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YUSHi

YUSHi

United Kingdom
May 2004

MAY 30, 2005 02:57 AM

Today in Brockworth, Gloucester (UK) the Gloucester Cheese Rolling Committee gets to see a years hard work pay off in the annual Bank Holiday Cheese-rolling and Wake. Every year the Committee manages to convince a few thousand people that chasing after a nine pound wheel of Double Gloucester cheese down a very, very, very steep hill is a good idea. They have been managing to do it for at least 500 years although it is possible the event goes back as far as pagan times.



Cheese Rolling is one of the oldest customs to have survived in Great Britain. It's been going on for hundreds of years and some say it has its roots in pre-Roman times.





The rules are simple... everyone climbs up Coopers Hill in Brockworth, someone rolls the cheese down the hill, everyone chases after it and the first person to get their hands on it gets to keep the cheese.



The catch? Usually the roll of cheese reaches speeds in excess of 70mph and normally most people get injured, stings from nettles and bees are common complaints as well as sprained ankles but if you're really lucky you may break a leg or maybe two if you're really going for it.

zenFish

zenFish

Calgary, AB
August 2004

MAY 30, 2005 03:09 PM

Somehow I see much more funny injuries coming from the uphill race, like a judge getting slapped with the wheel.

it was posted april 1 2003.

Ugh.



[Edited on May 30, 2005 by zenFish]

YUSHi

YUSHi

United Kingdom
May 2004

MAY 30, 2005 03:16 PM

You should check out some of the videos on the BBC... they're crazy for sure...

poptard

poptard

United Kingdom
November 2003

MAY 30, 2005 03:19 PM

they can't be changeing a 500 year old tradition!

its madness

what if everyone joind a chese roleing club for the day?

tell you next year i'm there!
if i can drive home after is another story

poptard

poptard

United Kingdom
November 2003

MAY 30, 2005 03:20 PM

hold on that link is over a year old and was posted on april 1st

*rubs chin*

xit2yrgspt

xit2yrgspt

I'm lost
January 2005

MAY 30, 2005 03:23 PM

cheese, cheese, fly away home......

cxc496

cxc496

Nazareth, PA
March 2004

MAY 30, 2005 03:23 PM

if i were the organizers...i'd tell the EU to shove their regulations up their asses. something liek this, a tradition that's been observed for 500+ years shouldn't be changed for any reason in my opinion. these people know what they're getting themselves into when the do it. duh...they hear stories every year about how people get hurt the previous year. all you have to do is ignore them.

"The real idiots are the faceless bureaucrats in Brussels who have ruined a a tradition going back hundreds of years."

waldo

waldo

I'm lost
June 2004

MAY 30, 2005 03:25 PM

And people think the English are restrained, and dignified, and all that...

waldo

waldo

I'm lost
June 2004

MAY 30, 2005 03:29 PM

zenFish said:
Somehow I see much more funny injuries coming from the uphill race, like a judge getting slapped with the wheel.

it was posted april 1 2003.

Ugh.


a site (it's a horrible green colour, don't say you weren't warned...)
CNN
BBC

YUSHi

YUSHi

United Kingdom
May 2004

MAY 30, 2005 04:22 PM

Well, the event is annual... and it was held yesterday as in bank holiday monday or the spring holiday... the link refers to the year that the event was challenged by the EU because it was safe. Most of the above is sourced from yesterdays Independent Newspaper although that hat tip isn't in the news story post editing.. oh well... smile

dem_z

dem_z

United Kingdom
June 2004

MAY 30, 2005 04:31 PM

The_Happy_Pig

The_Happy_Pig

I'm lost
December 2004

MAY 30, 2005 04:35 PM

One year I'm so going to do that, it can't be any worse than the tar barrels which happens about 10 miles from where I live.

dem_z

dem_z

United Kingdom
June 2004

MAY 30, 2005 04:38 PM

I cocked up editing this article, and I apologise for that. The cheese rolling is real; I watched it one year. The hill really is that steep, 1:2 in places, and people do break their legs and arms running downhill after a cheese.

Anyway, I've edited the dodgy BBC article out and put a new bbc article in. blush blackeyed

A7X_FAN

A7X_FAN

Thunder Bay, ON
December 2004

MAY 30, 2005 05:24 PM

Any cheese is good to chase after, as long as its gouda.
smile

dem_z

dem_z

United Kingdom
June 2004

MAY 31, 2005 01:46 AM

Only three people broke bones this year, which is an improvement on other years.

poptard

poptard

United Kingdom
November 2003

MAY 31, 2005 01:04 PM

demetrius_z said:
Only three people broke bones this year, which is an improvement on other years.



depends on how you look at it
wink

Thistle

Thistle

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

MAY 31, 2005 01:49 PM

I think that if the worst that's happening is broken bones, this tradition is one of the least noxious I've heard of. Not everything fun is safe you know.