A whale of a tale?

Of Knur & Spell.
I was a bit gobsmacked to walk round the back of the site toilet block and see a Box Tree about 20 or so feet high. I had blissfully ignored the 20' hedge I passed ever day we were on site. On the left is the Box hedge. She says it looks like a Whale. On the right, a peep down the interior.

I was reminded of a story of Mam's - apparently one year the vicar went on holiday and returned to find his box hedge had gone walk-about. The locals having made off with it to make Knurs, it being such a dense resilient wood.

Knowing only what Mam had told us in days of yore I researched a wee bit. Seems there are variations on the theme.
In Mam's version the knurl was knocked into the air with the 1st blow then hit to see how far it could be sent.
One Youtube version tells of a ceramic ball for the Knur hung by a string prior to hitting.
Another - same source - shows a spring trap being released to send it up.

Reading the ubiquitous WIKIthing it seems as though Mam's version was possibly nearest the original, in that the knurl was shaped a little cigar-like so that hitting the end caused it to spin into the air. Re-reading the WIKI it may be the "Pommels" were made of Box either as well as or instead of the Knur. 
"It is played with a levered wooden trap, by means of which the knurl , about the size of a walnut. is thrown into the air. The knur is struck by the player with the spell. The object of the game is to hit the knur the greatest possible distance, either in one or several hits. Each player competes as an individual, without interference, and any number can enter a competition.
The spell is a bat consisting of two parts: a 4 feet (1.2 m) long stick made of ash or lancewood; and a pommel, a piece of very hard wood about 6 inches (150 mm) long, 4 inches (100 mm) wide and 1 inch (25 mm) thick. This was swung in both hands, although shorter bats for one hand were sometimes used. A successful hit drives the ball about 200 yards (180 m). The stroke is made by a full swing round the head, not unlike a drive in golf.
Originally the ball was thrown into the air by striking a lever upon which it rested in the trap, but in the later development of the game a trap furnished with a spring was introduced, thus ensuring regularity in the height to which the knurl is tossed, somewhat after the manner of the shooter's clay pigeon. By means of a thumb screw, the player can adjust the spring of the trap according to the velocity of release desired for the ball."

10 minute explanation by Demdykes Cat. In Yorkshire accent/dialect.
2 minute posh version. Different system.

I bunged in the extra as a findable (By me) example of semi skilled removal. The same shot of the Falkirk Gondola with us about to enter it.