Читать книгу Crap Days Out - Gareth Rubin - Страница 8

It’s hard to say just why Gloucestershire is the world centre for rolling big cheeses down hills, but the world centre for rolling big cheeses it is. It may sound like a surreal 1960s TV series – young men screaming in terror as they are chased by giant Double Gloucesters – but it has been going on for an oddly long time. And the injuries have stacked up.

Oddly, the master of ceremonies at the rolling wears a top hat and white coat which make him look like a cross between a cheese salesman and an undertaker. He could be the one who sold you that cheese in Tesco today and you have to wonder what he secretly did to the cheese while it was out of your sight before he handed it over to you with a big grin.

In 1998 the event was cancelled because the year before there had been 33 recorded injuries. But don’t worry, it was quickly reinstated. As one furious local resident said: ‘This is the nanny state gone mad. If you can’t hurl yourself down a steep hill after a few drinks chasing cheeses, what’s the point in being British?’ It’s hard to known if he was being ironic.

On the bright side, the cheese rolling can be a useful aid for schools wanting to illustrate how natural selection works.