A Wheely Old Tradition

Welcome to Red Herrings!

This week, Joccoaa tells us about an ancient British tradition...

Hosted by: Brittany Warren & Joccoaa Gray
 
Sound Engineer & Co-host: Christopher Brown
 
Edited by: Joccoaa Gray

If you would like to get in touch, please contact us at redherringspod@gmail.com.

Sources:

Video of the rolling - https://youtu.be/cvuktushEhY?si=8C8ZKhzERUggzhtc

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to Red Herrings. I'm Jacoa, Master's student in law and human rights, host of True Crime Club Newcastle, and creator of True Crime Forum Newcastle.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hi, I'm Brittany. I have two degrees in history and 15 years experience in genealogy. We're the red herrings.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Well, well, well. What do we have here? Two red herrings and the catch of the day. Don't forget about me.

SPEAKER_04 0:26

Hi, Chris. We're the red herrings.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

And Chris.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Hello. Hello. Hello. I've got a question for you both to kick us off. Go for it. What's your favorite cheese?

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Oh, I'm so glad you asked. Provolone is good. It's hard to find. Provolone is hard to find in this country.

SPEAKER_04 0:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Um, I do like a good pepperjack, right? Swiss brie is fantastic. Depends what you're eating, besides it.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

I love all of those, but I just don't think you can be a nice really mature vintage cheddar. Oh, I fucking love it.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Yeah, it's a bit much.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

Especially when you get like the little crystals in it. Oh.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

No. So I think we may be closer to Chris's favourite this week. Mine is goat's cheese.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

I I love that. A good feta is nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

Get some new fingers.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

That's a best bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

So have you ever tried Gloucester cheese? You have. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Have I not? I'm asking you. I don't know if I have. Is that the place to do it?

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Cooper Gloucester, no? Oh. Yes. I've had that.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Do you know what we're talking about today?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Is that where you roll the wheel of cheese down the hill? Oh, did I guess it?

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Spoilers. I'm sorry, you had that. My next question was I take it you've never heard of the annual Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wick.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Oh, I have because we watched it live last year. Did you? It was hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

That's actually such a shame because I have a video of last year's that I was going to show you. Show it anyway. We will I will show you any because I'm going to get you to describe what you're seeing as you're watching.

SPEAKER_04 2:07

I'm excited.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

So I'm sorry to tell you, but if you don't roll cheese down the hill, you're a little bit out of touch because all the kids are doing this these days in Gloucester. Really?

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Really? And we're talking like little baby bells.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

We aren't. We do get to it later, but I can tell you now, these cheeses are about nine pounds in weight.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Pretty heavy.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

That's pretty hefty.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

According to Wikipedia, the earliest known recording of the annual Gloucester cheese race was in 1826. I haven't found that specifically, but I did find a newspaper article from the 30th of May 1863 from the Gloucester Journal stating that the ancient tradition was revived that Monday. So don't worry, this'll all start making sense soon. So the paper spoke of an aged man who used to race in his younger years. He told the newspaper that it was the best cheese race he'd seen in 40 years. Which, given that this is being reported in 1863, would suggest the 1826 date may be about right.

SPEAKER_04 3:15

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Basically, you have a very steep hill somewhere in the middle of Gloucester, surrounded by like woods and fields, and at the top you all gather round and push off a wheel of cheese, and everyone runs after it down the hill. Are we imagining this?

SPEAKER_03 3:30

Well, you guys we are imagining this.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Okay, so then I've put, don't worry, soon I will be providing imagination aids, but you already have it in your mind.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

It's been a while.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

I can erase it from my brain. Please do. It also reported that young ladies used to gallop for a reward for a we We can take the wine back. It is also reported that young ladies used to gallop for a reward of a female's unmentionables, but today galloped for a crinoline.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Oh. Do you know what this is? Is this like I'm gonna be so wrong? It has something to do with clothing, right? Uh huh. You're there, you're there. Is it like an outer skirt? Yeah. Yeah, it's one of the skirts?

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Yeah, so it's like the okay, so here you can see what one is. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Ah, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

Oh, okay. So it's like the bustle bit.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Yeah, it's like the rigid bit underneath the skirt that keeps keeps it poofed up. Nice. Yeah. Love the poof.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

She got one for my wedding dress.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Do you need one?

unknown 4:30

No.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Do you have one?

unknown 4:32

No.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Sounded like you're like, I can try my visual of what it might be.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Ah, yes. Well, I can't say anything now.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

So it looks like these prizes are clothing garments, as Brittany so eloquently described. You can see here a crinoline is a sort of interior of a Victorian dress that would make the above layer poof out, so we can only imagine what the unmentionab. It also mentioned that some of the local gentry contributed to the prizes very liberally to keep the tradition alive. I bet they did. I also found another brief mention in the Cheltenham Journal and Gloucestershire Fashionable Weekly for the same year of the cheese race and dancing, where they reported that the sport consisted of a race for a live pig.

