A wierd game

[happy daze john in oz]

Many years ago when I owned a pub in Strood Kent we played a game by the name of 'Bat and Trap'
We were in the Medway league and for a time I was secretary of the league.
It is believed to have begun in the 15th century in the Monastries, monks playing with a ball!!
My question is, does any one know, maybe Mike Hall as he lives in Kent, if the game is still played?

We also had a very successful darts team but we played on what was known as a 'Kent board', no trebles. I was told that this style of board is used in other parts of the country, anyone know where?

[john sutton]

sounds like a Manchester board.Apparently was made by cutting a slice off the end of a log
john sutton

[happy daze john in oz]

sounds like a Manchester board.Apparently was made by cutting a slice off the end of a log
john sutton

Never heard of that one.

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi shipmates, New one on me"bat and trap" could be the grandaddy of cricket? spent some time in nottingham years ago did any one play a game like skittles? the woods {pins} were kept in a barrel of water and you had to hit a pice of tin before you hit the woods? Only time I saw that game was there, I have a tankard which I got for beening the worse player in the pub ever , 12 rolls 3 balls no pins down in a competion my record still stands? no one is as bad as me at that game.

[Neil Morton]

When I had the pub in West Sussex we played a game on Whiteman's Green that could be a version of your game John. It was a contest between two teams of six. Two players from a team of six would try to stop a ball similar to a cricket ball hitting a square target a foot square atop of a 6 foot pole the width of a broom handle. The pitch was half as long as a cricket pitch. Because the target was so high and the bowler threw underarm the fielders had to be good catchers as this was the most common means of getting a wicket. The bats were about 18 inches long and a 6 inches wide. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of this game but there was a league confined to an area around Haywards Heath and Lewes.

[happy daze john in oz]

When I had the pub in West Sussex we played a game on Whiteman's Green that could be a version of your game John. It was a contest between two teams of six. Two players from a team of six would try to stop a ball similar to a cricket ball hitting a square target a foot square atop of a 6 foot pole the width of a broom handle. The pitch was half as long as a cricket pitch. Because the target was so high and the bowler threw underarm the fielders had to be good catchers as this was the most common means of getting a wicket. The bats were about 18 inches long and a 6 inches wide. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of this game but there was a league confined to an area around Haywards Heath and Lewes.

With bat and trap the trap was at ground level and there were tem players each side. You could be bowled if the ball hit the trap or caught if you hit it high.

[Ivan Cloherty]

[QUOTE=Neil Morton;128839. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of this game but there was a league confined to an area around Haywards Heath and Lewes.[/QUOTE]

Remember it well Neil, as I lived in a house for 20 years in Lindfield (Haywards Heath) opposite the playing fields in Hickmans Lane where it was played regularily. Alas cannot remember the name of the game but was played by male and female mixed teams and was well attended, I suspect mainly because of the female content in their skirts just below 'sea level'

[robpage]

Bat and trap is an English bat-and-ball pub game. It is still played in Kent, and occasionally in Brighton. By the late 20th century it was usually only played on Good Friday in Brighton, on the park called The Level, which has an adjacent pub called The Bat and Ball, whose sign depicts the game. Brighton & Hove City Council plans to start a Bat and Trap club based at The Level in 2013, as part of the Activities Plan associated with a £2.2m Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund-funded restoration of the park. The Level Restoration Project | Brighton & Hove City Council




Trap used in bat and trap
The game is played between two teams of up to eight players. At any one time, one team is batting and the other is bowling. The game involves placing a heavy solid-rubber ball, similar to a lacrosse ball, on one end of a "trap", which is a low wooden box 22 inches (560 mm) long, 5 inches wide, and 5 inches (130 mm) high, on top of which is a simple see-saw mechanism. Each player in turn on the batting side hits the opposite end of the see-saw lever (the "striker") with his or her bat, so as to propel the ball into the air, and then, using the same bat, attempts to hit the ball between two 7-foot (2.1 m) high posts situated 21 yards (19 m) away and 13 feet 6 inches (4.11 m) apart at the other end of the playing area, or "pitch".
The bowling side stand behind and between the posts. If any of them catches the ball before it hits the ground the batsman is out. The batsman is also out if he or she fails to hit the ball between the posts at a height not exceeding 7 feet (2.1 m). After each successful hit, one fielder (the one whose turn it is to bowl next), returns the ball to the batting end by hurling, tossing, or bowling it back towards the trap, attached to the front of which is a 5-inch (130 mm) square target, or "wicket", hinged at the bottom. If the bowler hits the wicket with the ball so as to knock it flat, the batsman is "bowled out". If the bowler does not succeed, the batsman scores one run and continues to play. Once all the members of the first batting team are out, the batting and bowling teams change places and the game continues until all players on both sides have batted.

[Keith Tindell]

Pub games seem to be different all over the UK, here on the Island we still play rings in the pubs, ie rings thrown at a board consisting of hooks with different scores. Thats for those who can still afford to drink in the pubs here!!!! KT

[alf corbyn]

I remember playing a similar game called tip-it and run. apiece of wood about 6 " long sharpened to a point at both ends was placed overhanging the kerb was hit by a long stick causing it to fly off the kerb into the air. the hitter then ran. sorry can't remember any more.