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Shōma Ohara, 4 Newport Road, Carmel, IN (2026)

05/15/2024

Every May, millions of flowers make their way to mums across the US for Mother's Day, and the majority come from one nation.

So, where do these flowers come from?

The answer, by in large, is Colombia, which exports more than $2bn worth of cut flowers each year, making it the second-largest flower producer in the world, after the Netherlands. Roughly 75% of Colombia's flowers (or $1.64bn) end up the in the United States, so chances are that the stems in your recent Mother's Day bouquets originated in this South American country.

A recent article in the American Journal of Transportation, noted that in just 21 days, more than 400 LATAM Airlines flights carrying 24,000 tonnes of flowers (roughly 552 million flower stems), took off from Colombia and neighbouring Ecuador.

Colombia's modern floral export industry can trace its roots back to the Cold War. Prior to 1960s, most fresh-cut flowers in the US came from California, but they were expensive. Then in 1961, US President John F Kennedy created the $100bn Alliance for Progress initiative, which aimed to combat the threat of communism by enhancing economic cooperation between the US and Latin America. Colombia became a key focus of the administration, and one of the programme's first tasks was to help Colombia develop its agricultural industry.

Alamy Kennedy received his largest-ever reception in Bogotá, and a neighbourhood there is still named for him (Credit: Alamy)Alamy
Kennedy received his largest-ever reception in Bogotá, and a neighbourhood there is still named for him (Credit: Alamy)
Kennedy even visited Colombia's capital, Bogotá, in 1961, when nearly one-third of the city's 1.5 million people swarmed the streets to catch a glimpse of the US President and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It was the largest reception JFK had while in office, and today, one of the city's densest neighbourhoods is still named Kennedy.

Things began to bloom in the 1970s when improvements in air transportation made it easier to connect Colombia's fertile soil with the booming demand for flowers in the US and abroad. Entrepreneur and floriculture hobbyist Edgar Wells, whose export company sent the first shipment of cut flowers from Bogota to Miami in 1965, once compared Colombia's flower industry to the mythical legend of El Dorado, saying: "After 400 years, the true riches of El Dorado have been discovered … a permanent source of riches for all Colombians, for all time."

In 1991, the industry got an additional boost with the passage of the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), which offered many South American countries a way to import a wide variety of goods duty-free, including flowers. The country now exports billions of flowers to the US every year, and despite problematic labour practices and a dwindling work force, it still specialises in growing some of the most popular flowers found in bouquets or given as gifts – including roses, carnations and orchids.

The impressive breadth of flowers grown in Colombia is partly due to the country's unique landscapes. The countryside surrounding city of Facatativá, outside of Bogota, is a hotspot for flower farms. The area's setting on a high plain savanna in the shadow of the Andes mountains makes an ideal space for flower growing, with more than 73% of Colombia's floral production taking place here. Further north, the area around Medellín accounts for an additional 24%.

04/23/2024

With the astronomical growth in US national park visitation in the last few years, the National Park of American Samoa is a literal breath of fresh air.

After 15 hours of flying, I finally reached my destination. I'd started my journey in Boulder, Colorado, and three flights later, I had somehow still landed in a US territory – albeit one thousands of miles from any other, and closer to Australia than the mainland US.

Landing on the small island of Tutuila in American Samoa, the only inhabited US territory south of the equator that covers seven South Pacific islands and atolls, I walked down the airstairs onto the tarmac. The warm island air immediately welcomed me to a place I couldn't have found on a map until recently.

Despite being a US citizen travelling from the mainland to a US territory, I was still herded through passport control and customs: here, all travellers must go through immigration and present their passports – unique from other US territories where US citizens can travel without them.

As I looked around, it felt as if I was in middle of a family reunion rather than an airport. Everyone seemed to know or be related to everyone else, with the few visitors from outside the islands, me included, standing out.

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With just two flights in and out of the island per week – Monday and Thursday – at an average cost of around $1,000 to travel the 2,600 miles from Honolulu, the trip isn't often taken casually. In fact, most travellers who venture here come for a specific reason, as I had: to explore one of the most remote and least visited national parks in the US: the National Park of American Samoa.

I've spent nearly the last decade travelling alone to the major US national parks, intending to visit all 63 entirely independently. While some explorers aspire to visit every country in the world, a small – but growing – group of intrepid travellers aim to see all the officially designated US national parks. Due to its remoteness and cost to reach, the National Park of American Samoa is generally one of, if not the last, park visited on the quest to explore all 63.

