Shrove Tuesday ball game - in pictures

Kevin Garner of the local firm of solicitors poses with the new leather ball prior to the game beginning
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

Beginning of the annual Shrove Tuesday ball game which has been played since the 12th century in Atherstone, Warwickshire
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The annual Shrove Tuesday ball game gets underway in Atherstone with several hundred participants
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

Players grapple for the ball
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

Boys watch the beginning of the annual ball game
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The game hots up as more players try to reach for the ball
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The ball is lost below a pile of bodies in Atherstone, Warwickshire
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

A player briefly holds onto ball while lying on the ground
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The annual Shrove Tuesday game kicks up some more excitement after a player has gained possession and releases it again
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The annual Shrove Tuesday ball game in Atherstone, Warwickshire continues outside the White Horse pub
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

A sea of hands reach for the elusive object during the game
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

A Shrove Tuesday player poses with the ball and a baby as part of the game's tradition before kicking it in the air again
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian