Silly Cotswold Sports (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Silly Cotswold Sports

(cheese rolling, woolsack racing, shin kicking...)

Stuck for something to do this summer then why not try one the Cotswolds' historic pastimes - but be warned some of these 'sports' are not for the faint hearted.

If you fancy a spot of shin kicking or throwing yourself down a steep hill after a large piece of cheese or even running up an equally steep hill carrying a large sack then head to Tetbury, Cooper's Hill and Dover's Hill and join in annual traditions dating back hundreds of years.

Woolsack Day, the Cheese Roll and the Cotswold Olimpicks are the Cotswold's ancient versions of the Bush Tucker Trials, mad, bad and occasionally a bit dangerous.

The Cooper's Hill Cheese Roll hit the headlines in 1997 when over 30 people were injured chasing the eight pound wheels of Double Gloucester down a slope, which plunges out to a 70 degree angle at places.

Although a host of safety measures, including the use of local rugby players to 'catch' competitors at the bottom of the hill, were introduced, injury is still a big risk to those entering the chase.

Last year's winner, Chris Anderson, a 17-year-old window fitter from Brockworth, was handed his prize as he was carried away on a stretcher.

His is a familiar story and not just competitors at risk, in 1990 a 59-year-old grandmother watching the proceedings was knocked out by a flying cheese.

Like the Cheese Roll, Woolsack Day dates back to early Cotswold times when locals would compete to see who could run up Gumstool Hill carrying a sack of wool in the fastest time.

The modern day event is recognised by the Guinness Book of Records and provides Tetbury's biggest day of the year when hundreds crowd onto the streets to watch the action.

This year's Woolsack should see a showdown between the current men's record holder, Cirencester-born Nathan Barrowclough and his younger brother Joe.

Last year Nathan gave up revising for his university finals to set a time of 48.31 seconds.

While London might have got the Olympics for 2012, the Cotswolds' own version takes place annually just outside Chipping Campden.

The Cotswold Olympicks, once banned by Oliver Cromwell, predate the modern games by nearly 400 years.

Founded by Robert Dover on the hill which now bears his name, the games take place on the first Friday after Whitsun.

Featuring such rural challenges as tug-of-war, sledge hammer throwing and the Cotswolds' take on tossing the caber - Spurning the Barre, the games' centrepiece is the famous shin kicking competition.

A game so violent it was outlawed in the 1850s, shin kicking was revived in the 1950s and has regained a popular following ever since.

Gone are the days when rivalry between neighbouring villages led to people hardening their shins with hammers but fittingly the current champion is still a local; publican Joe McDonagh.

In recent years, along with the Cheese Roll and Woolsack, shin kicking has seen a new resurgence as an extreme sport and gained a brand new following.

Woolsack 2006 and this year's Cheese Rolling are both set to take place on Monday, May 29. The Cotswold Olympicks is traditionally held on the first Friday after Whitsun.