SPEAKER_03 5:16

I love that. I'd enter that.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

More ham for you, Chris.

SPEAKER_03 5:20

I love ham.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

I found another mention of the annual cheese race in the Manchester Evening News in 1907, another in 1929, and another in 1937 from the Louth and North Lincolnshire advertiser who describes the cheese rolling festival as an ancient custom. The article actually explains that the tradition is said to have its origins from the pagan days of sun worship. The rounded cheese wheel is supposed to represent the sun's shape. Also, in 1937, we have a report from the Halifax Evening News that the cheese rolling event gives prizes of real cheese to the cheese victors. So I suppose the prizes by this point have evolved a little bit. Or devolved from crinolines.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

I think they get to keep the cheese still. Do they get to eat it? It's their own.

SPEAKER_03 6:18

Do you think they get their names engraved on it and then they roll it down? So I was hoping maybe.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

In 1938, the Gloucester Echo covers the annual cheese race report, and this time there were several casualties. It details a narrow miss by a spectator who couldn't get out of the way of the cheese in time as it misses him by mere inches. There were nurses at the bottom of the hill who dealt with the injuries, including a broken collarbone. In 1939, the Western Daily Press reported that the local MP took part in the event. That day they had six cheeses roll down the hill. One roll was for women competitors only. The newspaper reported that women in trousers suffered a distinct disadvantage.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

Really? That's interesting.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

I think it'll just teach them right for being men.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Yeah, true. And I guess the skirts could like be used as a parachute.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Makes sense. The annual race of 1950 was recorded by the Gloucester Citizen. So the details I have of the event, at least from that year, are from here, and it paints quite a picture. So I can give you some proper mental imagery now. Don't worry, the imagination aids improve later, so bear with me. Originally it seems that everyone participating in the race would gather at the top of the hill where there would be a may pole erected as the starting point. Do we know what a maypole is? It's the pole with ribbons. Is that what it okay? I thought that was well no, I I guess I forgot to Google it. But I that is what I was imagining.

SPEAKER_03 7:48

You live in rural England of dancing around maypoles and like burning Americans. You should know these things.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Wow. A little bit before my time, Chris. You should just wait for my case now. That's it. Oh now here are a few images of this hill in question. So you can hopefully get an understanding of how steep it really is. So we're at the top of the hill there, and we can see from the top of the hill it goes down, but we can see a really long way off in the distance.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

I remember what was it last year? When is this? Like during the summer? It's usually around May time. Oh, that makes sense. The May pole. I remember when we watched it last year, for some reason we were doing something. So we only watched like bits and pieces. And there was one part where they were like interviewing people at the top, right? Because there's a chance where like just random people can go up and like wait in line. And it wasn't until you saw them like leaning against the hill that you were like, okay, I understand how steep it is. So that that got me. I was like, I'm good. I'm happy to watch. I do not need to participate in them.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

I saw some places saying it was a two to one gradient, but I didn't put that in because I don't know what it means. I don't know what that means. Christopher?

SPEAKER_03 8:57

It means well, I think for every two meters you go along, you go a meter down, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Oh, is that it? Is that what it is?

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Or it could be every meter you go along, you go two meters down, but that seems very steep.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

That would be a one to two.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

I have no idea. Thanks for that.

SPEAKER_03 9:14

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

So this photo, yeah, this gives it an idea. I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

That's pretty steep.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

You could lean on that hill and still be pretty vertical. Sure.

SPEAKER_04 9:23

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Yeah, and here's the one from the bottom looking up. That's insane.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

And it was quite muddy though, so I think you'd bounce quite well. Or it would cushion you.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Oh, they they bounced. Are you gonna show us videos? I so am, I can't wait. Love it. So on this day in 1950, a hush fell before the crowd as the event began. Master of ceremonies, Mr. Tom Wind officiated for his twelfth year in a row. Lol's for the surname, yeah. The newspaper reports that Mr. Wind was dressed in a high silk hat with tricoloured band, a white smock, and a buttonhole nearly large enough for a bride's bouquet. Quite the sight. He gave the order of one, two, three, and on four the cheese was rolled. The cheese shot like an arrow down the short, steep hill, jumping the hedge and coming to a stop on a garden path. It was first caught up with by T. Brewster from Whitcomb. Then a second cheese was released, eventually caught up with by H. Ireland. The third cheese was chased by four women competitors. This cheese was released by the chairman of the parish council. And according to the newspaper, after a great struggle, it was finally caught by a Miss E. Light of Sheepcombe. A fourth and final cheese was released. This one seemed very spirited. It rolled down the hill, jumped the gate, and attacked a coal shed. Love it. Exact words from the newspaper. This cheese was retrieved by the final cheese victor of the day, Bernard Morgan.

