C'mon now. The formal name of the event is "Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake."
Cheese Rolling at Coopers Hill last year
From GloucestershireLive (now serving CheltenhamLive), May 22:
'We are advising those planning to attend or participate in the cheese rolling to consider the risks they might be putting themselves in'
It's one of the centrepieces of the Gloucestershire events calendar, but Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling has today been declared 'unsafe'. The event where people chase a wheel of cheese down Coopers Hill, near Brockworth, is due to take place on Bank Holiday Monday (May 26) from noon.
Tewkesbury Borough Safety Advisory Group (SAG) has again raised concerns over public safety, although it says it doesn't want to stop it taking place. A particular concern raised by members of the SAG is how emergency services would be able to respond if there was a major incident with multiple casualties....
....MUCH MORE
Along with thousands of other fans of "the world's most dangerous sport involving cheese," we suffered through the covid cancellations: "Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling cancelled for 2020 amid ..." and "Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling 2021 has been cancelled" until finally, in 2022, when the pent-up anticipation was almost unbearable we were once again able to experience "The beauty, the grace, the effortless athleticism...."
Contestants in the men's downhill race chase the cheese down Cooper's Hill in Gloucester, 2022.
And now warnings from the authorities should ambulances and paramedics be required for the crowd and/or competitors. Did they worry about access/egress for emergency services in 1826? Nay!
Finally, some in-depth reportage from a prior post:
Reluctant locals forced to participate in cheese rolling
UNWILLING Gloucestershire residents have been made to chase a
wheel of cheese down a hill by Londoners wanting to see authentic rural
life.
To the chagrin of the locals, they were forced to recreate their proud tradition of risking life and limb running down a near-vertical gradient in pursuit of cheese for the amusement of weekend visitors.
Tom Logan of Stroud said: “We don’t actually do stuff like this any more. I’m an IT consultant.
“If I need cheese I just go to Tesco. Even a really big cheese doesn’t excite me to the point where I’d be willing to break an ankle.
“But they said we had to, and they’re rich, and if they sold up property values round here would collapse, so we all chased a cheese down a hill and my solicitor’s fractured two vertebrae.”...MORE
And
because we left these announcements in a bleeping computer rather than
using the tried-and-true Post-It Note we apologize for the rush and
fully understand if you can't make it to the spectacle.
However, should you arrive too late for the contests, all is not lost.
Cooper's Hill is #6 on the SoGlos list "20 of the most romantic places to propose in Gloucestershire" while nearby Cranham Woods is one of the "14 of the best places to walk your dog in Gloucestershire."
