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Cheese Rolling

taras

Least Haunted
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Cheese-Rolling 2005

Three hurt in cheese rolling race
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/glou ... 593061.stm

Three people have been hurt chasing a giant cheese down a steep slope in Gloucestershire.

The annual event on Cooper's Hill involves competitors hurling themselves 200 metres down the steep hill.

The winner, window fitter Chris Anderson, received his 9lb Double Gloucester as he was taken away on a stretcher with a sprained ankle.

Organisers said two other people were taken to hospital and may have suffered spinal injuries.

Chris, 17, from nearby Brockworth, said: "The pain was worth it. I went over on my ankle right at the top of the hill.

"This cheese is going straight in a cupboard when I get home. It's definitely not for eating."

New Zealander Dione Carter won the woman's event for the second year running.

"This was a lot tougher than last year. I had a few nasty tumbles."

Fewer casualties

"It just seems sheer luck if you win but despite how it looks it is great fun."

Jason Crowther, 23, from Pembrokeshire and Aaron Walden, 18, from Gloucester won the other two races.

St John's Ambulance were on hand to give medical assistance during the two hour event.

A team from Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters (Saraid) were also at Cooper's Hill in the event any casualties needed rescuing from the steep hill.

Organiser Richard Jefferies said: "It was a very good day and went very smoothly. There were a lot less casualties than normal.

"It is a good part of the local heritage and a tradition we would like to keep going."

Large videos: here

URL tidied up - stu
 
"This cheese is going straight in a cupboard when I get home. It's definitely not for eating."

Wot a plonker!

Cheese is for eating!



We demand a Cheese Thread, NOW!
 
Crazzzzy i tells ye!

Doesn't a similar thing happen in China/Japan where instead of cheese they ride huge wooden logs down a steep hill, bringing good luck as they are to be used to build a temple or something?
 
I usually go to the cheese rolling at Brockworth, but didnt this year. The slope is terrible! its about 1 in 3, and hard enough to walk down let alone run down :eek: .
 
rynner said:
"This cheese is going straight in a cupboard when I get home. It's definitely not for eating."

Wot a plonker!

Cheese is for eating!



We demand a Cheese Thread, NOW!

This a couple of miles from where i live, you must have to be a complete nutter or p*ssed out your head to run down that hill - madness !!
 
MONDAY 29/05/2006 15:07:05

25 hurt in cheese-chasing race

A fearless teenager knocked himself out to win a race at the annual cheese-chasing competition.

Chris Anderson, 18, from Brockworth, was among dozens of people who tumbled after giant cheeses at Cooper`s Hill in Brockworth in Gloucestershire.

Afterwards, the dazed window fitter, said: "I just ran, fell and hit my head. I feel sore but it was definitely worth it."

Last year the teenager was stretchered off the course clutching the cheese after spraining his ankle.

The bizarre annual event attracts participants, spectators and media from across the world.

A crowd of around 3,000 people cheered, laughed and winced as the daredevil athletes pursued the Double Gloucester cheese 200 metres down the 1:2 gradient slope.

They slipped, somersaulted and tumbled their way to the bottom in spectacular fashion during five bone-crunching races.

Organisers said 25 people were injured during the annual competition, with two being taken to hospital for further assessments.

A total of 25 St John`s Ambulances and a team from Search And Rescue Assistants In Disasters (Saraid) were on hand to give medical assistance during the two-hour event.

The annual competition consists of five downhill races with the winner of each receiving a seven to eight pound circle of cheese.

Kiwi Dione Carter won the women`s event for the third year running.

Dione, a nanny from Auckland, New Zealand, was delighted to claim her special hat-trick.

The 26-year-old said: "I feel great, it`s fantastic to come here again and win and I suppose I`m just very lucky to win again because there`s no real technique to it".

Jason Crowther, from Pembrokeshire, West Wales, won the race for the second successive year.

The mud-covered but delighted 24-year-old said: "I have no real tactic I just ran and hoped for the best. I`m going to take my cheese to the pub and have a party".

Medical student Andrew Brewin, 20, from Reading, and Craig Fairley, 20, from Brockworth, were the other winners.

One of the injured people treated by St John`s Ambulance volunteers was a spectator who was struck by a runaway cheese as it careered into the crowd.

Jim Jones, the charity`s operations training manager, said 12 spectators and 13 competitors had been injured during the event.

