The day began with an eventful car journey relying on Flo Neame’s navigational skills. The four of us (Dave – who works with me in the Bath Shop,Flo – who looks after shop customers, Mark – our chief cheese cutter and myself) arrived around 9 O’clock at the dairy. Thankfully Tom Calver had told us we weren’t needed at 5 Am for the morning milking! Tom met us at the entrance of the dairy, whilst dealing with the milk lorry driver (even when giving a tour, Tom’s still working!). We began with a quick hygiene form and into protective wear before entering the “wet room”. The steamy milky air was to greet us and we could see several operations commencing. We started with Cheddar making, watching the robotic giant paddles mixing in the starter culture with the warmed milk. Rob is an excellent Cheddar maker and uses his keen eye to oversee the machine before literally getting “hands on” or elbows deeps in milk.
