Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake facts for kids
The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is a super fun event held every year. It takes place on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper's Hill near Gloucester in England. People race down a very steep hill, chasing a big round of Double Gloucester cheese.
This event used to be just for people living in the nearby village of Brockworth. But now, people from all over the world come to join in! It's become so famous that winners have come from places like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Nepal.
The cheese-rolling event came back on Sunday, June 5, 2022. It had been cancelled for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 event was extra special. It was part of a four-day holiday weekend celebrating Elizabeth II's 70 years as Queen.
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How the Cheese Roll Works
From the very top of Cooper's Hill, a round of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled down. This cheese usually weighs about 7 to 9 pounds (around 3-4 kg). The hill is about 200 yards (180 meters) long.
After the cheese starts rolling, competitors begin to race down the hill. The first person to cross the finish line at the bottom wins the cheese! It's very hard to catch the cheese because it gets a one-second head start. It can also roll super fast, up to 70 miles per hour (112 km/h)! That's fast enough to knock someone over.
Several races happen throughout the day. There are separate races for men and women. In 2013, they used a foam cheese replica for safety. But don't worry, the winners still got real cheese as their prize!
The Cheese Rollers pub is a local place about 3 miles (5 km) from Cooper's Hill. It is named after this famous event.
History of Cheese Rolling
This special event used to happen every Whit Monday. Later, it moved to the Spring Bank Holiday. The first time anyone wrote about cheese rolling was in 1826. Even then, people knew it was a very old tradition. Some believe it's been going on for at least six hundred years!
There are a couple of ideas about how the event started.
- One idea is that it helped people keep their rights to let animals graze on the hill.
- Another idea is that it came from pagan traditions. People might have rolled burning bundles of wood down the hill. This could have shown the start of a new year after winter.
Also, the person in charge, called the Master of Ceremonies, throws buns, biscuits, and sweets from the top of the hill. This is thought to be a way to encourage a good harvest.
In 1993, fifteen people got hurt chasing the cheeses down the steep hill. Because of safety worries, the event was cancelled in 2009. However, local people kept the tradition alive. They rolled a smaller cheese to make sure the event continued.
Even when the event was not officially managed, people still showed up. In 2011, about 500 people came to hold their own races. No big injuries were reported that year. As one former winner said, "No-one's going to stop us doing it."
The cheese-rolling event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it happily returned in June 2022!
The Cheese Used
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The cheese used today is a 7 to 9 pound (around 3-4 kg) Double Gloucester. This is a hard cheese that is traditionally round. For the race, a wooden casing protects the cheese's sides. Ribbons are also tied around it at the start.
In the past, people living in the area would provide the cheeses. Now, money is collected to buy the cheeses and sweets. The money also helps provide prizes for the winners.
Since 1988, a local cheesemaker named Diana Smart and her son Rod have supplied the cheese. Diana Smart has now retired. In 2013, there were some safety concerns about using a real cheese. So, for some races, they used a lightweight foam cheese instead. But winners still received a real cheese as their prize!
Injuries at the Event
Because Cooper's Hill is so steep and bumpy, people often get hurt each year. A first aid team from St John Ambulance is always ready at the bottom of the hill.
Volunteers from local rugby clubs and Young Farmers also help. They act as 'catchers' for anyone who falls. They also help carry anyone who needs first aid to the bottom. Several ambulance vehicles are always at the event. This is because many people often need to go to the hospital.
One person who took part in the race described it like this: "twenty young men chasing a cheese off a cliff and tumbling 200 yards to the bottom, where they are scraped up by paramedics and packed off to hospital." Even though it sounds wild, it shows how exciting and challenging the race is!
The cheese rolling event is very well known. News and TV shows often talk about the injuries that happen each year. It has been shown on BBC TV and global sports shows like Gillette World Sport.
