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It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Mary Holbrook, the maker of the incomparable Tymsboro cheese, who passed away at the weekend.

She died at home on Sunday, at her beautiful farm on the hill, in Somerset, where she has worked tirelessly over decades to establish and maintain her world-class reputation.

Mary has had an impact on a staggering amount of people in the artisan cheese industry in the UK and beyond. She welcomed trainees, visitors and transient workers to come to Sleight farm and learn, work and contribute to the cheese making and the farm; people from customers like ourselves, other cheesemakers and the wider food community. Never shy to let people see her process and learn from her techniques, safe in the knowledge that no-one could recreate the exceptional terroir of her Somerset hilltop. Our Technical Manager, Martin, had the privilege to work for Mary for two years and learned a huge amount from her. He says "The way she made cheese was unique in my experience.

Cheddar, a year-round favourite, really comes into its own at Christmas.

But which one would be right for your cheeseboard?

We’ve created short profiles for some of our most popular traditional west country cheddars, so you can find your perfect match.

Westcombe Cheddar Hand Selected: As the name suggests, we pick these out personally, together with cheesemaker Tom Calver, to find those Cheddars with exactly the taste profile we’re after. Made from raw milk, Westcombe Cheddar is complex but mellow, with a savoury taste that is balanced by some almost fruity notes on the finish.

Keen’s Cheddar: The Keens are a farming family with over 100 years’ experience making Cheddar. Also made from raw milk, Keen’s Cheddar is tangy, full-bodied and complex, with savoury ‘oniony’ notes that linger on the palate.

Hafod Cheddar: An organic, raw milk Cheddar from Wales. Hafod Cheddar is deep and mellow; rich, buttery, and wonderfully earthy with just a hint of sharpness.

Montgomery’s Cheddar: Jamie

Marcus Fergusson and his cheese, the aptly named 'Renegade Monk'

Cheesemakers are like their cheeses: they’re supposed to take time to mature and fully develop.

Marcus Fergusson, of Feltham’s Farm Cheeses, is a fascinating character, as he doesn’t quite fit this mould. Like his cheese, he is something of a renegade. He’s prodigiously talented and far more comfortable taking risks than a cheesemaker of his experience has any right to be. He’s also disarmingly open and honest about his journey to get to where he is today, both on his blog (which is excellent) and in person.

I’m always excited about trying a cheese when it's made a certain name for itself. One of the reviews that Marcus proudly displays on his website describes Renegade Monk as, ‘a vicious little cheese’. It certainly has an edge to it. It’s pungent and moody, a bit like a surly teenager. You can imagine it spending a lot of time listening to Linkin Park and complaining about being misunderstood. It would be easy to understand

After a few years' hiatus, we're delighted to announce the return of The Fine Cheese Co.'s Festival at Milsom Place.

Past events have proved this to be a perfect chance for fans of cheese from Bath and beyond, to spend the day with some of the fantastic cheesemakers the UK has to offer.

Our line-up looks set to be one of the largest ever, which means a huge amount of cheese to try and buy!

Our cheesemongers and the rest of the team from The Fine Cheese Co.  will also be nearby to help out and answer any questions you have on your favourite cheeses, old and new.

As proud supporters of artisan British cheese, we encourage all cheese lovers to hear some of the stories and meet the faces behind Britain’s finest cheeses.

The big event is being hosted by the stellar people at Milsom Place in the heart of Bath on Saturday 27^th October from 10am to 5pm.

From traditional Somerset raw milk Cheddars, to British Brie-style cheeses and a few modern-farmhouse cheeses in between! The list of

If you were to think of Spain, Manchego would likely be the cheese which immediately sprang to mind. It belongs to a very exclusive club. Along with Brie and Cheddar, Gorgonzola and Gruyère, it has become the poster child for an entire nation’s cheesemaking prowess.
This is not without good cause. A truly great Manchego manages to be many things at once. In my experience, most things in life which are capable of being more than one thing at a time, are a little on the naff side. Old news, plastic glasses, sporks and long shorts are just a few which spring to mind.
Yet a truly good Manchego bucks this trend, as it manages to have a host of seemingly contradictory attributes. It will be firm but silky soft, sweet but savoury, crumbly but creamy and yet the experience will be entirely satisfying.
For reasons we will save for another blog post, there was a time when finding a traditional, artisanal Manchego was exceptionally difficult. It became a phantom; an elusive, haunting memory which

I’ll share a secret with you. I used to think picnics were overrated.
I know… I know... It’s an unusual and unlikely opinion to hold, especially at this time of year. The popularity of the picnic puzzled me. If you can't imagine this, well, bear with me…you might be able to relate more than you first thought.

Picture the scene. It’s your first picnic of the summer; the anticipation is high, the journey is long and the hamper is heavy.

After a long drive, you find the ideal spot to settle down, but it turns out… everyone else has had the same idea. Worse still – someone tipped off every insect in the area, both land and airborne divisions, which come out in force and eagerly swarm around your blanket.

As you rummage your way through your groaning hamper, searching between the now squashed finger food and the leaking thermos flask, the good time you were looking for slinks away into the bushes, leaving you with excess packaging, too much food and a dismal sense of what could have been.

