Why these English townsfolk carry flaming tar barrels on their backs

Flaming barrels of tar created a stream of smoke through the narrow streets of the English town of Ottery St Mary this week, as thousands gathered to watch the ancient tradition of barrel rolling.

November 5 is Bonfire Night, which marks the failure of a plot in 1605 by a group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes, to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill the Protestant King James I. 

Found in a cellar beneath the building, surrounded by gunpowder, Fawkes was arrested, tortured, put on trial and executed. 

Parliament later made November 5 a national day of thanksgiving to celebrate the safety of the crown and parliament. These days, people across the country light bonfires and set off fireworks, which stand in for the unlit gunpowder.

But some places do it differently, and the southwestern English town of Ottery St Mary has its own tradition. It's called barrel rolling, but the name barely does it justice.

The centuries-old custom sees selected town residents, including children as young as seven, take turns carrying barrels of blazing tar through the crowd-lined streets, balancing them on their shoulders and heads as sparks lick their ears.

The event offers participants a thrilling way to connect with the past.

"It's the biggest thing in Devon... It's been going on for hundreds and hundreds of years, and it goes down generation after generation and family," said barrel roller Jayden Rowland-Phillips.

The art of barrel rolling has been handed down through generations of Ottery residents, with rollers only from the rural town able to take part on Bonfire Night.

"It goes back further than I really know," said barreller Hayden Dyer. "It's a lot of tradition, and it's a real privilege to be able to do it."