Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling Event

Ever heard of hordes of people chasing a wheel of cheese!! Every year at Cooper's Hill, Gloucester a wheel of cheese is rolled down and hordes of participants chase it to the finish line. The Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling event takes its name from the hill on which the competition occurs. Trust me, its a big deal, considering how steep the hill is and how fast the wheel of cheese can roll!

The cheese rolling has been practiced since the time of the Saxons and there was even a time form 1941 to 1954 when wooden cheese becauseof the introduction of food rationing in the country.  Nowadays, the cheese used is an eight pound(3.5 kg) round of Double Gloucester Cheese wheel. The cheese wheel is given a head start and rolled down from the top of the hill by the current Master of Ceremonies.

The Present Master of Ceremonies Rob Seex – dairy farmer of Upton-St-Leonards.

Seconds later the participants will run, slide, tumble, grovel and roll down the hill in hope of catching the rolling cheese which can reach a speed of 70mph! The participant who reaches the finish line first after the cheese gets the wheel of cheese!

This years competition was held on May 25 in Gloucster. Cooper’s Hill saw an enthusiastic crowd cheering on the participants, a couple of broken bones, scores of bruises and injuries and a few ecstatic winners hugging their wheel of cheese! Some of them even set out to chase the cheese with  custom made costumes or minimal clothing on!!(read “chasing the cheese in thongs!!”)

For those who missed this years cheese rolling event, check the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling website to get more details about their plans for the next year. Chasing the cheese seems to make for a dangerous but fun food sport.  Just imagine all the delicious cheese treats and dishes the winner could whip up!! Yumm!

Check out a video of participants chasing the cheese!

Image Credit

www.boston.com