Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling

If you want to see people risking life and limb chasing cheese, head for Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, where competitors battle it out in pursuit of an eight-pound Double Gloucester.

It's not easy to convince someone how dangerous cheese rolling can be, but this event has proved so dangerous in recent years that the police have occasionally resorted to banning it. In 1997 one man who stood up while trying to dodge the cheese was hit on the head and tumbled some 100 feet, ending the day in hospital. The winner of the actual race, postman Craig Carter, suffered a broken arm. Despite the injury he seemed to be content. He had broken the other arm when he won three years before...

St John Ambulance operations training manager Jim Jones said that 12 spectators and 13 competitors had been injured during the 2006 event. "It was quite a reasonable year, not too bad at all," he said. "We usually average around 30-40 people who need treatment."

So, if you're at all intrigued by the idea of a celebration of cheese, a broken arm or the sight of the British behaving as peculiarly as their mad cows, you know where to go...

Related Information

Website: Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling Website