‘Bonkers’ cheese-rolling gargoyle to be installed at Gloucester Cathedral
A gargoyle depicting Gloucestershire’s famous annual cheese-rolling competition is to be installed on one of the county’s cathedrals.
The 3ft tall sculpture will be added to the collection at Gloucester Cathedral, which is undergoing a £530,000 restoration.
It will be the sixth and final gargoyle to be installed, which includes a rugby player, a jockey and a suffragette.
Master mason Pascal Mychalysin designed what he said was a "bonkers" cheese-chaser.
The new gargoyles have been designed to represent Gloucestershire's six districts.
The cheese-roller is the gargoyle for Tewkesbury, marking the death-defying races down Cooper's Hill in Brockworth.
A rugby player with a broken nose and cauliflower ears is the Gloucester statue, while Cheltenham is represented by a tearful jockey grasping the Gold Cup.
Another gargoyle, inspired by suffragette Annie Kenne, pays tribute to the forgotten women of the Stroud mills.
A free miner was designed to represent the Forest of Dean and a sheep shearer for the Cotswolds.
What is cheese-rolling?
The cheese rolling tradition stretches back over 200 years, though its origins remain a cause of speculation.
The most popular theory says it is a celebration of the end of winter and growth of new crops.
Participants chase a 9lb wheel of Double Gloucester down the hill, which can travel at over 70mph.
Reaching the cheese is nearly impossible, so the winner is whoever gets to the bottom of the hill first.
Their prize? A big round of cheese.
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