Alamy Ofu Island's lagoon and coral reefs are part of the National Park of American Samoa (Credit: Alamy)Alamy
Ofu Island's lagoon and coral reefs are part of the National Park of American Samoa (Credit: Alamy)
Five unmissable experiences

• Pola Island Trail: Perfect for an accessible dose of nature, this easy 1km out-and-back trail culminates at a scenic beach where you admire stunning views of Pola Island, one of the primary sanctuaries for nesting seabirds on Tutuila.

• Mount 'Alava Trail: This 7.3-mile round-trip on Tutuila Island takes you up a ridgeline through the rainforest and offers panoramic views of Pago Pago Harbor. At 491m, Mount 'Alava is the island's highest peak.

• Tuafanua Trail: This short but challenging 1.2-mile out-and-back trek on Tutuila Island leads you through dense rainforest, with a chance to spot colourful birds and hermit crabs. Hikers are rewarded with coastline views and a secluded beach after tackling steep switchbacks and sections with ladders.

• Tisa's Barefoot Bar Samoan Feast: At this weekly experience, starting at 19:00 every Wednesday, witness the preparation of a traditional Umu feast, a Samoan style of cooking in a hot, aboveground stone oven, then gather around a communal table to connect with fellow travellers and learn about Fa'asamoa, the Samoan way of life.

• Snorkel on Ofu Island: Teeming with life, the coral reefs surrounding Ofu Island offer a kaleidoscope of colour and the best snorkelling in American Samoa just a short boat ride from shore.

04/16/2024

Tesla will lay off more than 10% of its global electric vehicle workforce.

In a memo, first reported by news website Electrek, billionaire owner Elon Musk told staff there was nothing he hated more, "but it must be done".

The world's largest vehicle-maker by market value had 140,473 employees globally as of December, according to its latest annual report.

Tesla has not responded to the BBC's request for comment.

"We have done a thorough review of the organisation and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally," said the email from Mr Musk.

"There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle."

A Tesla employee who had been told he was being let go told the BBC he had subsequently been locked out of his emails, as had all other staff being laid off.

One of the executive team, Andrew "Drew" Baglino, said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday he had made the "difficult decision" to leave the firm after 18 years.

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Mr Baglino had served as senior vice president of Tesla's powertrain and energy engineering team since 2019, according to Tesla's website.

Another executive heading up public policy and business development, Rohan Patel, is set to leave too.

He personally thanked Mr Musk for giving him the chance and "empowering" him to lead big initiatives at the firm.

He also said that the "never-say-die attitude and scrappiness" of the wider Tesla team is what he thought made it a special place to work.

Their departures "signal that Tesla's major growth phase is meeting serious headwinds," said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors, deeming it "the larger negative signal today" than the announcement of job cuts.

However, analysts from Gartner and Hargreaves Lansdown said the cuts were a sign of cost pressures as the carmaker invested in new models and artificial intelligence.

The electric vehicle (EV) maker has been slow to refresh its aging models as high interest rates have sapped consumer appetite for big-ticket items.

There is also the ongoing pressure from China as the rise of their inexpensive EVs have begun to flood the market with affordable models.

The company is set to report its quarterly earnings later this month but has already reported a decline in vehicle deliveries in the first quarter, its first in nearly four years and also below market expectations. Some analysts described the results as "tumultuous."

Last month, Tesla reduced production at the Gigafactory in Shanghai and last week Tesla told employees who work on the Cybertruck that shifts will be shorter on the production line at the Austin.

Tesla has begun to feel the impact of slowing demand for electric vehicles (EVs).

Elon Musk has recently denied reports that the company has scrapped plans to produce an inexpensive car, which has been one of his longstanding goals to make affordable EVs for the masses.

Tesla shares were down 0.8% in premarket trading on Monday.

04/08/2024

A total solar eclipse will cross North America in early April, and travellers are paying big money to experience the path of totality.

On 8 April 2024, a sliver of the globe will go dark for roughly four minutes as a total solar eclipse – an astronomical event in which the Sun, Moon and Earth are perfectly aligned – completely blocks the sun's rays in the "path of totality".

But that path is only about 115 miles (185km) wide, covering a portion of northern Mexico, the US and south-east Canada. For those lucky enough to live in the path of totality, witnessing the eclipse is as easy as popping outside with protective eyewear. For everyone else, travel is in order.

People making moves to see the eclipse can expect to shell out for airfare, petrol, lodging and more – but with the next total solar eclipse not hitting the US for another 20 years, it's worth it for these travellers.

