To most people in the UK, Shrove Tuesday means a lovely pile of warm pancakes for breakfast, saturated with lemon juice or maple syrup.
But in the town of Atherstone in Warwickshire, the only ‘batter’ locals worry about is battering the opposing team in a brutal game of medieval football.
The traditional Atherstone Ball Game, which has now been running for more than eight centuries, involves hundreds of people brawling for possession of a large ball.
Unsurprisingly, it has a tendency to turn violent, as pictures from this year’s event – the 823rd – demonstrate.
