Every year thousands gather around Cooper’s Hill to watch several races - each with upwards of 40 contestants. A t the top of the hill the Master of Ceremonies releases a nine-pound wheel of Double Gloucester cheese which can take on speeds of over 70 miles an hour. Then the contestants chase after it down the precipitously steep slope (it's a 1:2 gradient and the hill is 200 yards from top to bottom. At the bottom of the hill, instead of having some kind of soft barricade or hay bales, there is the local Brockworth Rugby team waiting for you.
‘Cheese Rolling on Cooper’s Hill’ painted by Charles March Gere in 1948, from the Museum of Gloucester Collection.
The first runner to get to the bottom of the hill wins the contest and the cheese. Bones will break. Bruises will bloom. Some will be hospitalised. But still the event goes on year after year. Of course, there have been attempts to ban it on Health and Safety grounds but locals then did it secretly and unannounced. They even once did it at night which resulted in even more injuries than usual. So now the authorities let them get on with it ... and have medical teams on standby.
After the main races have finished, it’s the public’s turn to give the hill a go. There is no cheese to chase but if you are game enough you can roll (or throw) yourself down the hill.
No one knows how long the event has been going on - the first written evidence is from a message written to the Gloucester town crier in 1826. But even then it was apparent the event was an old tradition - some believe it coud have been going on for over 500 years.
That's a lot of bandages and plaster casts.
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