Shove Halfpenny

It is funny how things bring back memories. I was listening to Beyond Our Ken a precursor to Round the Horne. There was a little joke and Kenneth Horne stated that the winner received a compendium of games which included Shove Halfpenny. Of course pronounced hape penny. This took me back many years to my infancy. I guess I would have been around 7 years old.
It was at my Mothers parents, yes my Grandparents. They were refined nice people but my Grandfather was severely wounded in the First World War so never worked again. On the odd occasion we would visit them, sometimes we were informed that we had to be quiet because Grandad would be tuning the wireless, yes that is what it was called and he had to use a cats whisker. Heaven alone knows what he had to do but all I knew was that it was a devils own job to get the station and so he didn't want anyone to distract him.
They also had a shove halfpenny board. Now whether he had made it himself or bought it I do not know. What I can say is that the board did not impress me. It was a wooden board I guess 24" long and about 15" wide I think it was solid wood and looked about 1/2" thick. There were lines on it from around 9" from the edge right up to the other edge. It was put on the table and a coin, yes halfpenny was rested with a little hanging over the edge and you hit the coin with the flat of your hand. If the coin landed between the lines you gained the points what the space between was worth. I suppose that the further away from the near edge the more points were awarded. Of course I was not interested, neither was my elder Sister but it must me borne in mind that this would be in the 1940s so besides having no electricity in the house it was up to you what entertainment you had and shove halfpenny was a favourite of my Grandfather. I have heard since of the game but never saw another board. Now I am a little sad that I didn't take more interest when I was small. More soon.