Tetbury 1985 on the day of the Woolsack Race

The Tetbury Woolsack Races are an annual sporting event in the English town of

Tetbury Tetbury is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish inside the Cotswold (district), Cotswold district in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon monastery was found ...

, in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, where competitors must race up and down the steepest street in the town carrying a full

woolsack The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the Upper House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Before 2006, it was the seat of the Lord Chancellor, who presided as the presiding officer of the House. The Woolsack� ...

on their back. It is held each year on the

Whitsun Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian holy day of Pentecost. It falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter and commemorates the descent of the H ...

Bank Holiday Monday. The races take place on Gumstool Hill between two

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s, the Royal Oak (the bottom of the hill) and the Crown (at the top). People can take part either as individuals or as part of a team. The individuals race up the hill, the teams (with four members swapping places at each end of the course) race up and down the hill twice. The men race with a woolsack, women have . There are also youth races where boys ages 16–18 races with a 30 lb sack, and a children's class. The weight of the children's woolsack is unspecified but is likely about the same as a pillow. Regular competitors include local

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

teams, the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and the Norfolk Mountain Rescue Team.

References

External links

Official Woolsack Day websiteBBC Gloucestershire coverage of the Tetbury Woolsack RacesBBC Gloucestershire feature on the Tetbury Woolsack Races 2007
{{Sport-event-stub Tourist attractions in Gloucestershire Individual sports Tetbury