Nottinghamshire Indymedia

Events

Startpage

> UK Indymedia
> Global Indymedia

> Guidelines
> Chatroom
> About Us
> Security

> Projects
> On Ya Mobile
> Local Weather

Support Us

We are an all volunteer collective and receive no regular funding. Please consider donating.


Local Events

This events wire is no longer being updated. Please use the new site to publicise events.

More local events on Veggies/Sumac Diary


Freedom of Information

Search archives

Topics

Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech

Shrovetide 'Mob' Football, Asbourne Derbyshire :: piccys 2

Tash [alan lodge] | 04.03.2006 20:53 | Culture

Shrovetide football has been played for centuries and possibly for over 1,000 years. Each year on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, Ashbourne becomes a war zone! The majority of the ablebodied men, women and children take to the streets to play what is probably the largest football game in the world!






















Shrovetide 'Mob' Football, Asbourne Derbyshire :: piccys 2

Shrovetide football has been played for centuries and possibly for over 1,000 years.

Each year on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, Ashbourne becomes a war zone! The majority of the ablebodied men, women and children take to the streets to play what is probably the largest football game in the world! - The two teams number in the hundreds / thousands, and the playing field is 3 miles long, 2 miles wide and has the town of Ashbourne in the middle!

Shops are borded up, only an idiot would park his or her car anywhere in the town! If you did not know about the game and you drove into Ashbourne - you would probably think that there is a major case of civil unrest going on !

The game is played by those Ashburnians who were born on the north side of the Henmore river - the Up'ards, against those born on the south side - the Down'ards.

The kick-off or "turning up" of the specially made and painted ball takes place from a brick built plinth in the town centre at the Shawcroft carpark, by a local or national figure.

The recent history of football spans almost 150 years, when rugby football and association football branched off on their different courses and the world's first football association was founded - The Football Association in England. Both forms of football stemmed from a common root and both have a long and intricately branched ancestral tree. Their early history reveals at least half a dozen different games, varying to different degrees and to which the historical development of football is related.

The game that flourished in the British Isles from the 8th to the 19th shrovetide football, as it was called, belonged in the "mob football" category, where the number of players was unlimited and the rules were fairly vague, for example, according to an ancient handbook from Workington in England, any means could be employed to get the ball to its target with the exception of MURDER and MANSLAUGHTER :-). Needless to say, it is no longer so riotous as it used to be, nor are such extensive casualties suffered as was probably the case centuries ago.

A fire at the Royal Shrovetide Committe office in the 1890's has meant that much of the the exact origins of the annual Shrovetide game have been lost, there are mentions of the game in the 1600s. In fact, the earliest surviving reference to the game was in 1683 when Charles Cotton, of "The Compleat Angler" fame, wrote about it.

Ashbourne is one of very few towns across the country who still play the game. Similar games are still played in Kirkwall, on Scotland's Orkney Island and the Cornish towns of St. Ives and St Columb.

Though the origin of such contests is disputed, many believe they date from before the Norman Conquest and that the ball was originally a head, tossed to the crowd after a public execution. In 1314 Edward II tried to ban the competitions from London; 35 years later Edward III attempted to outlaw the game altogether because it was disturbing his archery practice. In the 16th century Philip Stubbs described Shrovetide football as "bloody murdering practice, rather than a fellowly sport or pastime." Indeed, the Ashbourne event was briefly banned in 1878 after a man drowned.

As with the fire ceremonies at Lewes in Sussex  http://www.fletchingbonfiresociety.co.uk, and many other more exhuberant games and events around the courty, there are those who would like to see them all banned. But, there are those prepared to risk the chances of someone stubbing their toe, to keep this heritage going.

I am one of them.


>>

For yet more about it all, check Ashbourne Towns website at:

 http://www.ashbourne-town.com/events/football.html


____________________________________________
ALAN LODGE
Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham. UK
Email:  tash@gn.apc.org
Web:  http://tash.gn.apc.org
WAP phone  http://wappy.to/tash
My Blog  http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com
BroadBand  http://tash.dns2go.com
Member of the National Union of Journalists [No: 014345]
____________________________________________
"It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"
____________________________________________
OS Grid Ref: SK 575414 - Lat/Lon: 52:58:03N, 1:08:38W

Tash [alan lodge]
- e-mail: tash@indymedia.org
- Homepage: http://tash.gn.apc.org

Download this article in pdf format >>
Email this article to someone >>
Submit an addition or make a quick comment on this article >>

Tee Hee..

09.03.2006 16:37

Tash knows that i have played about with his images there here
 http://pretentiousartist.com/Tash enjoy..

0742

0742
mail e-mail: worldwarfree@riseup.net
- Homepage: http://pretentiousartist.com/Tash/