Quoits sport has been 'booming' in Tyne Valley village

“I was on a walk and was passing a pub when I heard that unmistakable chink of metal and the slap of clay.

“I thought: ‘No. It can’t be. It doesn’t exist in this part of the world’.

“But, lo and behold, it was - and it does exist up here.”

 So recounts the author Harry Pearson, and what he had discovered was that the ancient sport of quoits most certainly is played in Northumberland.

The game is thought to have been introduced by the Romans (Image: Chris Stewart)

“I grew up in Great Ayton, and if you went not far from there into Eskdale in North Yorkshire, it was everywhere”, he said. “But when I moved here to the Tyne Valley, I had no idea they played quoits here, too.”

READ MORE: Second anniversary Quoits Day planned for 'a man who is very much worth remembering'

Indeed they do. And while Harry includes the game in his excellent book “No Pie, No Priest”, in which he recounts his travels around the UK seeking out obscure country sports, quoits is becoming less obscure year on year. In fact, in this part of the world, it is positively booming, although nobody is exactly sure why.

It is thought a form of the the game could have been introduced by the Romans, and for those not in the know, quoits involves players throwing a five-and-a-quarter pound (2.4kg) metal ring over a distance of thirty-three feet towards a metal pin which sits three inches above the ground in the middle of a square bed of clay. Each player has two quoits, and two points are scored if the quoit goes over the pin, one if it’s simply the closest to the pin. The winner is the first to 15 points (21 in tournaments and in doubles matches).

Match night at Corbridge Cricket Club (Image: Chris Stewart)

The main league in Northumberland is the Allen Valley Quoits League. The league secretary is Richard Macdonald, who plays for the Wallace Arms at Rowfoot, near Haltwhistle - which just happens to be the pub Harry was walking past when he made his discovery.

“There are seven leagues in the North of England, from Northumberland down to North Yorkshire”, said Richard. 

“Our league is in the west of Northumberland. When we started in 1987, we had five teams. Now we’ve got 27 teams in three divisions of nine. 

Steve Clarke (throwing) and Stephen Pickering at the Blue Bell in Corbridge (Image: Chris Stewart)

“We got another two new teams this year. No idea why, but it’s going from strength to strength.”

One of the new teams is based at the Blue Bell in Corbridge. One player there, Steve Clark, said: “Somebody mentioned quoits in the bar one night, and it just grew from there. 

“Andrew, the landlord, has been very supportive. One of the really difficult things is to get hold of quoits these days, and he’s been all over the place buying them for us. He’s even been as far as Huddersfield.”

Another player, Stephen Pickering, said: “We’re all loving it and we’ve got plenty of people to pick from for a team of six. It’s addictive. We could even get a second team. It’s all people in the bar are talking about.”

Corbridge is also home to three further teams, all affiliated with the village cricket club, hence their team names - Corbridge Batters, Corbridge Bowlers and Corbridge Fielders.

Batters captain Mike Robinson and club general secretary, said: "We started with just one team seven years ago, and we've just finished a wonderful season. The Batters won the Second Division championship, winning all of our games, the runners-up in our division were the Fielders, and the Third Division winners were the Bowlers. It couldn't have gone much better."

And quoits is often a family affair. Ken Ridley, 65, a livestock farmer in Blanchland, is among the leading players in the league, turning out for the Rose and Crown in Slaley, just crowned First Division champions. His father Albert only recently retired from the game.

“He was in at the start when they had only five teams. It was always considered an old man’s sport, but there are more and more younger ones now. 

“When I go to places like Barnard Castle and Weardale, they’re struggling, but here, it’s really thriving. I can’t explain it.”

Ken’s sons Adam, 32, and Craig, 31, also play. In quoits, three generations of players is not that unusual. Lewie Barber was another top player and has an annual charity competition played in his memory.

His sons Paul and Kevin play in the Allen Valley League, as do Kevin’s sons Craig and Joe. Paul says he first had a quoit in his hand when he was seven. He’s now 61. Corbridge is the league's eastern outpost and the two westernmost teams are based at the Kirkstyle Inn in Slaggyford.

The game is very often linked to the pub. (Even the Corbridge cricket club teams have their pitches next to the clubhouse.)

“I think beer and the resurgence of quoits is not unrelated”, laughs Harry Pearson. “And I can only think the fact it’s also a very social sport can go some way to explain what’s going on. It’s also played in the evening, so people can play it after work. 

“Oddly enough, there’s another ancient game called bat and trap, which is confined to a small area of Kent, and that’s having a similar resurgence.

“What’s happening, I think, is a bit like the start of the Campaign for Real Ale. This is the Campaign for Real Sports.”