"It was quite a reasonable year, not too bad at all," he said. "We usually average around 30-40 people who need treatment. The most serious injuries this year appear to be a dislocated finger and a possible fractured ankle."

Organiser Richard Jefferies said the wet conditions had actually helped keep the number of injuries down.

"It went very well indeed," he said. "The wet weather and the rain I think actually helped because it meant people were more likely to slip down the slope than go head over heels. It`s been a very successful year."

People from as far afield as America, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden travel to the hill every year to take part in the cheese roll. The unusual event has been celebrated for centuries and is thought to have its roots in a heathen festival to celebrate the return of spring.

www.utvlive.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=73796&pt=n
 
It's a bit like the Oxford revellers jumping off the bridge, but commoner. :lol:
 
Mrs N used to work on A&E at the John Radcliffe in Oxford, and they all used to look forward to the sight of muddy, wet students with fractures. The worrying thing was the number that were med students (who apparently are frequently convinced that they're immortal :roll: .)

I went to the cheese rolling a few years ago. It is bloody steep. But hey, that's Gloucestershire.
 
There's a commercial on TV in Canada at the moment involving a truck load of cheese wheels that fall out of a truck. Various sizes from less than a foot in diametre to a giant one about five feet across which rolls through a fence and into a house where it falls over in front of a fellow happily eating cheesy snacks (tortilla chips).

Looks like a coffee table.

Looks like a very nice coffee table. Very cool. Very chic.

If I were rich, I would investigate the aging time and conditions for various cheeses. Also, the cost of a five or six foot cheese wheel.

Wallace & Grommit, eat your hearts out!

Worst case scenario, you would have to fake the cheese wheel with wood and wax.

The commercial does eloquently make the point that cheeses can be very dangerous, depending on their momentum.

Another project should I win the Lotto: build a house out of plasticized American Processed Cheese bricks and see how long it lasts. Might be a solution to that giant surplus cheese mountain most prosperous countries seem to have. Semi-edible housing for the poor. That Scandanavian exploding flat bread would make good shingles for the roof if structurally strengthened to make it less brittle and water-proof.
 
The nanny state sticks its nose in again...

Cheese maker warned against supplying Gloucester cheese rolling

A cheesemaker has been told by police she may be liable for legal action if she supplies Gloucester's famous annual cheese rolling.
The traditional event involves revellers chasing a 7lb (3kg) wheel of Double Gloucester down Cooper's Hill.

Diana Smart, who makes the cheese for the event at her Churcham farm, said she had been warned by police about her responsibilities as organiser.
She said: "It made me feel pretty angry... there's not a lot we can do,"
Mrs Smart, 86, who has made cheese for the event for 25 years, said police had warned her she could be regarded as responsible if anybody was injured.

Cheese rolling at Cooper's Hill features competitors chasing a wheel of cheese down a steep hill, and dates back to at least the early 19th Century.
Some 15,000 people turned up for the last official cheese rolling event in 2010 but Cooper's Hill, near Brockworth, is only suitable for about 5,000.
Unofficial races organised by local enthusiasts have been held during the late spring bank holiday each year since.

A Gloucestershire Police spokesman said: "Advice has been given to all those who have participated in any planning of an unofficial cheese rolling event this coming bank holiday.
"This included the individuals who provide the cheese.

"We feel it is important that those who, by law, could be constituted as organisers of the event that they are aware of the responsibilities that come with it so that they can make an informed decision about their participation."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gl ... e-22639675

:roll:
 
rynner2 said:
The nanny state sticks its nose in again...

Cheese maker warned against supplying Gloucester cheese rolling

A cheesemaker has been told by police she may be liable for legal action if she supplies Gloucester's famous annual cheese rolling.
The traditional event involves revellers chasing a 7lb (3kg) wheel of Double Gloucester down Cooper's Hill.

...

Cheese rolling at Cooper's Hill features competitors chasing a wheel of cheese down a steep hill, and dates back to at least the early 19th Century.
Some 15,000 people turned up for the last official cheese rolling event in 2010 but Cooper's Hill, near Brockworth, is only suitable for about 5,000.
Unofficial races organised by local enthusiasts have been held during the late spring bank holiday each year since.

...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gl ... e-22639675

:roll:
I thought that that as well, until I read the figures, 15,000 thousand people on a hill than can only hold about 5,000. I can see why the police might be looking to limit any possible damage.

