I will be in Atherstone on the 20th feb 2007 Ashbourne on the 21st feb 2007 Jedburgh on the 22nd feb 2007 and Ancrum on the 24rd feb 2007 . Its sunday night , the 18th of february and i am in Ashbourne . I am staying in the Green Man Hotel where they have the roast beef lunch and the thrower up makes a big spe'ech and there's singing before the games . I have seen the starting plinth in the Shaw Croft car park and both the uppards goal at sturston mill and the downards goal at clifton mill . They are three miles apart . I stopped past Ancrum and Jedburgh on the way south i've seen the starting points and both the uppies and doonies goals they call their game hand ba and spell uppies and doonies the same as in Kirkwall . I have uploaded some photos onto the photo page . Going to Atherstone tomorrow night ready for tuesdays game . Its about fifty miles from Ashbourne and i will drive back to Ashbourne after the game . The Atherstone game finishes at five o clock and the Ashbourne game goes on till quite late if it finishes before five o clock they throw up another ball and if the game is not goaled before ten o clock the game is a draw and the person who throws it up gets to keep the ball . Please note the Ancrum hand ba game is played on saturday not friday as previously stated . The Ancrum game has been going again for nine years after being abandoned for twenty seven years . A school headmistress is thought to have been behind the abandonment after deciding the game was too barbaric for boys . They play a eights and under game as well as twelve and sixteen and under and mens games . Lots of ba's in a day it depends how many have been donated usually by married couples new parents and couples celebrating a special anniversary and some businesses sponsor ba's too . Both the Jedburgh and Ancrum games are on a hill so its uphill for the uppies and downhill for the doonies the hills are quite steep . Barricades are not used in Ancrum at all same as in Workington . Before the games many of Ashbourns pubs have balls hanging from the ceiling . They are slightly bigger than a Kirkwall Ba and are painted white with emblems and pictures on them depending what the winner wants on them . The pubs have their bussiest day of the year and many people come to town for the day and spend all day in the pub . The balls are displayed in the Ashbourne News Telegraph shop window for a few days before the games they are only in the window during the day and are put in the safe at night . I have uploaded photos of the balls and the painters of the balls . The balls are painted to the design of the person throwing off the ball when the ball has been goaled by touching the mill wheel three times it must then be officially registered by the royal shrovetide committee at the Green Man Hotel before midnight . The winner of the game can get the ball repainted to their own design ......(HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE TEXT)......