SPEAKER_03 10:55

Good old Bernard.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Mm-hmm. So that day saw one casualty. It seemed there was a leaf-strewn patch where many fell. Mr. Holder had to be treated by the St. John Ambulance for concussion and a fractured hand. In 1953, we have reports of over 30 women participating in the race from the Maidstone Telegraph. And in 1964, the Tunbridge Press reported a tangle of arms and legs after the event, and the cheese was torn in half. So there wasn't any winners that year.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

The cheese was torn in half.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Apparently so.

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Oh my god. That's a lot of that's quite a struggle.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yes. By the 80s, the sport had started to spread throughout the country. I saw reports in Peterborough in Northamptonshire, as well as the small village of Stilton in Lincolnshire, where in 1992 18 teams took part in the cheese rolling races, according to the Peterborough advisor. This is getting to be a big event. It is.

SPEAKER_03 11:55

It is, yeah. I'd have thought Stilton would be quite quite squidgy though. So would that not like deform as it rolled down the hill, or would they was that not a an issue?

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Stilton the village. Yeah, the people were from Stilton.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

But presumably they rolled Stilton, no? We'll look into that and get back to you next week. Will we?

SPEAKER_01 12:12

See, I didn't want to say that.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

I'm not. The amount of times we say, we'll get back to you next week, and we just never do. I'm like, we need to start writing down these things. Yeah. Yeah, we can say, but I'm gonna veto that one.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yeah, never mind. So here we have a photo from the 1992 Gloucester race. You can see the very proud victors there holding up their cheese. Bare-chested victors.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

I was gonna say, why are they barechested? Were they barechested when they were running after the cheese, or do they remove their shirts afterwards?

SPEAKER_00 12:41

Is that that thing where men get excited and just take off their clothes? I think this might be this might be what it is. Do you get that, Chris?

SPEAKER_03 12:47

Often at meetup, yeah. It's a really good case.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

There were more than 1,000 spectators watching the race after the nine-pound Gloucester cheeses. Miss Royals told the newspaper that she had spotted her ex-boyfriend on the hill about to do the race, so she thought she'd go for it.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

Good for her.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

So it sounds like even just the spectators were just throwing themselves down this hill this day. The Gloucestershire Echo on that day in 1992 reported a fractured thigh bone, several concussions, and a few sprained ankles.

SPEAKER_03 13:17

I really want to ask, I'm I I don't know whether you might be getting to this. Has there ever been a death?

SPEAKER_00 13:22

There has not been death.

SPEAKER_03 13:23

Really? That surprises me.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Yeah. I genuinely thought that they're just Well that they reported. Well, yeah, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

So many broken bones. Jeez. Doctor Yeah. Well sorry. Dr. Massood Ali Khan, who tended the casualties with members of the St. John Ambulance, told the paper it was a small and acceptable number of injuries. Just to go through that again, that was a fractured thigh bone, several concussions, and a few sprained ankles. I guess in the grand scheme of th things.

SPEAKER_03 13:57

I mean you can it's not like you can stop them, is it?

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Or is it?

SPEAKER_03 14:00

Or can you?

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Oh. The headline of the Scarborough Evening News in 1996 read Spectators hurt in cheese rolling contest. You can see the picture here. This one. Oh. See the picture here of a man being tended to by St. John Ambulance after a freak accident caused several injuries throughout the crowd at the cheese rolling event. That's 1992.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Oh well kitted out. It's a good job they've got helmets on.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

That's mountain rescue.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

I was gonna say it reminds me of, I don't know if you saw the Olympics last month. Um Lindsay. I'm shaking my head. No. That's alright. Lindsay Vaughan, US alpine skier. Vince Vaughan's daughter. What?

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Vince Vaughan? I don't know who that is. Vince Vaughan? Is that a UK? He's an actor? I don't think so. Is he British? No, he's American, right?

SPEAKER_03 14:43

I've got no idea.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

You don't know who he Oh god, that joke went down like a leveloon. Sorry guys.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Ah, that was very funny.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

The listeners are falling.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Yes. Sorry. Oh, it's alright. Lindsay Vaughan. Lindsay Vaughn. She took a really bad fall going down. It was like her last Olympics, like the last one. Is that a spine skiing?

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Um, oh yeah, she had to be helicoptered off the mountain, and it was so bad that they didn't even like she was on the stretcher. They didn't even bring her into the helicopter. They just like with the paramedic guy, and she was on the board and they just like flew her, like they couldn't even bring her into the helicopter. So anyway, I just remembered.

SPEAKER_03 15:16

It's a helicopter and then a wire and then the stretcher flying away.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

So have you seen the viral video of the lady on the stretcher that like spinning. Oh yeah. It's from years ago, but it's like the same situation, but like something happens and she gets caught in like a wind vortex and she's going around her bed.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

I'm pretty sure she's sued for like millions of pounds or something.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Yeah, I mean, would you not? Nowadays, if I saw that, I'd be like, that's AI.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

Yeah. Every single thing I see on the internet. Oh, that's AI. It's AI.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

Are we sure this cheese rolling isn't AI?

SPEAKER_00 15:48

It's AI from 1826. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:51

Certainly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

So would you would you like to see a video of the event?