Courtesy of Do Trinh Do Trinh (Credit: Courtesy of Do Trinh)Courtesy of Do Trinh
Do Trinh (Credit: Courtesy of Do Trinh)
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Do Trinh, 47: $3,320 (£2,622)
Do Trinh has travelled for solar eclipses before, having holidayed in France to experience a path of totality in 1999. But when the Amsterdam-based IT professional saw an eclipse photo taken from a plane, he knew exactly how he wanted to witness the event in 2024. "Experiencing the eclipse at 30,000 feet – it's just a totally different view," says Trinh. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing."

Trinh mapped out a few different flights in the path of totality before deciding on a Delta flight from San Antonio, Texas to Detroit, Michigan, paying about $500 (£428) for a domestic first-class ticket to get the best possible view. But shortly after booking, Trinh's flight was rescheduled and pushed out of the eclipse path. Fortunately, he was able to transfer his ticket to another flight – Delta flight 1218 – from Austin, Texas to Detroit.

Weeks later came a surprise: Delta announced that flight 1218 would be the airline's official eclipse flight, operating aboard an A220-300 plane specifically selected for its large windows. Since Trinh booked before the announcement – and the resulting surcharge – his first-class seat cost less than half of the $1,150 (£908) surge rate that accompanied the promotion.

Along the way, Trinh will rack up some serious airline miles, intentionally booking what frequent fliers call a ‘mileage run' – a flight booked for the express purpose of generating miles or points. First, he'll fly from his resident Amsterdam to Madrid; then, he'll head directly back to Amsterdam on the same plane. After that, he'll fly to the US, landing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Finally, he'll fly from Minneapolis to San Antonio, arriving on the Saturday prior to the Eclipse. In all, Trinh spent around $2,500 (£2,144) on airfare.

Trinh will also spend $700 (£552) on lodging during his weekend in San Antonio. Also in the cards: a private rideshare from San Antonio to Austin, a trip that generally takes around an hour and a half and costs an average of $120 (£94) per the Lyft website estimate.

"It's 25 to 30 hours of flying for four and a half minutes of the eclipse," says Trinh, laughing. "But it's worth it for a very unique perspective."

03/26/2024

Japan's cabinet has approved the export of new fighter jets it is developing with the UK and Italy, in the latest move away from its pacifist policies.

It eased arms export rules to allow the jets to be sold to countries that Japan has signed defence pacts with, and where there is no ongoing conflict.

Japan has pledged to double military spending by 2027, citing threats posed by China and North Korea.

Each fighter jet sale will require cabinet approval, authorities said.

In December 2022, Japan came on board a UK-Italy collaboration, dubbed the Tempest, to develop this new fighter jet that will use artificial intelligence and advanced sensors to assist pilots.

The jets are expected to be deployed by 2035 - in what is Tokyo's first defence equipment development partnership with a country other than the US.

The latest move comes ahead of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the US in April, where he is expected to stress Tokyo's alliance with Washington and his country's readiness to be more involved in defence partnerships.

Mr Kishida had also said that allowing the export of warplanes to third countries is "necessary" to maintain Tokyo's credibility as a partner in other future international defence projects.

"The plan to make fighter jets with capabilities essential for the security of our nation must be realised to ensure that our nation's defences won't be compromised," government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday.

But Japan's Defence Minister Minoru Kihara clarified that that Japan would still remain committed to the "basic philosophy of a pacifist nation" by going through "strict decision processes" for exports.

Japan’s 75-year pacifism hangs in balance as new threats loom
After World War Two, the US-occupied Japan adopted a constitution which says the country renounces war and the use of force to settle international disputes. The constitution does not officially recognise the military and limits it to self-defence capabilities.

It also imposed an arms export ban, which was eased for the first time in 2014 under then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

In December 2023, Japan eased the rules further to allow the sale of lethal weapons it makes under foreign licenses to be exported to the country where the licenser is based.

This paved the way for Tokyo to send Patriot air defence missiles to the US. Patriot missiles are among the most advanced weapons supplied by the US to Ukraine.

03/13/2024

The tauros, a specially bred version of the long-extinct auroch cattle, is being introduced to Portugal's Côa Valley.

On a cold, misty morning, a herd of dun-coloured Sorraia horses, an endangered local breed, graze on grass and small shrubs, their short and stocky bodies enveloped in the mist by the Côa river in the mountains of northeastern Portugal. As the sun rises and the mist starts to dissipate, it unveils the deep gorges of the Côa Valley, where vultures and eagles nest on the cliffs.

