Cheese Rolling

Cheese rolling is very British. What is cheese rolling? Simply it entails taking a wheel of cheese and chasing after it as it  rolls it down a hill. It is a wildly popular anualevent that takes place during the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucester.  This is not just any local little celebration. People come from all over the world to take part in this traditional celebration which used to be free to the public until 2010. Now you have to pay twenty pounds to watch people roll a cheese wheel down a hill!

The British do not just roll any old cheese wheel down the hill. It is usually around of Double Gloucester. These cheese wheels have been known to reach speeds of up to seventy miles an hour. The current supplier of the cheese wheels is Diana Smart who has been supplying the Cheese wheels since 1988.

Cooper’s Hill is a stop on the Cotswold Way which is a 102 mile footpath along the edge of the Cotswold Hills in England. Competitors often begin the challenge by indulging in some Dutch Courage (slang for alcohol) at the Cheese Rollers, Cross Hands and the Victoria Pubs in the nearby village of Shurdington.

This is actually an ancient pagan ceremony that may have been a fertility rite. Along with sprinkling buns, biscuits and candies down a hill to ensure prosperity wheels of cheese and bundles of brush were rolled down the hill to celebrate the harvest. In the past cheese rolling has also been used as a ritual to celebrate the New Year.

The only time cheese was not used for the event was during the Second World War when food was rationed. Instead of filling the wheels with cheese they were filled with wood.  So from 1941 to 1954 the Cheese wheels were filled with fake cheese.

Believe it or not people have actually hurt themselves cheese rolling.  In 1993 fifteen people were injured and four very seriously, while chasing cheese down a hill. This is because Cooper’s Hill is very steep and if you trip you can end up tumbling about 200 yards to the bottom. The most common injuries are sprained ankles and concussions.

In 2011 the event was technically cancelled due to safety concerns but it was held any way. About five hundred people showed up as part of the “Save the Cheese Roll” campaign.