SPEAKER_03 15:55

I would love to. Oh, I love the old police uniforms. Jacques just showed us a picture of um. They're fancy little hands. Yeah, I like the hats.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Reminds me of myself skiing.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

So that gives us an idea. Crazy. Yeah. Describe what you've just seen.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Men throwing themselves down. And some women. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Was that a child going down?

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Is there a children's channel?

SPEAKER_03 16:35

Off you get a day.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Do they not? I wonder. I know we watched it last year. Do they like make it shorter just a little bit? Or do they do the full thing? Well, for the kids, I have no idea.

SPEAKER_03 16:44

I think they started like halfway up the hill. Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

I didn't think kids did it at all. So yeah. Must be adjusted.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

Yeah, it was like a baby one.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Yeah, baby one, okay. That's just yeah. I'm happy to watch. I don't need to be involved.

SPEAKER_03 16:56

Some part of me. I'm not sure. Maybe a little s like centimorgan of masculine energy really wants to go and do it.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

You want me to take you next year for your birthday?

SPEAKER_03 17:06

It's very tempting, isn't it? Come on. Bucket list item.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Ah, yeah, bucket list, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

I think bucket list to watch for me.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

I'll watch you just see I'm I'm so affected by cringe, I don't think I could even watch it.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

I know what you mean. What if this is the year that someone dies?

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Well, that too, yeah. I just think it like a car crash. You like can't look away. That's what I'm just gonna be standing there, like, oh my god, don't kill yourself. But also win the cheese and bring it home.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

I first watched that video when I was doing my research on the train and I was howling. It was so echoing.

SPEAKER_03 17:41

A really bad one when we watched it. I really want to find it on TikTok and they start the race so bad for like 30 minutes or something. He's like three or four meters off the ground. It's insane.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

So I'm gonna put a link to that video on the show notes. So if you're listening to this on whatever platform, hopefully, if you go into the show notes, you can find a clickable link to this will take you to YouTube. In 1997, seven spectators and eleven competitors were injured in the contest. One man suffered a serious head injury as he tried to dodge the eight-pound rolling cheese. Did he get hit in the head with the rolling cheese? Maybe.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

Or did he did he just dodge it and like hit into someone else? Maybe. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

No idea. Unfortunately, the winners of the two cheeses that day later found out that their cheese had been stolen. Which is really the worst tragedy of all, if you ask me. Oh, so sad. Don't tell me that when I'm drinking. So upsetting. I must spit it out. Alas, a year after, in the Daily Express 1998, there was uproar as the Cooper's Hill cheese rolling and wake was cancelled. The article states that allegedly the event was called off due to EC health regulations, and people were angry as, as they put it, Brussels bureaucrats were to blame for these silly health regulations. I couldn't actually work out whether this article was satire, and I really fear not, but I could be wrong. So it went on to say, local hardys have been doing this for 200 years without serious incident, and no one has ever found any good reason for stopping it until now. And one commenter has suggested it is a diversionary tactic by the police to conceal the fact that there is a much greater danger when visiting Gloucestershire of being abducted by a murderer such as Frederick West. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

I love it. Which newspaper was the best?

SPEAKER_01 19:37

Daily Express.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

Ah, well, it's basically the Sunday sport, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 19:40

It did go on to surmise that in fact the contest had been called off because the usual local rescue had refused to participate in Aid Again after drunk competitors ruined their kit the previous year, finishing off with You can't always blame the EC for ruining our traditional ways of life, it seems. So yeah, that was a haphazard but quite wonderful article.

SPEAKER_03 20:03

So it was actually cancelled?

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 20:06

Oh, interesting. Because I thought the only years it had been cancelled was COVID.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

No.

SPEAKER_03 20:10

It wasn't cancelled during COVID. Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

I don't know if it was cancelled during COVID. No, I think it was. I think it wasn't the only.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

They like no one did it, but they rolled a wheel of cheese ceremonially.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

So like keep the tradition going. Yeah. I see. So this cancellation led to opinion pieces such as this from the Bry House Echo in May 1998, which read, Well, I can't help thinking that whatever these cheese chuckers do in their own time is up to them. And for those stupid enough to endanger themselves, well, that's just hard cheese. Admittedly, people get injured. There are sprains and dislocations, and the occasional broken arm or leg, but no one has ever been killed or suffered any lasting injury or disability. Surely this is part of our English heritage, and we should all lobby our MPs instantly for an immediate reinstatement of the annual and historical event. Goes on to say, you could call off the annual boat race on the grounds that the university students might sink. You could stop big burly scotsmen from tossing the caber in case they pull a muscle in their sporrens. It's hardly motor racing or boxing, is it? So this goes back a little bit to our bodily autonomy episode, Chris, that we did with uh you and do her. This is the consent for grievous bodily harm. So, how far should the government go, or should local councils go, in stopping people from potentially giving themselves really serious injury through?

