Get Tumbling at Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling Competition!

At midday a referee in a white coat lifts a seven‑pound wheel of Double Gloucester, decorated with red‑and‑blue ribbons. He gives the cheese a one‑second head start, pushing it down Cooper's Hill and, not long after, hundreds of people dash and tumble down the hill in hopes of catching it.

Welcome to the Cooper’s Hill Cheese‑Rolling and Wake, England’s most delirious rite of spring.

The ritual

• What: A downhill footrace in which competitors chase (rather than actually catch) a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese. The first person to cross the finish line wins the cheese.

• Where: Cooper’s Hill, a common above Brockworth, Gloucestershire - about 8 km south‑east of Gloucester city centre.

• When: Always the UK’s Spring Bank Holiday Monday. The next edition falls on 26 May 2025, with the first race scheduled for noon.

• Why: No one knows for certain. The earliest written mention dates to 1826, yet locals insist the custom is at least six centuries old—possibly a pagan fertility rite or a medieval way of reaffirming grazing rights on common land.

Tumbling

Cooper’s Hill is steep enough to test the nerve of a mountain goat. It's a 1:2 gradient (about 50 per cent) riddled with divots, nettles and the occasional rabbit hole. The cheese is hand‑made by the Smart family in nearby Churcham, and can hit 80 mph; competitors, settle for 30 mph before physics takes over. Helmets are allowed but bravado is more common; on‑site rugby players act as human catch‑nets, which I guess sounds pretty good...

Programme & race order

The afternoon traditionally features:

Race	Field	Distance	Typical winning time
1	Men’s downhill (open)	200 yd	12–15 sec
2	Men’s downhill (second heat)	200 yd	13–16 sec
3	Women’s downhill	200 yd	15–20 sec
4	Final men’s downhill	200 yd	13–17 sec

Children’s uphill dashes and novelty races occasionally book‑end the main programme, but the downhill events are the reason ambulances wait at both ends of the lane.

Champions of the cheese

The roll has long outgrown its Cotswold borders. In 2024 the four headline races were claimed by Germany’s Tom Kopke, Australia’s Dylan Twiss, North Carolinian phenom Abby Lampe—her second crown—and local hero Josh Shepherd.

This recent cosmopolitan streak continues a tradition that has welcomed winners from Belgium to Japan. As The Times quipped, “the Olympics may have a downhill, but only Gloucester has the cheese.” (The Times)

Officially unofficial

After a crowd‑crush scare in 2009 and mounting insurance costs, local authorities withdrew formal support; the event has survived ever since, unlicensed, fuelled by villagers, volunteer medics, and the stubbornness of competitors.

Thanks to this, the event is not ticketed.

Practical notes for spectators

• Getting there – Trains from London Paddington or Birmingham New Street reach Gloucester in 1 hr 45–2 hr. From the station, Stagecoach buses to Brockworth run hourly on race day; expect a 30‑minute uphill walk to the hilltop. Roads closest to Cooper’s Hill close by mid‑morning, and ad‑hoc farmers’ fields charge for parking, have £10 cash ready.

• Arrive absurdly early – The hillside capacity is maybe 5,000 but as many as 15,000 show up. By 09:00 the best vantage points (half‑way down on the east verge) are gone.

• Pack well – Trail shoes, waterproof picnic rug, a liter of water, and a backpack you can sit on.

• Mind the slope – Spectators who inch too far forward end up rolling involuntarily.