Ashbourne Football (1938)

Soundtrack is currently missing for this item. Ashbourne, Derbyshire. C/U of a ball with the words ’1938 Thrower Up’ on one side and ’Ye Olde Game 1938’ on the other. In the town of Ashbourne we see shopkeepers fixing wooden planks across their store windows and doors. A large group of men and a few women walk with linked arms down a main street; the man in the middle carries the ball we saw in first shot. Several shots of a huge crowd of men struggling to get hold of the ball in a field. The main players end up in a river, still struggling against each other for the ball. They make their way to a bridge that crowds of spectators are hanging over. The winning man, still clutching the ball, staggers out the other side and is carried along on the shoulders of his fellow players. Note: there was originally footage on the end of this item showing a similar ancient ball game in Alnwick. This is currently missing. FILM ID: A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PAT