Folk Britain: A field guide to curious customs

Every May in Gloucestershire, people chase a huge wheel of cheese down a 26-degree hill. In August, a man covered head to toe in burdock seeds and burrs walks 9 miles through Queensferry, steadily getting more drunk on whisky handed over by locals.

Then on Bonfire Night, residents of Ottery St Mary carry flaming tar barrels through the streets on their backs. It’s wild, risky, and completely rooted in place.

From the profound to the downright baffling, this handbook gathers more than 100 British rituals and traditions. Many are centuries old, marking the seasons, bringing communities together, and offering a window into Britain’s wonderfully strange cultural identity.