SPEAKER_03 21:33

It's not consent for grievous bodily harm because the I mean you're not attempting to harm yourself, are you?

SPEAKER_01 21:39

No, it's not. I was just referring us back. But how how far should we take a paternalistic view when it comes to is it just nanny state to stop people? Or is this paternal?

SPEAKER_03 21:51

That's a very long word for this con this uh podcast.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Uh paternalistic. I've got to pretend that I'm doing a master's. So uh would that be Too far to cancel it on the grounds of people getting injured? Or should we just let people throw themselves down a hill like this in great numbers?

SPEAKER_00 22:07

They've been doing it at this point for what? Hundred and something years?

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Do you think that makes it okay?

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Well, they know the risks. Yeah, okay. Yeah. I think they know the risks. They know what can happen. That's their decision.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:21

I mean, as long as they're taking all like precautions, they've got mad risk whether they've got St. John's ambulance.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

That's a lot of that's a lot of money though. That's a lot of resources.

SPEAKER_03 22:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

And then if someone breaks a collarbone or gets a head injury, that's that's on the NHS.

SPEAKER_03 22:35

Yeah, but I mean, people always can do stupid shit, aren't they?

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Yeah. Uh-huh. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

Might as well have it in a controlled atmosphere.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Okay, so if they're gonna do it, let's make sure they do it right. I guess.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Rather than ban it entirely.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Yeah. Okay. They've been, you know, like I said it's been happening for X amount of years.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Well, yeah, I mean, I I think I I'm not sure exactly where I stand on it, but I think that's a totally reasonable take to be like, okay, well, you know, we can't tell people what to do. Yes, exactly. But we can't.

SPEAKER_03 23:04

Stop people from throwing them down a themselves down a hill.

SPEAKER_01 23:07

But you can try and help them. When they do. When they throw themselves down a hill. So it turns out there was some sneaky sneaking going on, and a cheese was indeed rolled and chased in the year of 1998.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

I was gonna say, wait a minute, because I remember reading up on this, like when we watched it last year, and I remember what you said about being stopped for COVID, but they still wrote rolled the cheese. And I thought, well, they couldn't have completely cancelled it in 98. Like something must have still happened.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Well, it was it was technically cancelled and did not go ahead, wink wink. But the cheese went ahead. Yes. A cheese rolling committee member blabbed to a journalist that a small group of thirty That's still quite a large amount of people. Yeah. Had got together in secret for the annual event after all. The master of ceremonies kicked off the tiny secret event, and four competitors chased one lowly cheese down the hill for the sake of tradition. He told the paper that of course they didn't want anyone to get hurt but wanted to keep the tradition going.

SPEAKER_03 24:06

Good for them.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

This article does also state that in the previous year, 1997, not only 18, but actually a record of 27 people were injured in the cheese race. So this did lead to safety concerns that couldn't be calmed before the cancellation of the event. The organisers later promised that the 1999 cheese rolling event would be reinstated, and this brings us to the 2002 Dundee weekly news headline: Flying Cheese injures 15. Love it. The article stated two people were taken to hospital and 13 were treated on the scene by paramedics after they were injured chasing a lump of cheese down a hill. By the time 2002 rolled round, spectators from all over the world, except me, because I didn't know this was a thing, have written except us, but you knew.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

I didn't, not at four years old.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

That's true. They had all heard about the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling Day. Organiser George Burgess was campaigning for the sport to earn Olympic status.

SPEAKER_03 25:09

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Whoa. And so it carries on. In 2004, papers reported competitors walked away bleeding from cuts, covered in bruises in very muddy clothes. The search and rescue assistants in disasters reported five serious injuries that year at the annual cheese rolling race, including dislocated shoulders, concussions, and a broken ankle. In total, more than 20 people were injured, with more than 40 being treated on the day for cuts and scrapes. The eccentric event looked quite like this. And this.

SPEAKER_03 25:42

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

Seeing policemen, fire brigades. And this. Full-on mountain rescuing someone from the middle of the hill.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

That's insane.

SPEAKER_03 25:50

I feel like they're just using this as an excuse to get all their kit out, right? I mean you could just walk up there. You don't need a rope.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Well, it's a pretty steep hill. What if the person on the board just like slides down? There are running up the hill competitions as well on the same day.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

So you can be done.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

I'd rather roll down the hill.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

I don't know which I'd have preferred. Neither. So as you can see, legit mountain rescue are up there on the hill with stretchers literally rescuing people with broken limbs on the hill. This poor fella broke his tibia midway down. There is a photo of him actually mid-break, if you want to see it. I don't know about that. It's not that bad.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Do you want to see it? Yeah, yeah. Oh. Ouch. Nice.

SPEAKER_03 26:32

Yeah, I'm not sure that's supposed to bend that way.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Okay, moving on to the next photo. Sorry. I don't want to look at it.

unknown 26:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:41

So you can see this is a big deal. Uh-huh. In 2005, there were more than 4,000 people attended the event at Cooper's Hill. Organizers praised the event as one of the safest in recent years, with only three people being taken to hospital with suspected broken limbs. Hooray. That's not bad. One of the days' cheese victors, 17-year-old Chris Anderson, was taken to hospital with a suspected sprained ankle, clutching his seven pound Gloucester cheese to his chest.