James and George Keen

‘I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.’
Umberto Eco

Cheesemakers obsess over the smallest of details, in order to perfect that taste they are seeking. Over the years, a cheesemaker will build up a laundry list of tips and make-notes.
This Father’s day, we took a moment to celebrate a few of the father-son teams in artisan cheesemaking. In many cases, traditional cheeses have stayed within one family for generations, allowing the knowledge, the cheese and the ‘little scraps of wisdom’ to stay on the same farm as one cheesemaker passes the torch to another. Whether they are perfecting existing recipes, or laying the groundwork for the creation of breathtaking new cheeses, fans of cheese everywhere owe a lot to these father and son teams.
George and James Keen are one such team. The Keen’s have been making traditional, artisan raw-milk Cheddar

 Sponsors of the 2018 British Cheese Awards: The Fine Cheese Co.

The 25th annual event was a special night for all concerned, and, as sponsors of the awards, it was all the more poignant for us, for a number of reasons.
The awards night, which was held at The Royal Bath and West Showground, brought together the best of the best in British cheese.
Close to 1000 cheeses were entered and then whittled down to a select few which were lauded and applauded for their merit, after a vigorous (and none-too arduous) judging process.
Amongst the expert panel of judges were our very own Ruth Raskin and Luke Maslen, but also Michel Roux OBE, who has long been an ardent supporter of British Cheese, and Juliet Harbutt, the founder of the British Cheese Awards all those years ago. Juliet is a woman who has done much to bring about such a robust state of affairs in our industry. But for us, and many others, when it comes to celebrating the role of influential and inspirational women in artisan cheese,

We adore Duckett’s Caerphilly. Being but a short drive away, we recently visited Tom Calver of Westcombe Dairy to see how it is made, and to learn a little of its incredible story.

Duckett’s Caerphilly is a traditional territorial cheese and is one of but a handful of Caerphilly that are made with raw milk. During spring and summer, its taste enters a peak period and has a wonderful fresh taste with bright, fresh flavours of citrus, offset by savoury notes. It has a crumbliness in the centre and becomes softer near the rind. We love to have it crumbled over salads or anything with pea shoots as it is so light and delicious.

Tom Calver was taught the recipe personally by Chris Duckett when Chris moved production of his farmhouse Caerphilly from Wedmore to Evercreech. Being so passionate about raw milk, Tom persuaded Chris to revert the recipe back to an older version first used by Chris’ mum. Tom pushes the envelope in artisan cheesemaking and regularly uses the advances of modernity to

What a weekend it was at the 2018 Artisan Cheese Awards. We were the sponsors of the event so we spent some time in Melton Mowbray celebrating the best that the British Isles have to offer the world of fine cheese. As ever, there were triumphs and trophies galore. It is always rewarding to see the number of cheesemakers we work with come home with some gold. It is a fitting testament to the hard work they put in making the Artisan cheese market on our shores such a dynamic and vibrant one.
Here are a few of our highlights. There are of course, far too many to mention them all, but that is a small price to pay for working with the best of the best.

Best in Class:

Best PDO Cheese:    Keen’s Extra Mature Cheddar
Best Ewes’ Milk Cheese:    Berkswell
Best Raw Milk Cheese:    St Jude
Best Blue Cheese:    Bath Blue
Best Hard Cheese:    Coolea
Best Organic Cheese:    Bath Soft
Best Soft Cheese:    Winslade

A list that also looks like a near-perfect cheeseboard, there is always

Imagine if you discovered, quite by chance, a forest at the end of your garden.

Certain it had never been there before, you proceed to venture into this wild and unexplored territory, whereupon you encounter sights, tastes and smells that were strange and delightful to your senses.

Reeling from your discovery, you rush to tell your friends and family about it, but to your astonishment you are met with incredulity, or, even worse – declarations that you shouldn’t or couldn’t go to this mysterious new place.

You suddenly begin to doubt the validity of your new discovery. Everyone you know seems to be against it, without really knowing why. Apart from one knowledgeable friend, who tells you that the forest is not new. It has always been there, is every bit as good as you thought it was and it is the natural way things are meant to be.

This, dear reader, is something like what faces the fan of artisan cheese in today’s world. On Saturday April 21^st – the international cheese community celebrates

International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate the achievements of women in all walks of life, but as cheese is our business, we got to thinking about the women who have influenced us and from whom we draw inspiration. Well, one name stood out above all others, that of our founder, Ann-Marie Dyas.

For 30 years, Ann-Marie Dyas held a place at the heart of the artisan cheese industry.

In the 1980s, she left behind a successful career in advertising and marketing, to open a cheese shop in Bath. The west country was the ideal place for a cheese shop as there were a clutch of fine, artisan cheesemakers nearby. The climate and pasture of our patch of England is just perfect for dairy cows, and Cheddar was not far down the road.

Cheddar had long since become a commodity cheese, mass produced and sold in uninspiring blocks, but not far away, Jamie Montgomery and the Keen family were defending the great traditions of British cheesemaking, making authentic, hand-made, clothbound Cheddar. Ann-Marie