Tributes have been made to Champion Cheese roller, Islwyn John from Brockworth after he sadly passed away on June 11th 2015. A builder by trade, Islwyn who was also known as ‘Izzy’, won the Brockworth tradition a huge 13 times.
Here at apt, we were amazed by his stories and in salute to Izzy we wanted to share our admiration on his Cheese roll antics.
The Cooper’s Hill Annual Cheese Roll has seen hundreds of people each year come to visit the Cotswolds suburb of Brockworth in Gloucestershire for well over 70 years. At the event a 3.5 kg round of Double Gloucester Cheese wrapped in paper and iconic blue and red tape is thrown down the steep Cooper’s Hill in which people chase after it, the first to catch the cheese is the winner (and you do get to keep the cheese!)
Although it can be seen as family fun day out, this event comes with its dangers. Competitors including 13 times Cheese Rolling Champion Izzy have suffered broken bones but have returned the year after to try and win the Cheese Rolling title.
Izzy won his first Cheese Roll back in 1957 at the age of 14 winning two cheeses in his first year! His Mother, who did not want him competing again, hid all of his right shoes to stop him from entering the local event. Despite his family’s concern for his health and safety, Izzy prepared for the race wearing only his left shoes. We salute Izzy for his tenacity in running down that awfully steep hill, especially in two left shoes – We’d struggle in a correct pair!
After his left footed race, Izzy went on to win 11 more cheeses until he entered his final race in 1964 wearing his best suit, which as you can imagine was completely ruined by mud and grass! During one race, Izzy broke his ankle and was forbidden to run any more Cheese rolls but returned to run one last time in 1982, this time to roll the cheese for one of the Men’s Races.
It turns out that Izzy actually hated cheese and would give it to local care homes to enjoy. Here at apt, we think that Izzy is a true Cotswolds Legend, we admire the fact that he took part in this local tradition for years, almost 70 years to be exact and not for his love of cheese but his love for the local competition and taking part in a traditional old English and slightly mad custom that is just one of the quirky things that make Great Britain, GREAT!