Two years ago, I wrote a feature for Speciality Food Magazine about the British cheese industry. It was flourishing. World exports were increasing monthly, and the range of artisanal cheeses was wonderfully impressive; from the famous Fenn Farm Dairy’s Baron Bigod, in the far south, to the classic cheddars of Somerset and Devon, to the prize winning continental-inspired Welsh cheeses of Caws Teifi, not forgetting one of Britain’s most ‘marmite’ options, Gloucestershire’s Stinking Bishop. There were the creamy Wensleydales and Lancashires and the dozens of really small producers making elegant goats’ and sheeps’ cheese, not forgetting the UK’s own Mozarellas, Fetas and Halloumi style offerings.
And now, I appeal to you to help save the British artisanal cheese.
Now the time has come for us to do our bit for this exceptional industry. Hit hard by the economical effect of Coronavirus many have had to halt production, their wholesale orders dwindling to a fraction of the norm. Many are offering Mail Order services which is where we can help. Buying from these producers won’t only save businesses, but also traditions, it’s taken a quarter of a century to re-built the heritage (and contemporary) British cheese market – we have lost hundreds of varieties in the past few centuries and now, when the future was looking rosy for these producers, disaster has struck.
The most important thing is that we keep buying. Even when lockdown is over, and we can begin returning to some sort of normality, its important seek out local cheesemakers, make a day of it (many offer tours and farm shop purchases) and rediscover the taste of fabulous British cheese.
Here are a few of my favourites, all of whom are currently offering a mail order service.
Quickes Clothbound Cheddar
(cow and goats’ milk cheddars from Devon)
(raw soft cheeses and butter from Sufolk)
3. White Lake Cheese
(sheep, cows and goats’ cheeses from Somerset)
4. Caws Teifi (Dutch-style cheese from West Wales)
(British hard and soft cheeses from Shropshire)
6. Shepherds Purse
(Sheeps’ cheeses from Yorkshire)
7. Charles Martell & Son
(Gloucestershire cheeses, Single and Double Gloucester and Stinking Bishop)
(Gloucestershire Cheeses, Single and Double) 