Maybe, the council, or an organising body of some sort, could set up qualifiers for the main event and make sure that all participants sign waivers before taking part. It's a pity, but the cheese rolling is obviously a victim of its own success.
 
A hill that can only hold about 5,000? I wonder how they work that out. It's not a seated stadium, y'know. There are lots of hills around here, goodness knows how many people they are allowed to hold, there are no signs. :)
 
Cochise said:
A hill that can only hold about 5,000? I wonder how they work that out. It's not a seated stadium, y'know. There are lots of hills around here, goodness knows how many people they are allowed to hold, there are no signs. :)
Expecting that most are spectators, that would still leave an awful lot more people running downhill, out of control. Breakages are apparently fairly common.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper's_Hill_Cheese-Rolling_and_Wake#Injuries

Traditionally, it's held at a place called, 'Cooper's Hill'.

Cooper's Hill from the top, looking down:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coopers_Hill.jpg
 
Ohhh, that looks like a drop :shock:
 
Maybe they could relocate and roll some Babybels down a few driveways?
 
Gloucestershire cheese-rolling takes place despite warning

Thousands of people have gathered in Gloucestershire for the traditional cheese-rolling races on Cooper's Hill.
The unofficial event has taken place despite warnings from police that organisers could be liable for legal action in the event of an incident.
An estimated 3,000 people turned out to watch thrill-seekers chasing a foam copy of a double Gloucester cheese.

The tradition, which takes place near Brockworth, Gloucester, dates back to at least the early 19th Century.
This year organisers replaced the cheese with the lightweight foam version in order to make the downhill race safer.
The event has taken place unofficially every year since 2009

Winner of the first race, Kenny Rackers, 27 - an estate agent from Colorado Springs in the US - said he came over especially for the event, a journey of some 4,000 miles (6,400km).
"I trained a long time for this and got hurt on the hill practising. I came three days early and I took a bad spill, but I came to win and that's what I did," he said.
"I came 3,000 or 4,000 miles just for this race. I put it on my bucket list and today it was to win and that's what I did."

The second race was won by Australian traveller Caleb Stalder, who is currently living in London.
"You can't control yourself whatsoever so it's a case of rolling down and seeing where you end up," said the 30-year-old, from Taree near Newcastle in New South Wales.
"I can't believe I got the cheese. It's awesome. I wasn't anywhere near being first down and the cheese took a bit of a turn and I caught it," he added.

The women's race and third men's race were won by competitors from Brockworth with the fourth race won by a man from Japan who had dressed as a ninja.

Some 15,000 people turned out for the last official event in 2009, sparking concern over numbers as Cooper's Hill is said to be suitable for about a third of that number.
Every year since then unofficial races have been organised during the late spring bank holiday by local enthusiasts.

Gloucestershire Police confirmed earlier it had given advice to those who took part in planning the unofficial event.
"We feel it is important that those who, by law, could be constituted as organisers of the event, that they are aware of the responsibilities that come with it so that they can make an informed decision about their participation," a force spokesperson said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gl ... e-22681708
 
I'm disappointed to learn they no longer use a real cheese. When did that stop?

'Foam replica race' doesn't have quite the same ring does it?
 
You do wonder why anyone takes the police seriously any more. They seem to have become an unpaid collector on behalf of the insurance companies. Also, like too many other public bodies, they are developing their own incomprehensible version of the English language.
 
Cheese rolling a nightmare for my IBS . two broken legs chasing after the dam thing and then a night stuck on the loo in agony after eating it!
 
The annual cheese race took place today

Matt Crolla, 28, from Manchester, won the first race. The women's race was won by Delaney Irving who was knocked unconscious as she chased the cheese.

Ms Irving, 19, from Vancouver Island in Canada, said the race was "good... now that I remember it".

"I remember running, then bumping my head, and then I woke up in the tent," she said. "I still don't really believe it, but it feels great.”

Another international winner was Ryoya Minami from Japan. Asked why he entered the race, he replied "because I love cheese".
1685378145164.png
 
cheese roll don't mind if I do i'm a tad peckish!!
 
Coopers Hill looks pretty tame in the photograph (above) but believe me. . . it certainly is not, it's more like jumping off a cliff and having no control of what takes place thereafter.
 
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