There was head banging in Helston for pupils from three of the town’s schools – but no heavy metal music to be heard.

They were actually part of a group taking part in the annual Beating the Boundaries ceremony, which marks a section of the town’s boundary stones each year.

These days more ceremonial than serving any practical purpose, it sees a group of volunteers walking part of the boundary and being upended onto the stones to have their heads “banged.”

This year, town councillors John Boase and Mark Upton were in charge of upending people, which included mayor Jonathan Radford-Gaby and pupils from Nansloe Academy, Parc Eglos Primary School and Helston Community College. The route this year took the group from the Penrose Amenity car park around Carminowe Creek, finishing at the boundary stone at RNAS Culdrose, opposite the main gate.

It took approximately two hours to walk, stopping at each stone.