Absolute Carnage at the Cheese Rolling Festival

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Watch the cheese carnage

We have wheels!!
Yes we have bought ourselves a motorbike. Our main aim is to tour the UK on it, specifically Scotland in August this year. But we'll also use it for weekend trips as much as we can during the summer. For anyone who knows bikes it's a Yamaha Fazer 600 (1999 model). We have gradually bought all the kit that we need including enough luggage for our trip (well, it's enough if Rach can leave all her clothes and shoes at home!!). It's first test was a 3 day weekend around southern england. We went to Stratford Upon Avon, Bristol and Glocestershire. Unfortunatley it rained every day (and even hailed occasionally) but that wasn't enough to put us off.

Saturday 27th May 2006
We rode to Stratford Upon Avon which is where Shakespeare was born and died. The town is so quaint and beautiful. Canals wind through the city scattered with long narrow canal boats. However you have to watch out for the swans. The cheaky buggers like to think they rule the roost and will even take on the local dogs!

Sunday 28th May 2006
Fortunately we had some dry weather for the ride from Stratford to Bristol. We avoided the motorways, opting for the back roads which were fantastic fun on the bike. We spent the afternoon and night in Bristol where we met up with Megan (Megan Kelly - one of Rach's school friends) and her boyfriend Ian. Justin's workmate Sarah and her friend Hanna also met up with us and we hit the town for the night. We discovered the night life of Bristol is a tad rough, but we had fun non the less and made it home in one piece.

Monday 29th May 2006
The main purpose of our trip (and hence the title of this blog) was to attend the annual Cheese Rolling Festival in Glocestershire. The six of us set off for our exciting day of in the Cotswolds. On Coopers Hill in the middle of nowhere 3,000 people had gathered to watch and/or participate in this mad event. I don't think any insurance policy would cover you for this festival.

To explain the process....... Participants line up at the top of the hill which is a 45 degree run of about 150 meters. Anyone who is mad enough can enter (Rach was thinking about it, until she watched one race). A guest roller (the Mayor and/or other town folk) would roll the cheese (a 3kg round cheese) from the top of the hill and everyone would run, roll, fall, tumble, and slide down the hill. The first one to the bottom got to keep the cheese. Because both the cheese and the runners gain so much momentum there were a team of rugby players at the bottom to literally tackle people to stop them!
The hill was steeper than it looks and had turned to mud by the end of the day because of the rain. There we some serious injuries (2 went to hospital) and even the spectators that lined both sides of the hill were not immune to injuries - one of the spectators was cleaned up by a wayward cheese!! All in all there were 5 down-hill races (including a ‘Ladies’ Race) and 4 up-hill races - ‘Boys under 12’, ‘Girls under 12’, ‘Ladies’ and ‘Men’s’. The St. John Ambulance and SARAID (Search And Rescue Aid In Disaster) were kept busy with the inevitable casualties.

You really have to see it to believe it so click on the link below and have a chuckle....

Cheese Rolling Footage

I guess the only conclusion that can be made from this is that the English are either all bloody mad or have way too much time on their hands!

Thanks for all the comments and messages guys. Keep in touch.

Love
Justin and Rach

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Photos

Our new bike
Us in our leathers on our 1999 Yamaha Fazer 600

Comments

[Bale]

Cheese...mmmm... tasty..
This has been a life long dream of mine... SO JEALOUS!!! I remember trying to explain it to you(Rach) 2 years ago at muffin Break.. and Now you have actually been there !! so you can now explain it to me .. hopefully one day i get my Chance.. ONE DAY !! P.S.. Nice wheels !! and keep up the blogs... they are Great.. P.S.S First it was the tomato festival, now the cheese festival... all you need is a ham festival and you have a toasted sandwich!! cya and keep up the fun cheers MB

[Ally]

Good Giggle
That's awesome you guys.... made me start my day off with a good giggle. Pommies come up with strangest concepts sometimes... who would want 3kgs of cheese let alone one that had rolled through the mud first!! Love you miss you ally