Cheese rolling Cheshire style wins again: Competition Crumbles for record fifth year
After a hardened battle between the big cheeses a team of Made in Cheshire cheese high-rollers narrowly beat rivals Cheshire Cheesemakers, who were rolling down the cobbles of Bridge Street, Chester for the first time this year. Cheshire negotiated the obstacle course of farm-yard animals and kept their cool, their title and the cup to roll their way into the record books to launch the seventh Chester Food and Drink Festival, to be held over the Easter weekend.
Celebrities including ITV newsreader Lucy Meacock joined captains of industry and Council leaders to ignite this year’s annual Chester Cheese Rolling competition. A procession led by Roman soldiers which included children from Merton House School and the Lord Mayor of Chester Cllr Jim Latham, the Leader of Chester City Council Cllr Margaret Parker, Chairman of Cheshire County Council, Cllr Neville Price and Chief Executive of Cheshire County Council Jeremy Taylor, made their way on a circuit of the Roman Walls carrying a wheel of cheese from The Dean’s Field to Eastgate Street and then through the city to The Cross to start the cheese-rolling. Earlier, the cheese had been blessed by the Vice-Dean, The Revd Canon Dr Trevor Dennis at a ceremony at Chester Cathedral.
Hundreds of spectators lined Chester’s ancient Bridge Street Rows to gain a vantage point. Cllr Jim Latham started each race involving teams from Made in Cheshire, Cheshire Cheesemakers, Stilton and a Media Team.
Cheshire Cheese is, along with the grinning Cheshire Cat, one of the region’s most famous exports and seasoned cheese roller Neil Bates, co-owner of Brasserie 10/16, led the victorious Cheshire Team.
Stephen Wundke, Chairman of the Chester Food and Drink Festival, said: “The cheese rolling event always launches the annual Chester Food & Drink Festival on a roll. This event shows that our leaders are united in their cause of working together for a better Chester and Cheshire. This really signals food and drink as one of Cheshire’s most important products, in what is fast becoming one of the biggest food festivals in the country.”
Other members of the winning “Made in Cheshire’ team included David Clarke, of The Cheese Shop, Northgate Street, Peter Clayton and Anthony Mullock, of Larkton Hall Cheese, in Malpas. The team representing Stilton came third and the Media team came fourth. There were also 10 extra stalls near The Cross by the cheese rolling course, selling quality local fayre.
Chester Food and Drink Festival runs from March 22nd to 24th 2008, Easter Saturday to Easter Monday and is moving to Chester Racecourse in this, the seventh year of the event. There will be free parking available at the Racecourse, which will have villages for produce from Cheshire and North Wales within it, together with sections for national and international produce, reflecting the cosmopolitan nature of Cheshire. The Festival is larger for 2008 and surrounded by a small village of stalls and displays, with more than 100 confirmed exhibitors already.
For more information about other events happening over the Chester Food & Drink Festival please visit www.chesterfoodanddrink.com.
Chester’s Food and Drink Festival is organised on behalf of Chester City Council with support from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Cheshire County Council, Made in Cheshire and North West Fine Foods and Visit Chester & Cheshire, the tourism board for Cheshire and Warrington.
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Editors notes: Those taking part in the processing of the cheese included:
Cllr Jim Latham – Lord Mayor of Chester Cllr Margaret Parker – Head of Chester City Council Jan Rowley – Chester City Council Martin Lee – CEO Chester & Warrington Economic Alliance Jeremy Taylor – CEO Cheshire County Council Tom McCabe – Cheshire County Council Cllr Neville Price – President Cheshire County Council Mike Heler – Joseph Heler Cheese Peter Papperill – The Cheese Detective Lucy Meacock – ITV Granada David Pickering – Chairman Chester City Management Chris Brown – CEO VCC Barrie Kelly – Director of Operations, VCC
CHEESE Notes: The Competition is a celebration of the fact that Cheshire cheese, arguably one of the oldest cheeses in the world, has seen a huge revival in its popularity in recent years. Market share has climbed steadily over the past 12 months as punters realise that the pale, bland mass-produced cheese, which often carries the Cheshire name, bears very little resemblance to the genuine article.
Cheshire cheese dates back to Roman times and was originally said to be made in a mould shaped like a cat, later made famous as the smiling Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. When the Romans invaded Britain back in the 54 BC they found a hardy race for whom cheese was their chief diet. It is a recognised fact that the Romans built Chester due to the value they placed on the cheese produced on its salty plains (and to keep the Welsh at bay).
Mentioned in the Domesday Book, a favourite in the Elizabethan court and admired and written about by Charles Dickens, Cheshire Cheese continued to flourish and was considered the best in the country. While Romans are no more, the secret of the excellence of Cheshire Cheese remains, and, thanks to the award-winning efforts of producers such as HS Bourne, consumers are rediscovering the wonderful, true taste of Cheshire again.
The term ‘Big Cheese’ derives from a medieval term of envy for those who could afford to buy expensive whole wheels of cheese.
There are only six dairies licensed to make Stilton cheese in the whole world. They are based in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and there are very strict rules to which they must abide to keep the product pure. For example stilton must be made using local milk and can only be made in a cylindrical shape. More information at www.stiltoncheese.com.
There are over 400 varieties of British cheese available. Approximately £1.5 billion of British cheese is bought annually. Cheshire Cheese is the UK’s largest selling crumbly cheese with sales of around 6,500 tonnes per year, this compares with Stilton’s sales of approximately 53,000 tonnes. Sales of cheese in the UK grew 1-2% during 2002 compared with 2001. However, compared to other EU countries, the UK is among the lowest consumers of cheese: consumption per head in the UK is roughly 55% of the average consumption in the other 14 member countries.
Festival brochures will be available across the City from February. Phone 01244 351609 for more details. For further information on the region go to www.visitchester.com. More general information at www.chesterfoodanddrink.com
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