Casting the Bar Cheese Rolling

Taking place every Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper’s Hill, Brockworth in Gloucestershire, cheese rolling appears to date back to medieval times, although there is little evidence to substantiate this claim (the event was first referred to in the early nineteenth century). Cheeses – Double Gloucester, of course – are placed in small round wooden cases and rolled down a hill, to be chased by competitors. Those who win can keep the cheeses they catch. For reasons of safety, the rolling was forbidden by the local council in 1998, but the ban was defied by early morning cheeserollers and the event was re-established the following year.