Gloucestershire’s famous official cheese rolling championship is looking doubtful once more after organisers received a hostile reception to their plans.
History: The famous cheese rolling championship has been taking part on Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire on and off for hundreds of years, although the championship was started in the 1940s. The event has always taken place on the hill which is close to the village of Brockworth, about 5 miles from Gloucester.
The event: People gather at the top of the hill where a large specially made rounded cheese is rolled down and the winner is the first to catch the cheese. This is made slightly harder by the hill being 1:2 and occasionally 1:1 (vertical!) gradient.
2010: In recent years, the Cheese Rolling Committee who organise the event have suffered a number of problems including far too many people turning up and lack of insurance which caused it to be cancelled in 2010.
2011: This year the organisers wanted to create a 2 day event, but critically they wanted to sell tickets at £20 per person which is where the problems started. The cheese rolling event has always been free, so locals got very upset that the committee were trying to make the event more commercialised. The committee have therefore cancelled the 2011 event and put doubt on future official cheese rolling.
However, it is very likely that an unofficial cheese rolling championship will be held as it was in 2010 when around 5000 people came to watch or take part in it.The local authorities and police tried to prevent this in 2010, even putting up roadside checks, but as Cooper’s Hill is common land, anyone has a right to gather there.
It just happens that a cheese accidently rolled down a hill which being round wasn’t too unexpected and a number of people thought the cheese needed to be caught before it was damaged or hit the wall at the bottom…honest officer.
The photo isn’t doctored – the hill really is that steep!
Cheese Rolling Links:
Semi-official cheese rolling web site
A few more quirky events in Britain
Hotels and B&Bs in Gloucester (near Cooper’s Hill)
Things to do in Brockworth & Gloucester
