Three Unusual Sporting Events In Ashbourne, UK
Shrovetide Football And Winter River Races In the Derbyshire Dales
Situated some twelve miles NW of Derby, Ashbourne has some unique and long-standing sporting events. None of them can be traced back as far as the town’s first mention (in the Domesday Book as the village of Esseburn, but the oldest, Shrovetide Football, dates back to at least medieval times.
Shrovetide Football – Huge Pitch and Handball Rules
The earliest reference to Shrovetide Football appears to be in one of Charles Cotton’s poems in 1683, but anecdotal evidence suggests that it may have been played long before this. At first sight, with a huge swarm of people shoving and barging their way en-masse towards one or other of the goals, and the town’s shops largely boarded up to protect their glass fronts, the town can appear to be a war zone rather than a playground.
Spreading over two days every year on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, it is actually an unusual mass-participation variant of football, played by fairly much the whole community on one of the world’s largest pitches. The pitch spans some 3 miles by 2 miles with the town of Ashbourne in the centre between the two goals of Clifton and Sturston. The two teams are the Up’ards and Down’ards of the town – team membership is decided by which side of the small River Henmore the individual player lives.
The ceremonial balls are specially handmade from leather and cork chippings (this apparently aids floatation when they land in the river), and tend to be passed, grabbed or thrown rather than kicked. So it’s more a game of handball than football, despite the name.
The Dovedale Dash – Short Fell Race or November Mud-Bath?
The Dovedale Dash is a more recent event based just 4miles north of Ashbourne. Starting from Thorpe Pastures, and running around the River Dove between Ilam and Coldwall Bridge, it’s described by some as the annual mud-bath. However, it is a relatively short fell race at around 4.75 miles long and the crossing of the River Dove (by stepping stones or straight through the water) early on is a major highlight for spectators. The relative lack of hills within the course is more than made up for by the sting in the tail of the final climb back up to Thorpe Pastures. Winning times are typically a few minutes under half an hour.
According to the current organisers, it first ran in 1952, and was an internal challenge between the walkers and cyclists of the Derby Mercury Running Club. Many of the competitors in the early years of the race were also climbers within the Derby-based Oread Mountaineering Club and there was some level of challenge between the two groups. By 2008, participation had increased to around 1200 entrants of all levels of running ability.
The route has remained largely unchanged except for a move of the starting point in 1977 to Thorpe Pastures from the Youth Hostel and the opening of farmers gates during the race to protect stiles; both due to ever-increasing numbers of participants.
Mappleton Boat Race and Bridge Jump
More recent still at a mere 25 years duration, just two miles from Ashbourne, competitors in the Mappleton Boat Race and Bridge Jump usher in the New Year have a novel form of hangover cure for New Year's Day along the River Dove. Teams of two paddle half a mile down the River Dove, run to the top of a 10m bridge, jump off and then have to run 500m to the pub which marks the finish line. This event is usually run as a charity fundraiser.
Ashbourne has a number of unusual sporting events during the year, Shrovetide Football being the most historic, but the Dovedale Dash and Mappleton Bridge jump are more recent events with a growing tradition.
Crossing The Stepping Stones - Dovedale Dash
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