Of all your classic bank holiday activities – such as rainy BBQs or a spot of DIY – cheese rolling probably doesn’t quite make the list.
Well, that’s exactly what thrill-seekers have indulged in at the annual cheese rolling competition at Cooper’s Hill in Brockworth, Gloucestershire.
The formula of the event is simple: swarms of people chase a wheel of cheese 200 yards down a hill. The official event was cancelled in 2010 due to health and safety fears after more than 15,000 people turned up to watch the 2009 competition. Since then it has been held unofficially, with the police keeping a watchful eye.
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.
And the photographs from the event are as delightfully madcap as you would expect from a cheese rolling competition.
It’s hardly surprising that the official event was cancelled over health and safety concerns – some of the competitors really look like they take some nasty tumbles.
Just to add to the utter randomness of the event, here’s one guy tumbling down the hill with a blow-up dinosaur. Sure.
As in all competitions, there are winners and there are losers. This year 29-year-old Chris Anderson won all three men’s downhill races, and has taken home a total of 20 Double Gloucester cheeses over the past 13 years.
The women’s race was won by 18-year-old Keavy Morgan, from Brockworth, who has now had two victories after first winning in 2015.
That certainly is going to great lengths for a bit of cheese.
