|
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.
|