SPEAKER_03 27:09

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

He exclaimed that the cheese was not for eating. When he got home, he would be putting it straight into the cupboard for safekeeping. So that answers your question from earlier.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

But it's gonna go bad. You have to eat it at some point.

SPEAKER_03 27:22

No, if it's in wax.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Yeah. I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

I would I would put mine in resin and pass it down to my uh my descendants.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Your?

SPEAKER_03 27:32

Never know. Not married yet.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Maybe he already has some. Just has a margin. Never know. Would it shown up in his DNA? They all live in the live in Austria. Wouldn't even surprise no. Kidding.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Organiser Richard Jeffries was extremely happy with himself by the end of the day. He told the press attending that this year had gone a lot more smoothly than the last year. There were a lot less casualties than normal, and only 20 people were treated for minor injuries on site. And so it continued until 2009, when over 15,000 spectators almost arrived on the countryside hill to watch the race. Pandemonium ensued, and in 2010, the event was officially cancelled. Hmm. Officially. According to the official Cheese Rolling website, have you been on this? No.

SPEAKER_03 28:25

Often. It's my home page.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Has its own website. This is Cheese Rolling, Cheese Like Little Hyphen? Is it hyphen? CheeseHyphenrolling.co.uk. They have a page called 2009 The Facts. I actually then go on to say, okay, so they have a yes, so okay, I remember now. So there's like a little button with 2009, and then underneath that it has the facts. And then when you click on that, the page is headed The Facts, The Organization, The Complete Story. Scandalous. They have a very honest and fair account of why the official event was shut down. I'm not going to read it all, but I thought it was only fair to include it. The link will be in the show notes. Go and take a look. So the crux of it is there was a police report that 15,000 people were going to try to attend the event in 2009. Now the space's capacity is only 5,000. So it was gonna be carnage. The report did confirm that the actual number of people attending on the day was more like the capacity of the 5,000, however. After the 2009 incident, the small group of volunteers who run the event started getting pressure applied from all sides, like traffic issues, insurance issues, local authority concerns, police getting anxious, etc. etc. So it was quite stressful for them. And they had several meetings and tried to come up with solutions. In those meetings, they realized that if this was to carry on, they needed help, like proper professionals to help put the extravaganza together properly and in a safe and controlled way. But this meant spending money. There was so much needed pooled into this event to take more people and make it bigger, they could expand the race over two days, add more fields for parking, all that good stuff. They'd make it into a sort of festival with tents and camping, refreshments, etc., to help with this new enormous cost. But local residents really hated this idea, and I can see why. If you think of, and I know this is huge scale, but the devastation that's left after Glastonbury and the like, people were like, absolutely not, not in my backyard, please don't do this to my lovely, peaceful countryside home. So the poor little volunteer committee said, okay guys, no problem, we hear you, we'll scale all that back and just do paid tickets to keep up the event. So £20 per person, kids go free, Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt, keep calm and carry on. Well, this was misjudged. This went down even worse than the festival idea to the point where volunteers started being subject to abuse and threats. So understandably, in my opinion, they said, Well, you know what? Pop your race where the sun don't shine, we're out of here. Goodbye. They withdrew from the organization completely. So it was officially cancelled. Right? Right. Right?

SPEAKER_00 31:21

But unofficially.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

Exactly. Taking the words right out of my mouth. Sorry. No, no, no, no, no. Officially, yes, but not unofficially. The BBC reported in 2011 with the headline Cooper's Cheese Fans Hold Unofficial Race. And that is how it was, and how it is to this day. Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling Race is still going to this day, believe it or not, you believe it, because you saw it last year. Now, before I show you some extremely entertaining videos of last year's event, I found out some pretty interesting, maybe alarming sports that happen around the UK all year round that we just don't know about. And we're gonna have a game. I'm ready. Of two truths and a lie.

SPEAKER_03 32:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Hit me with it. So I'm going to give you.

SPEAKER_03 32:08

I'm so sure you're gonna steal one of Britney's podcast ideas. But go.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Alright. Is she? Why?

SPEAKER_03 32:13

Oh I I don't want to say it in case I Right, go.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

Okay. I'm gonna give you three annual sporting events in the UK.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

Two are real and one is a lie. Yes. One is completely made up by me. Not by ChatGPT, by me.

SPEAKER_03 32:30

Because we don't really have any brain cells.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

Well, if you guys don't, I certainly don't. Jesus, what am I working with? Okay, so are you ready? Yeah. I'm gonna read you three. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 32:39

Yeah, you said that.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

Sorry. The annual worm charming championships.

