Facts, fi gures and fun from the Ryanair world of travel

Rites of Passage

Random customs, rituals, festivals and superstitionsM

CHEESE ROLLING:
COOPER’S HILL, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK

How much do you like cheese? How about 3.5kg of Double Gloucester? Well that’s what you could win at this year’s Cheese Rolling race at Cooper’s Hill this 26 May – that and getting your name into the (local) history books.

Every year the brave and the mad have gathered at this infamous hill. The master of ceremonies – a man in a white coat (apt) and a top hat with ribbons – rolls the wheel of cheese down the 1:1 incline and all hell breaks loose as crowds of people try to catch it. There are fi ve events, including a ladies’ race, and the centuriesold tradition is thought to have evolved from early fertility rites and securing a good harvest (well, what did you expect?). While there are bumps, bruises and the occasional broken bone, the event has only once been forced to close because of casualties, and that was 10 years ago!

FOR MORE DETAILS, VISITWWW.CHEESE-ROLLING.CO.UK

The Numbers

Impress your travelling companions

192
The number of hours of live music played continuously at the 2007 International Guitar Festival in Balaton, Hungary.

410,000
The number of people who tuned in over the live webcast to witness the event become a Guinness World Record.

3,000
Number of receipts a Kent man received in the post for paying a single central London congestion charge fee.

1.5
The amount in millions of pounds sterling that the US embassy in London has in outstanding congestion charge fi nes.

70
The percentage of all travel decisions that are made by women – regardless of who they travel with, who pays or where they go.

55
The percentage of American men who choose a travel destination based on watching a fi lm, or TV show.

102
The amount of coal, in tons, that Russian miner Alexei Stakhanov mined in just fi ve hours and 45 minutes in 1935.

227
The record amount Stakhanov mined in a single shift, just 19 days after his initial record haul.

30
Average number of coffees downed by the Ryanair Magazine editorial team during a usual day at the coalface.

Your Shout

This month, we asked people in Belfast:

“Which place in Europe would be your ideal honeymoon destination, and why?”

DANIEL MELLEN,24, STUDENT	LUCIA SORIA, 23, SPANISH ASSISTANT
“Prague. It is a beautiful city.”	“Italy – I have never been there.”
JOHN CULBERT, 20, STUDENT
““Italy, as it has nice lakes for rowing.”

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 11:59 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.