around the Crossakiel handball 60 x 30 court. The team were impressed going to see the Loughcrew Neolithic burial chambers which date back older than the Pyramids of Egypt. The team also took in a visit to Abbeylara One Wall court. All this was mentioned in Kevin's Welsh report which appeared in the Irish Handball yearbook Annual in 2001.
It is an excellent book chronicling the history of Welsh handball over the last 300 years and up to the present day. It's a must read handball book for all handball players, officials, supporters and historians alike and I strongly recommend this historic book.
Michael McGee
Michael McGee
