Spectacular Festivals of the World - Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling

The Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the last mad Monday in May at Cooper’s Hill, near Cheltenham and Gloucester in the Cotswolds region of England, described as “the granddaddy of weird sports”.



The event takes its name from the hill it occurs on. A 7 pound round of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled from the top of the hill by the Master of Ceremonies and an invited guest who releases it whilst sitting on the precipitous slope, and competitors race, tumble, and roll down the steep hill after it.



The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese. In theory, competitors are supposed to catch the cheese, but since it has a 1 second head start and can reach speeds up to 70 mph (112 km/h) — enough to knock over and injure a spectator as it did in 1997 — this rarely occurs.



It’s traditionally by and for the people of Brockworth — the local village — but the event has become more and more popular every year, with people now coming from all across the world to compete or even simply to watch.



The slope has a gradient of 1-in-2 in some areas, and 1-in-1 in others. The hill’s surface is very rough and uneven and it’s nearly impossible to remain on foot for the descent. Wet conditions reward the runners with a softer hill surface with a reduced chance of injury, whilst dry conditions make the ground harder for the fallers.



Due to the steepness and uneven surface of the hill there are usually a number of injuries, ranging from sprained ankles to broken bones and concussions. First aid service is on hand at the bottom of the hill, with a volunteer rescue group to carry down any casualties who don’t make their way to the bottom through gravity. There is invariably at least 1 and often several more injuries requiring hospital treatment every year.



Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling has been summarized as “20 young men chase a cheese off a cliff and tumble 200 yards to the bottom, where they are scraped up by paramedics and packed off to hospital.”



Pictures never show the reality of the steepness of the hill, which towers menacingly above you when gazing upwards from the foot of the hill. It’s so steep that the rays of the sun rarely fall on the slope itself. The view from atop reveals the mountains in the distance which can be seen for miles. Looking downwards, the ground falls right away from you.



Accurate information is hard to come by, but the tradition is at least 200 years old. Suggestions have been made that the event may either date back to Roman times or may have been a pagan healing ritual, but there is no evidence for this.