‘A big day’: Lincolnshire villagers hail return of Haxey Hood game

The Haxey Hood in 2015. Participants compete to capture a ‘hood’ – a 3ft-long leather tube – and push it to local pubs in two villages. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

In the north Lincolnshire villages of Haxey and Westwoodside, 6 January is bigger than Christmas.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, thousands of villagers have gathered in fields nearby to compete in the Haxey Hood, one of the UK’s most curious traditions – a rough-and-tumble game that dates back to the 14th century.