Postcard of the Month: October 2025
/PJ Durney on the Ball
According to the handwritten text on the back of this FW Spry card, PJ Durney walked on a ball from Beach Hotel to Terminus Hotel in Littlehampton, with but one fall, on Wednesday April 10th 1907. So far, no press reports confirming this feat have come to light.
The postcard was addressed to S.C. Barrett, 21 Gloucester Rd, Littlehampton, a local collector. Additional text in pencil identifies the location as the end of the journey, next to the Locomotive Inn near the Terminus Hotel. The view is east along Terminus Road.
Ball walking, often for considerable distances, seems to have been a popular activity at this time and P.J. Durney was a well known exponent. Presumably money was collected from the onlookers, and maybe from local sponsors who might have gained from the influx of people to the town and its hostelries. The individual propping his foot against the ball to keep it stationary looks like he might be the promoter!