How ‘racist’ bust ‘hidden by Tory councillor’ divided Derbyshire town

Controversial caricature that overlooked Ashbourne for decades has become subject of bitter culture war

When Kate Moore, a 21-year-old student, saw the bitterness of the division in her home of Ashbourne over the disappearance of a bust of a black man’s head, she decided to come up with a compromise.

Over the last week, the mystery over the whereabouts of the head, which Moore viewed as indisputably racist, has lifted this small Derbyshire town to national prominence. Before that it was best known as the home of Royal Shrovetide, an eccentric, beloved and very English game of “medieval football” played through the streets each year.

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