Further south, a herd of large black and chestnut cattle with long horns run with agility. Known as tauros, these bovines are a specially bred version of the long-extinct auroch, the wild ancestor of the modern cow.

The horses and tauros were released by Rewilding Portugal, a non-profit organisation whose mission is to create a 1,200 sq km (463 sq miles) wildlife corridor along the Côa River, improving habitat connectivity between the Douro River in the north and the Malcata mountains in the south.

"We promote the coming back of wild species and replace the extinct ones, such as the auroch and the wild horse," says Pedro Prata, the head of Rewilding Portugal. Since it was established in 2019, the organisation has released two herds of 20 Sorraia horses and 15 tauros in an area spanning about 20 sq km (7.7 sq miles) to restore natural processes with natural grazing.

Return of the aurochs
Thousands of years ago, the wild ancestors of cattle and horses roamed freely across the Côa region, migrating in large herds and playing a key role in maintaining grassland ecosystems. The animals were so important that our ancestors decided to paint and engrave their images in caves and stones.

Along the Côa Valley, representations of aurochs, wild horses and other creatures dating back 24,000 years have been carved on the schist outcrops. The area boats one of the largest concentrations of Paleolithic open-air rock art, and is recognised as a Unesco World Heritage site.

4:45
The tauros: a prehistoric bovine brought back to life ((Credit: Diana Takacsova)
With its long horns and massive body, the auroch features prominently in the engravings. Once the largest land mammals in Europe, aurochs went extinct in the 17th Century due to overhunting and habitat loss. The last of the species died in Poland in 1627; one of the first recorded cases of extinction.

But recent efforts are trying to bring back these mighty herbivores. Rewilding Portugal partnered with the Ta**us Foundation, a Dutch organisation dedicated to breeding bovines that could thrive in Europe's wild landscapes.

"We wanted to develop a substitute for what aurochs used to be," says ecologist Ronald Goderie, director of the Ta**us Foundation, who started a breeding programme in 2008. While the aurochs are extinct, their genes live on in domestic cattle.

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The foundation has been using a method known as back-breeding to combine cattle breeds in southern Europe that still have some of the characteristics of their auroch ancestors: large stature, long legs, a slender build and big horns curved forward. "We combined primitive breeds to try to get the closest possible genetically to what the auroch once was," says Goderie. The goal is to create a wild bovine that can once again roam freely and that is prepared to deal with predators.

For millennia, grazing aurochs created open spaces for other species to thrive. As the closest to the extinct auroch depicted on the prehistoric engravings, Goderie says tauros can fulfil a similar ecological function that is vital for biodiversity. "Natural grazing will lead to more natural processes that are missing from local ecosystems, more habitats and more biodiversity," he says.

Environmental restoration
Kites hover over Prata's jeep as he drives through a mosaic of oak and pine forests, rocky heathlands and scattered vineyards, olive and almond groves along the Côa valley, stopping occasionally to pick up his binoculars.

"This land is marginal, the soil is poor and there is a lack of water. Summers are very harsh here and will get even worse with climate change. The landscape will become even less suitable for farming," says Prata, a biologist who grew up on a farm near the Côa river.

Production is so low on the rocky hillsides that over the last decades, many farmers abandoned the valley and it became one of the least inhabited places in Portugal. Prata also left as a young man to find better opportunities abroad. But the reasons why farming communities left were also what made Prata move back with a new vision for the region. Depopulation and land abandonment became an opportunity to bring nature back.

"We inherited a very degraded landscape. So we are proposing to let this landscape regenerate by rewilding," says Prata. The goal is not to recreate what the landscape once was, but to tap into the potential of what it could be.

02/29/2024

As the groundbreaking GTA instalment turns 15, Thomas Hobbs reflects on its bold decision to centre its narrative around an illegal immigrant, and its subversive portrayal of the land of the free.
"The fast food, the cheap gas, the fake [breasts] – there's a shortcut for everything here!" beams Roman Bellic, the big-hearted immigrant owner of a failing taxi firm. "You just need to know where it is." His first cousin Niko Bellic – a man who has newly emigrated from the Balkans, and is completely unconvinced by America's abilities to fix their broken lives – bluntly interjects: "Yeah, but most people don't know where it is, so they stay at the bottom of the food chain! They stay there until they're burnt out or dead."

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Although this profound exchange occurs in a throwaway side mission about a quarter of the way through Grand Theft Auto IV, it's a perfect reflection of how the 2008 game, now celebrating its 15th anniversary, dared to take the blockbuster gaming franchise (which has sold more than 400 million copies globally) somewhere darker and more political.

