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English Audio Request

linkf1
506 Words / 1 Recordings / 1 Comments
Note to recorder:

Please read it clearly because I will use this for a listening test! Thanks!

The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper's Hill, near Gloucester in the Cotswolds region of England. It is traditionally by and for the people who live in Brockworth - the local village, but now people from all over the world take part. The event takes its name from the hill on which it occurs.

From the top of the hill a round of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled, and competitors race down the hill after it. The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese. In theory, competitors are aiming to catch the cheese, however it has about a one second head start and can reach speeds up to 70mph (112 km/h), enough to knock over and injure a spectator; this is unlikely.
Accurate information is hard to come by, but the tradition is at least 200 years old. Each year the event becomes more and more popular with contestants coming from all across the world to compete or even simply to spectate.
"The Cheese Rollers" is also the name of the nearby pub in Shurdington, about 3 miles from Cooper's Hill, but the nearest are The Cross Hands and The Victoria (both of which are in Brockworth). Competitors will frequent these venues for some pre-event Dutch courage or discussion of tactics, and after the event for some convalescence.
Cooper's Hill is also a stop on the Cotswold Way.

The cheese used in the event is Double Gloucester, a hard cheese typically manufactured in cylindrical blocks. The current supplier is local cheesemaker Diana Smart, who has supplied the cheese since 1988.
During the Second World War rationing was introduced, preventing the use of a cheese in the event. Consequently, from 1941 to 1954 a wooden "cheese" was used instead with a piece of cheese in a hollow space in the centre of the wooden replica.

Due to the steepness and uneven surface of the hill there are usually a number of injuries, ranging from sprained ankles to broken bones and concussion. A first aid service is provided by the local St John Ambulance (Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud Divisions) at the bottom of the hill, with a volunteer rescue group on hand to carry down to them any casualties who do not end up at the bottom through gravity. A number of ambulance vehicles will attend the event, since there is invariably at least one and often several more injuries requiring hospital treatment. Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling has been summarised as "twenty young men chase a cheese off a cliff and tumble 200 yards to the bottom, where they are scraped up by paramedics and packed off to hospital". The race of 2005 was delayed while the ambulances returned from the hospital, all of them having been required to transport casualties from previous races. Nevertheless, it was one of the most popular events in recent years, with many more participants than were able to run in the four races.

Recordings

Comments

sr83
June 28, 2010

Nice clear recording but the word 'Gloucester' is pronounced incorrectly every time.

It is not pronounced 'glue-chester' but instead is pronounced 'gloss-ter'.

Overview

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