Remember Blur, the BritPop band turned English alternative rockers in the 1990s? If you do, you may also remember Alex James, the band's bass guitarist. The band hasn't recorded or toured since 2003, but James has been busy elsewhere, writing The Great Escape, a weekly column in the Independent on, of all things, his life as a Cotswold farmer and cheesemaker. (And, before you ask, the earnest looking cheesemaker in our picture is Not Alex James.)

This week, he writes about hosting the British Cheese Awards on his farm last Friday. Apparently 910 different cheese vied for the Best of British title, judged by 60 cheese makers, cooks, gourmets and gourmands. Cheeses with names like Cornish Yarg, Lincolnshire Poacher and, says James, "a highly prized Swiss-style cheese called Desmond …" went after medals.

The judging event - which produced a (pretty long) shortlist of 318 medal winners - was trade only. But the rest of us can partake of a cheesy feast after the grand prize winners are announced in September at the Great British Cheese Festival in Cardiff.

The Festival, September 27 and 28 at Cardiff Castle, billed as Britain's biggest cheese show, will include a market, tastings, cooking demonstrations, master classes and entertainment. Tickets can be booked online through St. David's Hall or by telephoning +44 (0)29 2087 8444.

Visit the Cheese Web to find out more about British Cheeses

_{Stilton cheesemaker: Picture by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images}

Hadrian's Wall, is one of the UK's most popular visitor attractions, stretching across the North of England from Newcastle to Bowness on Solway. But most of us don't know much about this Roman Emperor who pulled the Romans out of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), traveled with a homosexual companion and had a passion for great architecture.

Before you head north to see his wall, find out more about Hadrian at the British Museum's spectacular special exhibition, Hadrian: Empire and Conflict. The exhibition opens next week (July 24) and will run until October 26.

Included are works from all over the Roman Empire, including the Vindolanda excavations in Britain, North Africa, Israel, Turkey and the former Soviet state of Georgia. They've never been seen together before. Some, like the massive head pictured here, recently excavated in South West Turkey, have never even been seen in public before.

The exhibition explores the life, love and legacy of Hadrian who reigned between AD 117 and 138. It's packed with surprising and little known facts. Did you know that he commissioned the Pantheon in Rome? Or that he married a woman to become emperor but named a city after his boy lover, who drowned?

Tickets for the exhibition, sponsored by BP, cost £12. To guarantee admission to what is sure to be a very popular exhibition, visit the website to book tickets in advance.

_{Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images}