SPEAKER_03 32:44

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

This event takes place in Dorset, where after a five-minute worming up session, teams have 15 minutes to charm as many worms up from a patch of grass as possible. Two the World Stinging Nettle Eating Championship, which also takes place in Dorset. This is self-explanatory, really, but one year's winner ouched his way through 76 feet of uncooked stinning nettles. And we have three the Counting Kisses Championships, taking place in Bristol, where contestants enter a small paddock full of sheep, and whilst being carefully monitored by three judges, attempt to kiss as many of the sheep on the mouth as they can in under five minutes. Winners get to take home a ribbon.

SPEAKER_00 33:33

Right. Do we have to come up with the answers ourselves, or can we discuss this? You could well go for it.

SPEAKER_03 33:38

See, I'm sure I've seen the worming thing.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Yeah, I was gonna say that's a hundred percent correct. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 33:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

I genuinely don't know about the other thing, too, because I don't what is it?

SPEAKER_03 33:47

I feel like there might be some animal sort of rights issues with the sheep kissing.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

I was gonna say automatically, my my instinct was the sheep is the lie.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

But I I really hope there's a ribbon involved. Come on, tell us.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

What is it? The Counting Kisses Championship is made up. Okay, so the world stinging nettle eating championship is definitely a real thing, and that addition about the winner ouching his way through 76 feet is also true.

SPEAKER_03 34:14

That's insane.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

The annual worm charming championships is also real, and you can find photographs of that on the internet. Nobody goes into a paddock and kisses sheep on the mouth. Yeah, nobody's gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 34:25

What about Wales?

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Well, I was gonna say it happened in Wales, and then I thought it might get us cancelled. So I'm gonna give you three more. Okay, I'm ready. And then that's it. Okay. So we have the annual man versus horse race. This one is in Wales. This race has around 500 participants each year, where man and horse compete to be the ultimate best runner as they race along a 22-mile stretch across very hilly terrain. No googling, please.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

No, no, no. I'm sorry, I'm just joking. I forgot about my case and I I need to print something out. And I was like, I texted you saying, please remind me. That was all. No worries. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

Okay, then we've got the deepest belly button record. Every year on the Isle of Butte, Scotland, there is held a belly button depth measuring competition to find out the new record for the deepest belly button. Entrance may not enter twice, and the winner each year gets their name added to a tiny plaque outside the market square. The deepest belly button to date since the search for the deepest belly button began in 1979 is an impressive yet slightly concerning 18.9 centimetres or 7.4 inches.

SPEAKER_03 35:31

That's deep. Damn. I like that you can't enter twice, because otherwise just keep entering. Love that. If you've made that up, that's a really good one.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

And then the third one is the Extreme Ironing Championships. Originating in Leicester. This very serious sport includes people taking their ironing boards to various remote locations to iron items of clothing. This includes tops of cliffs and even ironing underwater. According to the Extreme Ironing Bureau, Extreme Ironing is the latest dangerous sport that combines the thrill of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt. I've got thoughts.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

I have thoughts, too. Go. I've seen the man versus horse thing, so I know that's real.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Okay. How are you gonna iron underwater?

SPEAKER_03 36:19

That's true. However, my mum went extreme iron for her 40th birthday.

SPEAKER_00 36:23

I wouldn't be surprised.

SPEAKER_03 36:25

She took an iring board to the top of Blen Catherine. So there you go. So I think it must be the belly button. Which is shocking because I totally believe that would be real.

SPEAKER_00 36:34

Me too. It wasn't until you said that I was gonna say the the horse thing was fake, and then you said no, it's true. And I was like, ironing underwater? But alright, belly buttons.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

So the deepest belly button record is made up by me. Really?

SPEAKER_03 36:48

This is such a good one. I would totally believe that if I didn't know the others.

SPEAKER_01 36:53

Inch or whatever you said. Okay, so that one is completely fake. Right. But yes, there is an annual man versus horse race in Wales. So it took 25 years before a man finally beat a horse in 2004, completing the run in just over two hours.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

But the the man gets a head start, right? Or no.

SPEAKER_01 37:11

I have no idea. I really I didn't look that much. And yes, the extreme ironing championships is absolutely real. And they did, there was a whole bunch of them, if I'm remembering correctly, I think there were 74 participants did it underwater.

SPEAKER_00 37:27

That's insane. How?

SPEAKER_01 37:29

I have no idea.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

There's photos. I believe it.

SPEAKER_03 37:32

I mean I'm not sure the results are meant to be that great.

SPEAKER_00 37:34

I know, but it's like how are you supposed to heat up your iron?

SPEAKER_03 37:37

I mean, there's not a lot of plug sockets, are there?

SPEAKER_00 37:39

I I know that has to be like so.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

Maybe even none.

SPEAKER_03 37:43

Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 37:46

So I know you're all dying to know who is currently the world cheese rolling champion. Tell us. So according to so gloss.com, which I think is like a Gloucester lifestyle and community website, looks very glam. It had this to say on the current standing championship status for cheese rolling. Defending his title for the second year in the role, in a row, YouTuber Tom Kopke from Germany won the first men's race. That's right, we did see that. He won the first men's race at the 2025 cheese rolling. He told The Guardian, I shut off my brain and went for it. Do you want to try this in a German accent?

