Onwards and Downwards

I’ve always had a bit of an aversion to the general direction of down. I am friendly with sideways and I get on very well with up but down and I have never been more than grudgingly cordial. Rollercoasters make me sick, bungee jumping or parachuting are a definite no, even this year, and I only tolerate aeroplanes landing because I know they cannot stay up forever. So what on earth am I doing planning to spend my bank holiday chasing a ball of cheese down a steep hill in Gloucestershire?

I suspect most of you are familiar with Cheese Rolling. It is the “And Finally” item of the evening news bulletin every second bank holiday in May. It is one of those quaintly English village traditions that makes an English village so, well, quaint. I don’t know its history but the effort that goes in to winning some cheese makes me think it predates Tesco. The rules are quite simple, you chase a ball of cheese down a steep hill in Gloucestershire.

This will be, I suspect, the shortest challenge in terms of time but it it does come pretty high up in the danger list. Sir Trevor McDonald, when he was simply Trevor, could barely hide his smirk as he described how somebody had been taken to hospital with broken limbs whilst chasing a ball of cheese down a steep hill in Gloucestershire.

So why am I doing this? I don’t like going downhill, I don’t expect to win and it’s a long way to go for no more than 20 seconds of activity. I can't really explain this one, I’ve just always wondered what goes through the mind of somebody chasing a ball of cheese down a steep hill in Gloucestershire.