GTA IV's protagonist Niko Bellic is a survivor of the Balkan wars already disillusioned by life in the US (Credit: Rockstar Games)
GTA IV's protagonist Niko Bellic is a survivor of the Balkan wars already disillusioned by life in the US (Credit: Rockstar Games)

Started in 1997, the Grand Theft Auto series almost immediately created a name for itself as a nihilistically provocative and crudely satirical pop-culture sensation, in which players took on the roles of urban criminals testing the frameworks of US society as they tried to rise up the ranks of a gangland underworld. Created by Rockstar, a games development studio based in Dundee, Scotland, the GTA games have always been a parody of US excess, with witty in-game jokes on everything from heart attack-inducing burgers to smart homes.

A more serious turn

However, whereas previous GTA games leaned towards toilet humour over sincere messages about the human condition, and lead protagonists tended to be silent assassins addicted to mischief (GTA 3's Claude Speed) or recycled male Hollywood rags-to-riches archetypes (think GTA: Vice City's Scarface-esque Tommy Vercetti), the Niko Bellic character was a bold left turn from developer Rockstar, directly forcing millions to see through the eyes of a jaded immigrant. There is a nagging sense throughout the game that Niko is having an existential crisis while committing his miscreant acts (including stealing cars); something shaped by voice actor Michael Hollick's crestfallen delivery. When Niko drives past s*x workers, he utters the line: "You poor wretches!"

He dresses in cheap tracksuits; tells a love interest of his PTSD nightmares; and tends to prioritise emotive philosophy ("War is where the young and stupid are tricked by the old and the bitter into killing each other") over giddy quips while driving to missions with his co-conspirators. Having fled the Balkan wars, Niko hopes to be re-energised by the bright lights of Liberty City (a fictional re-working of New York City). Yet he quickly discovers that corruption, greed and "flying rats" are just as prevalent in the so-called land of the free, and that cousin Roman is even being extorted by gangsters.

"When I worked in Sarajevo [the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina] you could still see the artillery damage, so for all the countries involved in the Yugoslav wars it is something that continued to visibly haunt them," Georg Hobmeier, the co-founder of Vienna-based games company Causa Creations, explains to BBC Culture. "When Niko Bellic was unveiled, it felt so close to home. People in Eastern and Central Europe were very surprised! It felt like video games were stepping outside their comfort zone, and daring to show much more complex, tortured people."

The game is similarly about the dream promised to immigrants, as opposed to the grim reality that often awaits them when they arrive – Georg Hobmeier
Causa is the development studio that brought to life 2017's Path Out – an indie game that replicated the dangerous real-life escape route of war-torn Syrian refugee Abdullah Karam and has been used by the United Nations in schools to help students empathise with refugees and immigrants. According to Hobbmier, GTA IV, which was released on 29 April 2008, helped shift the narrative goal posts, encouraging a generation of developers – including himself – to root stories in the vulnerable perspectives of immigrant workers.

"There's a satirical rock song in Bosnia called USA by Dubioza Kolektiv, which has the lyrics: 'I am from Bosnia Take me to America / I really want to see the Statue of Liberty'," he tells BBC Culture. "This song reminds me of GTA IV, because the game similarly [contrasts] the dream promised to immigrants [with] the grim reality that often awaits them when they arrive. Look, GTA IV moved the goalposts. It transformed the field. The introduction of these themes in a project of that size is more important than a small indie game doing it; it's more revolutionary."

02/19/2024

Shrovetide football consumes the town of Ashbourne on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, when the normal rules of society are suspended and the town cheerfully turns to anarchy.
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Across the British Isles, Shrove Tuesday is celebrated by the cooking of pancakes – a legacy of the time when Christian families would use up their stores of butter and eggs before the lean period of Lent. In the Derbyshire Dales town of Ashbourne in central England, however, Pancake Day is celebrated with a little more gusto.

The whole town is consumed each Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday (this year on 13 and 14 February) by an ancient and extremely chaotic ball game known as Shrovetide football, which sees the population split into two teams who attempt to manoeuvre a large ball through a hundreds-strong scrum of people to reach one of two goals, three miles apart. The "goals" are two stone monuments on the site of former mills, Clifton Mill and Sturston Mill; players score by tapping the ball against them three times.

