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Cheese – RollingRACESPublishing: National Geographic ISBN – 13: 978 – 1 – 4240 – 1067 - 5ISBN – 10: 1 – 4240 – 1067 – 5Writer: Rob Warning, Series Editor

Many towns have special event. However, one town in England has a very unusual one. At the start, Someone pushes a piece of cheese down a hill. Them, the people run after the cheese. And after that? Well, things get quite funny!

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Cheese – Rolling has been a tradition in the town of BrockWorth since the early 1800s. But what happens in this old and locally famous competitions ?

It's quite simple, Really. First, the competitors come together

at the top of a hill named ‘Cooper’s Hill’.

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1Slope: The amount of difference between a high area and a lower area.

The Cheese may reach up to 40 miles2 per hour. [ 2.40 miles: 64.3 kilometer ]

What’s the prize of such an unusual event ?

It’s the wheel of cheese – of course.

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The first winner of the day in this year’s competition is Craig Brown, a pub3 worker. He’s happy to be the winner, but he’s also very tired.

The most important things is just to continue running and keep balanced

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Injure: Cause bodily harm to a person or animal. Accident: A bad thing which happens without warning. Crash Barrier: Short wall along a competition route to

protect spectators. Pub: Place where drinks and food are served. Balance: Ability to stand up and not fall over due to

unequal weight.

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Today it is as popular as ever and the crowds turned out in large numbers at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire to watch yet more brave souls risk life and limb chasing after a 7lb Double Gloucester cheese. The winner gets to keep the cheese they've chased after!

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The Cheese

The cheese used in the event is Double Gloucester, a hard cheese typically manufactured in cylindrical blocks. The current supplier is local cheese maker Diana Smart, who has supplied the cheese since 1988. During the Second World War rationing was introduced, preventing the use of a cheese in the event. Consequently, from 1941 to 1954 a wooden "cheese" was used instead with a piece of cheese in a hollow space in the center of the wooden replica.

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Injuries

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 concussion. A first aid service is provided by the local St John Ambulance (Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud Divisions) at the bottom of the hill, with a volunteer rescue group on hand to carry down to them any casualties who do not end up at the bottom through gravity. A number of ambulance vehicles attend the event, since there is invariably at least one, and often several injuries requiring hospital treatment. Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling has been summarized as "twenty 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". IN 1998, an amateur cameraman was knocked over and injured by a piece of cheese, caught on camera. A video of the 2003 event, featuring a woman accidentally falling down the hill, has recently, gone viral. The woman, thankfully, was only slightly injured. The race of 2005 was delayed while the ambulances returned from the hospital, all of them having been required to transport casualties from previous races. Nevertheless, it was one of the most popular events in recent years, with many more participants than were able to run in the four races.

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History

Accurate information is hard to come by, but the tradition is at least 200 years old. Each year the event becomes more and more popular with contestants coming from all across the world to compete or even simply to spectate.The 2011 event took place without management due to safety concerns over the number of people visiting the event, but it is hoped that it will continue to be held, following the launch of a 'Save The Cheese Roll' campaign. Despite the cancellation and lack of paramedics, around 500 people showed up in 2010 to hold some spontaneous races, with six time champion Chris Anderson winning again. No major injuries were reported.On 24 March 2010, the organisers blamed backlashes that included death threats following an announcement of how the 2011 event would be run. The plans had been made to conduct the event under mounting pressure from the local council who stipulated it should include security, perimeter fencing to allow crowd control and spectator areas that would charge an entrance fee. The event proceeded without management."No-one's going to stop us doing it. They say it's not official but we are all Brockworth people and we're running the cheese today so it is official. We strongly believe in it.”Former winner Helen Thorpe in May 2011.At this stage the future of management of the event remains unknown.]"Since we announced an entry fee, we have been bombarded with so much hostility and criticism, much of it at a personal level, including accusations of profiteering and some of the committee have even received threats.”—Cheese Rolling Committee spokesman Richard Jefferies speaking in March 2011.[2]

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The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at

Cooper's Hill, (grid reference SO892146) near Gloucester in the Cotswolds region of England.It is traditionally by and for the people who live in the local village of Brockworth, but now people from all over the world take part. The event takes its name from the hill on which it occurs.

The event is traditional. In recent years, it has been managed in a quasi-official manner, but the events of 2010 and 2011 took place spontaneously without any management. Spectators were furious at the prospect of being charged a £20 entry fee.