Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake

The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper's Hill, near Gloucester in England. Participants race down the 200-yard (180 m) long hill chasing a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese. The event has a long tradition, held by the people of the local village of Brockworth, but now people from all over the world take part. The Guardian called it a "world-famous event", with winners coming from Canada, Belgium, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

The most recent event was held on 29 May 2023.

For 2024 the event takes place on May 27 and normally takes place on the last Monday in May.

 A race on 27 May 2013

This ceremony originally took place each Whit Monday, but was later moved to the Spring Bank Holiday. The first written evidence of cheese rolling is found in a message written to the Gloucester town crier in 1826;[1] even then it was apparent that the event was an old tradition, and it is believed to be at least six hundred years old.[2][3]

Two possible origins have been proposed for the ceremony. First, it may have evolved from a requirement for maintaining grazing rights on the common.[2][4] Second, there may be pagan origins for the custom of rolling objects down the hill. It is thought that bundles of burning brushwood were rolled down the hill to represent the birth of the New Year after winter. Connected with this belief is the traditional scattering of buns, biscuits and sweets at the top of the hill by the Master of Ceremonies.[5] This is said to be a fertility rite to encourage the fruits of harvest.[4]

In 1982, a team of students from the University of Bristol filmed the 31 May event[6] using film cameras, with one camera overcranked to produce slow motion.[7]

In 1993, fifteen people were injured, four of them seriously injured, chasing cheeses down the hill with its one-in-three gradient (18.4 degrees).[4]

In 2009, it was cancelled due to concerns over health and safety. In 2010, a group of journalists and local residents threw a smaller version, keeping in with tradition, to keep grazing rights. In 2011, Candis Phillips and Sara Stevens bought and dressed four cheeses, and so the revival of this famous old tradition continued.

"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 cheese today, so it is official. We strongly believe in it."

— Former winner Helen Thorpe in May 2011.[8]

The 2011 event took place without management, due to safety concerns over the number of people visiting the event,[9] resulting in the 'Save the Cheese Roll' campaign.[10] Despite the cancellation and lack of paramedics, around 500 people showed up in 2011 to hold some spontaneous races; no major injuries were reported.

The event is traditional and takes its name from the steep hill on which it occurs. Until recent years, it was managed in a quasi-official manner by nominated locals, but since 2010 the event has taken place without any management.[8]

The cheese-rolling event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] The cheese-rolling event returned on Sunday 5 June 2022,[12] ending a two-year absence.[13] The spring bank holiday was moved to June 2, followed by an additional bank holiday, to create a four-day jubilee weekend in celebration of Elizabeth II's 70 years of reign.[14]

^ Cite error: The named reference gere was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ a b "Cheese Rolling: A brief history". BBC News. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2018. ^ Spicer, Dorothy Gladys (1954). Yearbook of English Festivals. New York: H.W. Wilson Company. pp. 238–239. ^ a b c Anon. "Cheese Rolling on Coopers Hill, Exhibition", Gloucester City and Folk Museums, Gloucester, 14 July 2012. ^ "Previous years/cheese-rolling.co.uk". 2007. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. ^ Jamie Hartzell, Barbara Wyatt, Frank Passingham, Jonathan Fisher, Mike Dorrell, Michael Hicks, John Adams, Keesian Pender, Pru McEwen, Deborah Perkin, Nick Ferguson, Steve Lewis, Jo Moss, Roger Wilson (19 May 2020) [Recorded 31 May 1982]. Cheese Rolling Day May 31, 1982. Brockworth: Barbara Wyatt. ^ Cite error: The named reference hartzell was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ a b "Coopers Hill cheese-rolling fans hold unofficial race". www.BBC.co.uk. BBC News online. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2011. ^ "Gloucestershire cheese-rolling off due to safety fears". bbc.co.uk. BBC News. 12 March 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2010. ^ "Save the Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling campaign launched". www.SoGlos.com. 13 January 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2016. ^ "Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling 2022 on Coopers Hill in Gloucester". SoGlos. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022. ^ "When is the Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling taking place in 2022?". gloucestercheeserolling.co.uk. 2022. ^ Cite error: The named reference Glo2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ "Queen's Platinum Jubilee to include extra bank holiday". BBC News. 12 November 2020.
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