Shrovetide: A Local Game for Local People

Available for over a year

Every year the idyllic town of Ashbourne, Derbyshire is transformed into the battleground for a sporting tradition that's said to be more than a thousand years old. The two-day game takes places across Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. The rules are simple: Two teams, Down'ards and Up'ards, compete to goal a ball on stone plinths that are 3-miles apart. Passionate players scrum through the streets, charge across fields and even wade through rivers to give their team an advantage. BBC Radio Derby's Liam Price takes a closer look at the medieval game that brings a whole town together.