Cheese has been made in Britain for thousands of years. Yet the cheeses we know and have come to adore as classically British (Cheddar, Lancashire and Wensleydale, for example) have only in the last couple of hundred years developed into the style we recognise today (for example ‘white’ Wensleydale has only been with us since the 1930s!). But what started Britain’s cheese-making tradition, and why have the styles changed? Britain is renowned for its ‘green and pleasant land’, formed by its fortuitous location on the western edge of Northern Europe. Britain has a moderate temperate climate, a rolling gentle landscape and is well known for … erm… rain. This moderate climate and the generally gentle landscape, devoid of very high mountains and especially rugged terrain, coupled with the year-round supply of rain, enable Britain to nurture some of the best pastures for dairy farming. Cheese making came about as method to preserve for as long as possible the abundance of milk produced by dairy farming, without the need for refrigeration. The temperate climate of Britain is ideal for making, storing and ageing cheeses (the thick stone-walled barns and farmhouses in the country maintain a cool temperature all year round, so…
The Courtyard Dairy featured in pride of place (number 1!) in this weeks Sunday Times Christmas Gift Guide. Along with many fabulous other Christmas gifts the Christmas cheese selections had pride of place!