SPEAKER_03 38:27

I shut off my brain and I went for it. Surprising, that's actually what Hitler said as well.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

All the people at the top said they were going to steal my title, but this is mine.

SPEAKER_03 38:39

All of the people said at the top as they were going to steal my title, but it's mine.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

I worked for this.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

I worked for this.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

I risked my life for this.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

I risked my life for Zis.

SPEAKER_01 38:51

It's my cheese back to back.

SPEAKER_02 38:53

It's my cheeser or back to back.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

So as you can tell, this is a perfectly normal bloke. And the YouTubers are going to be like. So local lad Luke Priest won the second man's race in 2025. You might remember him, he was in a bright green t-shirt. Continuing a family tradition as the son of four-time winner Rob Priest, while Ava Sender Logan won the woman's race at her cheese rolling debut. Debut.

SPEAKER_00 39:22

Debut.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

Shut up.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

I wasn't gonna correct you.

SPEAKER_03 39:26

Oh yes, I remember him. See, I was sure he was Swiss, but yeah, he does look German.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

German. It's this article that says he's German, so if he's actually Swiss, the Guardian got it wrong.

SPEAKER_03 39:35

Maybe I just got confused with Swiss cheese.

SPEAKER_00 39:37

Well, I remember we watched the interview with him. Do you not recall?

SPEAKER_03 39:40

So we watched him make those statements.

SPEAKER_00 39:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

Oh, damn.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

And that's Ava. She looks very happy.

SPEAKER_03 39:47

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 39:48

I'm so proud of her. Good job. Go women.

SPEAKER_03 39:50

Why does the cheese have like a cross taped on it?

SPEAKER_01 39:52

I don't know what the relevancy of that is. Fair enough. I did notice it myself as well, but I didn't look into it. So Ava told the same article, I can't believe it. It felt quite long coming down, and then I hit my head. I'm down. That's what matters. I'm fine. So she's fine, everyone. She's fine. Stop asking. She's fine. She's fine. So would you like to watch the video of last week?

SPEAKER_03 40:13

I would love to watch the video. So funny. I love the people wearing like full suits and ties. In some respects, it doesn't look that bad. Like I'm sure it's cushioned. I love the people wearing psycho helmets.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

I think the people at the bottom cushion them.

SPEAKER_03 40:35

Yeah. That's the local rugby club, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:37

Yeah, yeah, I remember you telling me that.

SPEAKER_01 40:38

Is it?

SPEAKER_03 40:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Okay, because yeah, I guess Mountain Rescue and that aren't there anymore. So the local rugby club have to go and stand there and I think they mostly rugby tackle the people that get to the bottom.

SPEAKER_03 40:48

I don't think it's like well, probably quite painful.

SPEAKER_01 40:51

Maybe they had to get a first aid course or something. So since 1988, the cheese has been made by a Mrs. Diana Smart of Churchham. Whoa. Using milk from her own herd of brown Swiss Heilstein and Gloucester cows. She is the only person in Gloucestershire making double Gloucester cheese by traditional methods. Here is a photo of her at work. This is on the cheese rolling website.

SPEAKER_03 41:16

Good for her.

SPEAKER_01 41:17

The next cheese rolling race will take place at Cooper's Hill, Gloucester, in May 2026. Please don't go. Why not? From our phones.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

Really tempted.

SPEAKER_00 41:29

What do you mean?

SPEAKER_01 41:30

And that is the story of a great British tradition.

SPEAKER_00 41:37

That's so cool.

SPEAKER_03 41:38

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 41:39

I love it.

SPEAKER_03 41:40

I love stuff like this.

SPEAKER_01 41:41

I know. It's good. Yeah. I thought there was gonna be more lore stuff, and then I started looking into it and I was like, oh, like literally no. No one gives a shit.

SPEAKER_03 41:49

No one's never sued.

SPEAKER_00 41:51

It's good to know because it I know when we watched it the first time, I had so many questions about it, and I was like Googling it, and I was like, Alright, it is illegal, but I mean you do you boo. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:03

Weird. Yeah. I love it. I really thought I was gonna get like, yeah, like you say, like suing and like government legislation and arguments about the Cooper's Hill Act 1899. But no, in the end, it just it happens, people do it. Humans are really weird. Great.

SPEAKER_03 42:24

I guess no one's ever been cheesed off enough to sue.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

Okay, thank you so much. My sources were the British uh newspaper archives. All of the newspapers that I got articles from were mentioned throughout the uh episode, and thegardian.com, slow gloss.com, cheeserolling.co.uk, and Wikipedia.

SPEAKER_00 42:47

Love it. Thank you very much. That was so good. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

Tune it in next week for a real good tale.

SPEAKER_00 43:11

Can I send it to you, but then we're gonna