Say Cheese!

Assignment 2 - Article 2

Lancashire has been producing cheese for centuries, traditionally by small farms dotted across the county.

Farmer’s wives would use the surplus milk left from the farm and produce cheese to supplement the farm income.

Historical records show that Lancashire cheese was being transported to London from Liverpool by boat as early as the 1600s.

Standardisation

In about 1890 Lancashire cheese was to be reinvented to a form recognised to the present day.

Joseph Gornall, working for Lancashire County Council visited the cheese makers offering practical advice in an aim to standardise, creating a uniform “Lancashire cheese.”

Gornall developed the “Gornall Cheesemaker” in 1892 among other cheese making tools, attempting to make cheese making less labour intensive.

In the early days without refrigeration, milk would be stored overnight and turned into curd, then blended with curds from other days to create cheese.

This method of cheese making has been passed down from generation to generation and is produced by a number of families in Lancashire today.

But why Lancashire? What types of Lancashire cheese are there? Has the credit crunch had any impact on local cheese producers?

Types of cheese

• Creamy Lancashire: Made over three days with three different batches of curd, giving it a fattier flavour. Matured for 5 months, this creates a rich, creamy flavour and a deep yellow colour.

• Tasty Lancashire: The same cheese as Creamy Lancashire, but matured for anything up to 18 months to create a much stronger taste.

• Crumbly Lancashire: The newest Lancashire cheese. Made with just a single day batch of curd and matured for typically 12 weeks. A mild, tangy taste, white in colour and a completely different texture.

Lancashire and the Forest of Bowland

There are ten local producers of Lancashire cheese all within a ten mile radius of the Forest of Bowland.

Tim Procter, of Procter’s Cheeses, Chipping explains: “It’s all to do with the topography of the land. All up the West coast of the UK there are good dairy areas because of the high rainfall creating good grass.”

He adds: “The credit crunch hasn’t affected us yet, October was our busiest month of the year. Maybe people are spending less at restaurants and eating better at home.”



Stuart Robinson, of Singletons Dairy, Longridge said: “About 95% of Lancashire’s cheese is produced within a ten mile radius of here. It’s because there’s a good milk source and good grazing around the Fylde.”

“The credit crunch hasn’t had an impact on us yet, we aim at a specialised market. About 75% of our produce is exported, mainly to America.”

Some cheese producers in the area have noticed a slow down however.

Lynne, of JJ Sandham Ltd, Barton, admits that orders have slowed a little and customers have been slower to pay but they have remained busy in the run up to Christmas.

Diversification

With production of cheese in Lancashire remaining steady Bob Kitching, of Leagram Organic Dairy, Chipping is attempting to diversify.



He said: “We haven’t seen any change in sales as people still have to eat. People think organic cheese is more expensive, but if you take a look around this is not necessarily the case.”

“We’re planning to open a tea room and museum with grants available from Ribble Valley Futures and the tourism board. These have been put on hold though because of the recession.”

A brighter future?

Nick Kenyon, of Dew-Lay, Garstang says the next couple of weeks running up to Christmas will prove to be the “acid test” for them.

He said: “We’re still busy, November quietened off but sales have picked up again in early December. We are trying to save on costs where possible though.”

There are positive signs in the cheese market though. Sales of Garstang Blue, Dew-Lay’s celebrity endorsed cheese have remained high.

Nick added: “Sales of our Garstang Blue have remained really good. In fact blue cheese is one of the few growth areas in the cheese market.”

Lancashire’s cheese producers appear to be dodging the credit crunch better than some industries have done. In my opinion that's definitely worthy of a smile.

Thanks to Richard Moran for the photographs.