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| Crowds descend on Ashbourne's historic Shrovetide football game | |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| The annual Shrovetide football game has "turned up" - or begun - in the Derbyshire town of Ashbourne. | |
| Shops boarded up their windows and businesses closed early for the raucous event. | |
| One of the few rules of the game, which resembles a disorganised rugby scrum, is not to murder opponents. | |
| It is played over two days - Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday - and often lasts into the night. The game began at 14:00 GMT. | |
| Hundreds of players for each side - called the Up'ards and Down'ards, depending on which side of River Henmore you were born - battle in the streets to get the hand-painted cork-filled ball to goals three miles apart. | Hundreds of players for each side - called the Up'ards and Down'ards, depending on which side of River Henmore you were born - battle in the streets to get the hand-painted cork-filled ball to goals three miles apart. |
| Tap three times | Tap three times |
| Two people are given the "Shrovetide honour" of starting the game by throwing the ball into the waiting crowd. | Two people are given the "Shrovetide honour" of starting the game by throwing the ball into the waiting crowd. |
| This year, on Shrove Tuesday, local builder John Tomkinson "turned up" the ball - while on Ash Wednesday butcher Nigel Brown will have the honour. | |
| Tina Martin, who sells Shrovetide memorabilia in her shop, Crew Deck, said many people return year after year - even though the event can be "baffling" to understand. | Tina Martin, who sells Shrovetide memorabilia in her shop, Crew Deck, said many people return year after year - even though the event can be "baffling" to understand. |
| She said: "I've listened to conversations outside the shop and you can hear people saying 'What on earth is going on?' They don't understand what's happening." | She said: "I've listened to conversations outside the shop and you can hear people saying 'What on earth is going on?' They don't understand what's happening." |
| Before each match begins, about 500 people sit down to a Shrovetide lunch and listen to speeches. | Before each match begins, about 500 people sit down to a Shrovetide lunch and listen to speeches. |
| Goals are mill wheels set in huge stone plinths on the banks of the Henmore Brook at the sites of two former mills. | Goals are mill wheels set in huge stone plinths on the banks of the Henmore Brook at the sites of two former mills. |
| To score, a player must stand in the Henmore and tap the ball three times against the wheel. | To score, a player must stand in the Henmore and tap the ball three times against the wheel. |
| Scoring means you will be carried back into the town by your team shoulder high and cheered by hundreds of spectators. | Scoring means you will be carried back into the town by your team shoulder high and cheered by hundreds of spectators. |
| The game received royal assent in 1928 when the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, threw the ball. | The game received royal assent in 1928 when the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, threw the ball. |
| Prince Charles started the game in 2003. | Prince Charles started the game in 2003. |