This is achieved by any means necessary – flying fists, kung fu-kicking feet and even chomping teeth are all fair game inside the huge scrum, known as "the hug", which moves at will through town streets, rivers and muddy fields as each team vies for control of the ball. For two days only, the usual rules of society are suspended. This usually genteel market town is swallowed by a deluge of violence, and colleagues, friends and family members become sworn enemies.

And they absolutely love it.

"In the days leading up to Shrovetide, you can see everyone fizzing with excitement," local Amy Fisher told me in the town's Greenman Pub on the first morning of the 2023 celebration. She would be playing herself later that day, she said, showing me a hip flask stowed away in her pocket. "Last time I kept popping in and out of the hug to come back here to the pub," she said. "But this year, I'm in it for the long haul.

Fisher is an Up'ard – that is, somebody from north of Henmore Brook, which runs through the town and is the geographical line along which Shrovetide football's teams are divided. Her friend Pinder Dayal, who works at the pub, is a Down'ard – someone from south of the brook. Despite the apparent animosity between the two teams, this is a sacred Ashbourne tradition and is fiercely protected as such by the locals. "Outsiders are welcome to watch, as long as they don't get in the way," Dayal said. "But as the head of the Shrovetide committee says, this is a local game for local people." Therein may lie a clue as to the purpose of Shrovetide football; while it seems to tear the town apart, it actually strengthens their collective identity.

Ashbourne is one of the few remaining places in England where the ancient game of football is still played (Credit: Daniel Stables)
Ashbourne is one of the few remaining places in England where the ancient game of football is still played (Credit: Daniel Stables)

There aren't many rules to the game, but one that is oft-repeated states that "unnecessary violence is frowned upon" (note: not "forbidden"). The use of motorised vehicles to carry the ball is a no-no, as is entry to cemeteries, churchyards and private gardens. The most striking directive, however, is a gravely simple one (and hopefully one that is no longer relevant today): "Murder and manslaughter are prohibited."

Tuesday's pretty good-natured, but Wednesday's when it really kicks off – when people have been stamped on a few times
"Tuesday's pretty good-natured, but Wednesday's when it really kicks off – when people have been stamped on a few times," Fisher said. "That's when it gets nasty." She assured me that any hostilities are short-lived, however. "Everyone's great mates again in the pub afterwards," she said. "It's a very wholesome British tradition."

"Wholesome" is a relative term, however. Every year, there are bruised ribs, sprained ankles and broken bones. But Ashbournians, such as local historian Tim Baker, who curates the town's museum and is also the official Shrovetide ball painter, say that's just part of the deal. "This type of game can't be played without injury – everyone plays at their own risk," he told me. "Things can get quite harsh on the day if tempers fray, especially if they've been in the pub a little while before, but it's a friendly rivalry. If you're in the hug and someone's biting your hand, and you don't know who's doing it and you turn round and thump him on the head and it turns out to be your best mate… well, that's just unfortunate."

For two days only, the normal rules of society are suspended (Credit: fantail/Getty Images)
For two days only, the normal rules of society are suspended (Credit: fantail/Getty Images)

There have been two recorded fatalities in the game's centuries-long history. The first was a young man in the 1860s who fell in a water pit outside Clifton Mill, one of the two "goals", and drowned. The latter casualty was a 20-year veteran of the ball game named David Johnson, who collapsed after the Tuesday's play in 2018.

There is collateral damage, too. As I left the pub and walked through town, I saw signs everywhere exhorting people not to park in the town centre lest their vehicles be crushed by a marauding mob of townsfolk. All the shops and cafes had their windows boarded up, even as they remained open for business, exhorting punters to enter through side doors or selling tea and coffee from makeshift wooden stalls. Festive bunting hung on lines above the streets, and Union Jacks were everywhere as if in celebration of a royal jubilee.

The Ashbourne game is one of the last remaining relics of a sport that was once popular all over England. Also known as medieval football, folk football and mob football, it is considered the precursor to modern football and rugby and only survives in its ancient form in a handful of places, including Alnwick in Northumberland and Atherstone in Warwickshire.

The Ashbourne game is by far the largest, with hundreds of players on each side, and is the only one officially known as Royal Shrovetide Football – the town was given permission to use the title after residents gifted a game ball to Princess Mary on her wedding day in 1922. To this day, Baker paints the royal insignia of the Union flag and Tudor Crown on the balls each year. Royals have opened proceedings on a couple of occasions, too, by throwing the ball into the waiting scrum from a plinth in a town-centre carpark – this role was fulfilled by Prince (now King) Charles in 2003, while other celebrities to have been afforded the honour include legendary football manager Brian Clough.

Shōma Ohara

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