There Seems To Be Riots Around The World,

on almost a daily bases,

but for myself one of the strangest reasons to riot must be cheese, October 1766 was preceded by a poor harvest, and people all across Europe were worried about impending food shortages, when the annual goose fair in Nottingham took place, a mob formed which went about looting and stealing…cheese. In what came to be known as the Nottingham Cheese Riot, a variety of cheeses, some as large as a barrel, were rolled through the streets, one of them knocking down the mayor when he tried to intervene, things got so bad that at the time, the 15th Dragoons that were stationed in the town tried to restore some order. Shots fired into the crowd resulted in at least one fatality: William Eggleston, a farmer who was trying to protect his cheese and whom the soldiers mistook for a looter, The Nottingham Cheese Riot might have been a unique event, but it was not an isolated one. There was unrest in and around the area, The People’s Histreh has produced a pamphlet that details not only the Nottingham event but also the other riots that happened in and around 1766. It is available as a PDF on their website for anyone who is interested in learning more about this period of history, 

the Nottingham Goose Fair is still held today, although in modern times, it has become a showman’s fair with fairground rides and attractions. Estimates suggest that more than 400,000 people attend over the five days that the fair is running, and while the events of the Cheese Riot might be unknown to the majority of the world, October 2, 1766, is still an important date for the citizens of Nottingham. In fact, the Mayor organized an event to mark the 250th anniversary in 2016. Together with the owners of The Cheese Shop (a local Nottingham business), the Mayor retraced the steps of those involved in the original cheese riot, a cheese riot, who would have thought it?