Shrovetide football match Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Up'ards and Down'ards - Ashbourne is host to one of the Old Shrovetide football games. The Game is played every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, and consists of two teams, one from anyone born to the North of the River Henmore, and one from people born South of the river, these are known as Up'ards and Down'ards.
The Goals are on the sites of Old Cornmills, one being at Sturston, and one being at Clifton, these places being three miles apart!
This may sound quite excessive in itself, but another hazard is the fact that the goal posts and a considerable amount of the game is in the cold waters of the River Henmore.
Probably the most famous feature of Ashbourne is its Shrove-Tide football match - an annual game of 'traditional' football, played between the 'Uppards' and 'Downards' with a leather ball stuffed with sawdust. The only rule is that the ball has to be grounded at either of the two goals, which are 3 miles apart along the valley where Ashbourne lies. Play starts at 2pm and continues until 10pm unless a goal is scored after 5pm.
There are hundreds of participants and to describe it as rough would be an understatement - it is a moving brawl which continues through the roads of the town, across fields and even along the bed of the local stream. The violence involved has led to intermittant attempts to ban it, but the game has been played here for hundreds of years and fortunately it still continues.
Played on both Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, starting at 2pm and continuing until 10pm. Prior to 1966 it used to continue until midnight, but in that year it was agreed between the town and the local police to shorten the match by two hours. The two goals are at Clifton and Sturston, ie 3 miles apart, and are separated by the not-insignificant Henmore Brook. As if this was not enough, the ball is filled with sawdust and cork so that it is too heavy for long kicks. The Up'ards and Down'ards refer to the teams and depend on whether the players come from north or south of the Henmore Brook, In fact the scoring of goals is rare!
linkshttp://www.shrovetide.com/st/ http://www.the-peaks.co.uk/shrovegame.html http://www.cressbrook.co.uk/ashborn/index.htm
