Hotels near the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling

If you want to see people risking life and limb chasing cheese, head for Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, where competitors battle it out in pursuit of an eight-pound Double Gloucester.

It's not easy to convince someone how perilous cheese rolling can be, but this event has proved so dangerous in recent years that the police have occasionally resorted to banning it. The story of a man who tumbled some 100 feet, ending the day in hospital, is little deterrent to competitors, while postman Craig Carter is remembered for breaking a different arm on the two occasions he won the race.

St John Ambulance operations training manager Jim Jones has offered medical assistance for many years running and says injuries have become part of the tradition: "We usually average around 30-40 people who need treatment."

So, if you're at all intrigued by the idea of a celebration of cheese, a broken arm or the sight of the British displaying their patented eccentricity, you know where to go...