Cheese Rolling

While many sports have always gained wide recognition, the sport of cheese rolling  has now only gained significant attention. That sport of cheese rolling, specifically cheese rolling in Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake,  is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper’s Hill, at Brockworth near Gloucester, England. Participants race down the 200-yard-long hill chasing a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese. The tradition’s origins are uncertain, and it may be much older than its  earliest known written attestation in 1826, found in a message to the Gloucester town crier. It is believed to have started being held by the village’s people. Still, now people from several countries take part in the competition as well, with winners coming from all over the world.

The event is called Cheese-Rolling and Wake because of the cheese-rolling race itself and the festive gathering that follows. The game starts from the top of the hill; a 7–9-pound round of Double Gloucester cheese is sent rolling down the mountain, which is 200 yards (182.88 m) long and has a slope of around 50 percent. Competitors start racing down the hill after the cheese. The competitors try to catch the cheese, reaching high speeds that can knock over and injure a spectator. The first person to cross the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese, although the cheese itself is rarely caught, occurring about every 8 years. Both rugby players and volunteers see the rest, and nets are placed at the bottom to help control the crowd. Many races are held during the day, including events for both men and women. Participants in the downhill races must be adults. 

Two possible origins have been proposed for the ceremony. First, it may have evolved from a mandate for preserving grazing rights on the common. Second, there may be Pagan origins. It is thought that bundles of burning brushwood rolled down the hill to represent the New Year after Winter. Recently, it has been referenced several times in pop culture, most recently in 2021. The game Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a special item called Double Gloucester cheese that is only available from May 22 to May 31, when this event takes place. In 2023, The Longest Johns and El Pony Pisador released a joint album, “Pony,” which included “Of Glory” as the opening track, which prompted  the band, on their February 2025 Longest Pony tour, to bring  along a wheel of Double Gloucester. While the competition has had numerous winners over numerous years, it’s worth noting that Chris Anderson, a former light infantryman in the 1st Battalion, The Rifles of the British Army, has won more times than anyone else. 

Anderson first competed in the annual cheese rolling in 2004 at the age of 17 and came in second. He won the race in 2005 and went on to beat the record, held by Stephen Gyd, in 2018. In his 14 years of competition, he has suffered a broken ankle, a concussion, a torn calf muscle, and bruised kidneys. Despite taking home 23 Double Gloucester cheeses, he has stated that he only likes cheddar cheese. After winning three races in 2017, he auctioned one of his three cheeses for a charity in aid of the condition nonketotic hyperglycinemia, a rare autosomal recessive disorder of glycine metabolism. The competition had brought safety concerns, as the steepness and uneven surface of Cooper’s Hill usually resulted in several injuries each year. The women’s race winner in 2023, Canadian competitor Delaney Irving, finished unconscious, only learning of her victory while receiving medical assistance. Injuries are a common occurrence during the event. Many other competitors were also taken to the hospital by ambulance following the event in 2011. Given that most games had an average of 33 injuries per 100 contestants, a new 2-day ticketed event was proposed in response to concerns raised in previous years. However, it was received negatively due to the cost of tickets and was cancelled following the organizers receiving abuse. Despite the cancellation, the event continued unofficially, with the assistance of the Council Safety Advisory Group. Both in 2020 and 2021, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned on June 5 2022, showing the locals’ love for the competition, as it is an integral part of the town’s history. (SoGlos.com)