It was wonderful to be part of this year’s Gold Hill Cheese Race at the Shaftesbury Food and Drink Festival on Sunday 14th May. Just watching the participants running up the steep street made us want to have a rest! A massive well done to everyone that took part. Especially Rhys McGrath, the new Champion of the Hill! He has a record-breaking time of 18.4 seconds!

There was so much to see, smell and taste and luckily the sun shone throughout. According to festival organiser and local cheesemonger Charlie Turnbull from Turnbulls on the High Street in Shaftesbury, the race is a tribute to the local cheese industry and stems from the medieval cheesemakers, brewers, millers, and butchers that used to race to get their goods to the Abbey gates to be chosen by the Abbess for her High Table. The festival encapsulates everything local and fantastic about this part of the West Country. We are looking forward to next year!