The Cheese Rolling at Cooper’s Hill is one of the most spectacular and hazardous of rural English customs. It takes place at high noon on an extremely steep hill (45 degrees) and is open to all. It involves competitors hurling themselves 200 metres down this hill in pursuit of the cheese. Nobody really knows the actual origins of the Cheese Rolling competition held annually in the Cotswold Hills in South West England. It is thought to be part of an old fertility rite but whatever the beginnings; it is a tradition that certainly attracts a large crowd of spectators. The cheese weighs approximately 9lbs (4kg) and can achieve a speed in excess of 40 miles per hour (65 km/h). On several occasions in the past, the cheeses have veered off into the crowd and caused numerous injuries. The winner of the chase gets to keep the prize of a seven to eight-pound Double Gloucester cheese. On the count of three, the first cheese is rolled, and on “four” the competitors launch themselves in pursuit. Inevitably, the wheel-s
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