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Episode details

Radio Leicester,4 mins

How did Hallaton 'bottle kicking' begin?

Ben Jackson on BBC Radio Leicester

Available for over a year

Have you ever hard of Bottle-kicking? It's an old Leicestershire custom that takes place in the village of Hallaton each Easter Monday. It is an outdoor sport played across a mile-long playing area, in which two teams attempt to move a wooden barrel across the opposing team's stream at the far end of the area. Records of bottle-kicking date to the late 18th century, but the custom is thought to originate much earlier, from before the Christian era. Ben wen to find out more about it with local blue badge guide, James Carpenter.

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