Cheese Rolling and Flaming Torches

-
The ancient pastime of cheese rolling was in the headlines this weekend when the annual cheese rolling contest at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire was cancelled because of concerns over the sizes of the crowd turning out to see the event. It was refreshing that no one was concerned about potential injury to the participants (or the cheeses) and that the problem simply related to issues of traffic and crowd control.

The Cooper's Hill cheese rolling dates back at least 200 years. The rules are relatively simple; a round of Double Gloucester Cheese is rolled down the hill and competitors race after it. In theory they are aiming to catch the cheese but since it has a head start and can gather momentum to reach speeds of up to 70mph, this is unlikely to happen. The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill gets to keep the cheese, assuming that it is still in a fit state to be eaten. It is hoped that the event will be re-arranged.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the country, Hadrian's Wall, the Roman monument spanning England from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway, was lit up by a spectacular line of light to mark British Tourism Week. I wish I had been on the northern side of the wall to see the line of flaming torches. I imagine it would be the closest you could get to time travel back to the period when each milecastle along the wall was manned by Roman soldiers. Shiver down the spine.








Comments

cara elliott said…
Oh, that picture of the torches really does send shivers down my spine! Would LOVE to have seen that sight. How very beautiful and evocative.

And love the image of a huge cheese whizzing down a hill with a crowd in pursuit!
16 March 2010 at 12:03
NinaP said…
When I look at the "cheese pursuit" all I can see is the growing potential for broken ankles.

But Hadrian's Wall... I would love to see that. I imagine the feeling of history must be so intense.
16 March 2010 at 15:36
Nicola Cornick said…
It looks hugely atmospheric, doesn't it. I've since read that as well as celebrating British Tourism Week it was also marking the end of 1600 years of Roman rule in Britain. Good to celebrate these anniversaries!
18 March 2010 at 07:54
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Books of Your Childhood.

-
Image
This is a fantastic meme from Michelle Styles for anyone who loves to talk about books, especially the books that captured you when you were a child and are still with you now. Name at least one book that you read as a child (ie 11 or under) that still exists in your memory as a perfect story. You can say why if you wish, or simply give a list -- your choice. It can be a story that you are now uncomfortable about having loved or were uncomfortable at some point and have now come back to or alternatively just one that you have always loved. Here is my list: 1. A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley. History fascinated me even as a child, as did the idea of stepping back in time. I’ve been hooked on timeslip romance ever since! 2. The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner. I could name just about every Alan Garner book for this list. I was totally hooked on his writing. The combination of adventure, magic and something just a little bit strange and spooky fascinated me. Plus the fact ...
Read more

Fans!

-
Image
This weekend I visited a fabulous little antiquarian bookshop, Evergreen Livres, in the historic market town of Stow on the Wold. It's the sort of bookshop I can easily go mad in and spend a fortune on out of print historical reference books. It has a great stock of unusual and reasonably priced books, the owners are very friendly and they have a cute dog - all recommendations as far as I'm concerned. One of the books I picked up was about fans. I have been aware of the language of fans for a while, although I knew nothing about what the different signals meant. Now I can see how you could build an entire story around this clever and complicated art. Some of my favourite gestures/ messages are: Placing the fan on the left ear - I wish to get rid of you. Drawing the fan across the forehead - You have changed. Covering the left ear with the open fan - Do not betray our secret I can see a couple of difficulties here, not least that some of these gestures seem quite odd and might ...
Read more

A Brief and Selective History of Swimming!

-
Image
I've taken a longer-than-expected break from the blog over the past couple of weeks due to a terminally stubborn set of book revisions that simply refused to work. I knew there were problems with the manuscript and, hard as I worked to fix them, my writer's intinct told me that there was still something wrong even when I had finished draft 2. I tinkered, I re-wrote, I changed one thing which led to another which brought the whole thing down like a pack of cards. I had a fabulously helpful set of revision notes from my editor but still I could not do it. I cried. I comfort ate. I didn't sleep. Now I have draft 3, a sleep deficit, and no idea whether the book is any good since my judgement is shot to pieces. I love being a writer. Anyway, now I've emerged into the daylight I see it is a beautiful hot sunny day so to get back into the blogging I decided to post a piece about aspects of the history of swimming, some of which is taken from an article I read in the Daily Tel...
Read more