Cheese Rolling with our Ambassador of Chaos
The Great Cheese chase of 2018
We all love Cheese, right? Who doesn’t! But the good people of Gloucestershire take their love of all things dairy to the next level. Once a year they throw themselves down the steepest hill you can imagine after a rolling wheel of cheese, all in the name of glory. We thought we’d be mad not to join them and so we packed up our ambassador of chaos, Dan Collins, with his best white suit to go and raise some money for charity and catch a giant cheese and so the great cheese chase of 2018 begun.
What is Cheese Rolling all about?
Cooper’s Hill cheese rolling is a long dating British tradition, showcasing our eccentricity and of course love of cheese. The event takes place on the spring bank holiday Monday at Cooper’s Hill near Gloucester. The entrants line up at the top of the hill and get ready to chase the cheese. The cheese wheel, is a delicious double Gloucester that weighs 9 pounds, it sets off just before the chasers and reaches over 75 mph. The winner is the first person across the line at the bottom of the hill. Sounds simple, but the hill is a monster and injuries are frequent. The event attracts participants and huge crowds from around the world and videos have been “viral” for years of people tumbling down the hill dramatically (helping spread the fame of the cheese roll).
When did Cheese Rolling start?
The origins of cheese chasing are said to date back hundreds of years, thought to have originated either from pagan rituals welcoming the start of summer and the end of winter, or something to do with grazing, land rights. The first documented proof of the Cooper’s Hill Cheese roll was all the way back in 1826, when it was noted in a message to the town crier. The event has had problems with Police and Health and Safety concerns in the last few years, with official management backing of from the event and making it a weird free style event, that may or may not take place each year. But the people of Cooper’s Hill do love their cheese and they are a brave lot, so the cheese will go on and nothing will stop them throwing themselves down a hill if they want to.
What did our ambassador make of it all
Dan arrived at the site and dressed in his best crisp white suit, hat and Junglist Network t-shirt (of course) he set off on the long walk to Cooper’s Hill. Dan is an amazing skater, sponsored by ourselves and loco skates and he seemed like the perfect fit for the event. He had decided to raise money for a charity close to his heart, “headway” a UK charity that helps people who have suffered head trauma. They helped Dan’s brother when he was injured in an accident years earlier and he was keen to raise as much as possible in his bid for the cheese.
We sent along an intrepid film to document Dan’s day of cheese chasing, they chatted to some fellow cheesers and filmed all the flying bodies and mayhem the day produced. You can see Dan’s video on our youtube channel and enjoy his heroic run down this legendary hill.
Did he Win?
In the world of Cheese rolling there are no losers! only joking of course there are, but Dan was not one of them. He didn’t quite win his race, but did very admirably. He also raised £275 for charity, so we hope you agree, he is a winner after all, even though he doesn’t have the cheese to prove it. He got off to a good start, but them went for a bit of a back hand scramble which slowed him down a little. But after the half way mark and without any broken limbs, he picked up the pace and went into a suicide run, bringing him over the finish line in the front group.
We will be releasing lots of clips of the cheese roll on our youtube and facebook channels, so make sure you check back for updates. Dan will return and this time the Cheese will be his. We will be sending Dan to other weird and eccentric events showcasing the weird and wonderful, because, why not?
Want to come and join us next year, the event is open to all, so please get in touch if you fancy coming and joining our quest for cheese in 2019.