Winners of the Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling & Wake
| Year | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 (Women's race) |
Race 4 | Race 5 (from 2006) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Steve Gyde | Steve Gyde | ? | Steven Brain | Steven Brain | |
| 1987 | Steven Brain | Steve Gyde | ? | Steven Brain | — | |
| 1988 | Steve Gyde | Steve Gyde | ? | Steven Brain | — | |
| 1989 | Viktor Wallberg | Loke Byström | Anton Wallberg | Alex Svensson | ||
| 1990 | Steven Brain | Steve Gyde | Jacqueline McGinn | Steven Brain | — | |
| 1991 | Steve Gyde | Steve Gyde | ? | Steve Gyde | — | |
| 1994 | Craig Carter | Kevin Zinter | ? | Steve Gyde | — | |
| 1995 | Steven Brain | Darren Yates | ? | Carl Farewell | — | |
| 1996 | Travis Moulton | Tim Drnec | ? | Chris Adams | ||
| 1997 | Steven Brain | Steven Brain | Tina Rimmer | Craig Carter | — | |
| 1998 | Peter Astman | — | Amelia Hardwick | — | — | 2 races stopped for safety reasons. |
| 1999 | Steven Brain | Steven Brain | Helen Thorpe | Steven Brain | — | |
| 2000 | Steven Brain | Steven Brain | Kirsty Shepherd | Craig Brown | — | |
| 2001 | Pip Harrison | Dane Taylor | — | — | — | Event cancelled due to foot-and-mouth disease. A single cheese was still rolled to keep the tradition. |
| 2002 | Craig Brown | Steven Brain | Kirsty Shepherd | Steven Brain | — | Event moved to a Tuesday due to Queen's Jubilee celebrations. |
| 2003 | — | — | — | — | — | Event cancelled. A single cheese was rolled a few days later to keep tradition. |
| 2004 |  Padam Shreer |
 Marc Ellis |
Dionne Carter |
Aaron Walden | — | Race 1 winner was a soldier from Nepal. Race 2 winner was a former New Zealand rugby player. |
| 2005 | Jason Crowther | Chris Anderson | Dionne Carter |
Aaron Walden | — | |
| 2006 | Jason Crowther | Craig Fairley | Dionne Carter |
Chris Anderson | Andrew Brewin | A fifth race was added. |
| 2007 | Jason Crowther | Aaron Walden | Jemima Bullock |
Alan Morris | Chris Anderson | |
| 2008 | Chris Anderson | Peter Mackenzie-Shaw | Flo Early | Craig Fairley | Wade Sansom | |
| 2009 | Chris Anderson | Scott Bevan | Michelle Kokiri-Gisbon | Chris Anderson | Josh Geitz | |
| 2010 | Chris Anderson | Craig Fairley | Tanya Silverman | Chris Anderson | — | |
| 2011 | Chris Anderson | Chris Anderson | Jo Guest | Chris Anderson | — | |
| 2012 | Chris Anderson | Chris Anderson | Lucy Townsend | Craig Fairley | — | |
| 2013 |  Kenny Rackers |
 Keleb Stalder |
Lucy Townsend | Ryan Fairley |  Tomoaki Tanaka |
|
| 2014 | Joshua Shepherd | Ryan Fairley | Lucy Townsend | Sheldon Ronald | — | |
| 2015 | Chris Anderson | Ryan Fairley | Keavy Morgan | Chris Anderson | — | |
| 2016 | Chris Anderson | Chris Anderson | Flo Early | Ryan Fairley | — | |
| 2017 | Chris Anderson | Chris Anderson | Keavy Morgan | Chris Anderson | Roni Aloe | |
| 2018 | Chris Anderson | Christopher Parperis | Flo Early | Chris Anderson | — | Chris Anderson set a new record of 22 race wins! |
| 2019 | Max McDougall | Ryan Fairley | Flo Early |  Mark Kitt |
Trent Unsworth | Flo Early set a new record of 4 wins in the ladies' race. |
| 2020 Event Cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic). Cheese still rolled to keep tradition. | ||||||
| 2021 Event Cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic) due to restrictions. | ||||||
| 2022 | Chris Anderson | Jamie Evans | Abby Lampe |
 Robbe Gabriels (joint winner) |
 Amr El Shourbagy (joint winner) |
|
Multiple Winners
Men's Race
- Chris Anderson has won 23 times!
- Steve Gyde has won 21 times.
- Steven Brain has won 18 times.
- Izzy (Islwyn) John has won 13 times.
- Ryan Fairley has won 5 times.
- Hugh Atkinson has won 5 times.
- Aaron Walden has won 3 times.
- Jason Crowther has won 3 times.
- Craig Fairley has won 4 times.
- Craig Carter has won 2 times.
- Craig Brown has won 2 times.
Ladies' Race
- Flo Early has won 4 times (2008, 2016, 2018, 2019).
- Rosemary Cooke has won 3 times (1953, 1955, 1956).
- Amanda Turner has won 3 times (1981, 1982, 1983).
- Dionne Carter has won 3 times (2004, 2005, 2006).
- Lucy Townsend has won 3 times (2012, 2013, 2014).
- Kirsty Shepherd has won 2 times (2000, 2002).
- Keavy Morgan has won 2 times (2015, 2017).
Similar Events
There's also an annual cheese-rolling event in Chester that started around 2002. This event helps promote the town's food festival. Unlike Cooper's Hill, the Chester event happens on a flat obstacle course.
Cheese-rolling in Popular Culture
The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling event has appeared in many books, games, and TV shows!
- 1997: It's in the book Mason and Dixon by Thomas Pynchon. A character almost gets hit by a rolling cheese!
- 2005: A children's computer game called "Cheeseroller" on Neopets is all about rolling different cheeses down a hill.
- 2007: The TV show ER featured cheese rolling in an episode.
- 2008: The UK TV show Rory & Paddy's Great British Adventure called it "the grandaddy of weird sports."
- 2011: Footage from the event was used in the TV series Off the Air.
- 2014: The news quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me talked about cheese-rolling with skier Mikaela Shiffrin.
- 2018: The BBC One show The Great Cheese Chase was all about this contest.
- 2019: A short film called Let's Roll was made about a teenage girl trying to win the cheese roll.
- 2019: Royal Mail made special stamps called UK Weird and Wonderful Customs. Cheese-Rolling at Cooper's Hill was one of the customs featured!
- 2020: Netflix released a documentary called We are the Champions. It covers six strange events, and the first episode is about Cheese-Rolling. It follows Florence Early as she tries to win the ladies' race for the fourth time.
- 2020: The Channel 4 show Gogglebox showed the Netflix documentary about Florence Early's amazing win.
See also
In Spanish: Festival del queso rodante para niños
