A few people have asked for more information about the history of Bath Soft Cheese. Below are some historical extracts concerning the cheese:

To Admiral Nelson from his father, July 16, 1801:
“My dear Horatio, – On Tuesday next I intend (God willing) to leave Bath and tho’ not very strong, yet, hope to reach Lothian on Thursday, as I must remain a few days in London, let me not interrupt any of your engagements.
Recollecting that Sir William and Lady Hamilton seemed gratified by the flavour of a cream cheese, I have taken the liberty of sending 2 or 3 cheeses of Bath manufacture.
I am my dear Son your most affectionate Edmund Nelson” pg 589, Nelson’s letters to his wife and other documents

“Bath Cheese – In days long ago there was considerable demand for a full-milk soft cheese, erroneously said to be a cream cheese. The consumption of this “Bath Cheese”, as it was named, was brisk enough to command the services of a number of dairyers and dairymaids; but… in 1908 it was made by one only, Mrs. Loxton… it was a cream cheese, in the sense that it contained all the cream which was inherent to the milk from which it was made. For all that, however, it was not cream cheese in the sense in which the term is now employed… The old Bath Cheese was square in form” Bath Agricultural Society (1908)

“We are not concerned here with the many cream cheeses, particularly of Devon and Cornwall… Bath cheese is more important: it was long popular in fashionable circles there, and could still be bought in this century.” English cheeses of the south and west, John Arlott publ. Harrap in 1959

“Bath Cheese – This is no longer made, but here is the old recipe showing how it was made: Take 2 qt. of new milk … so solid that the mould can be removed without the cheese falling about. The sprinkle fine salt over it, spread with a feather, and place it on a dry shelf in a fairly warm room (65 F) to ripen… when a fine white mould has covered it, it is fit to eat.” English Cheeses – date unknown

The recipe is also recorded in (Lady) Law’s Grocers Manual of 1895

Bath Cheese is also refered to in “A little book of cheese” by Osbert Burdett – 1935.

Think of early morning sun coming up through trees.
Then a breeze comes and gently sways the leaves.
Sunlight falls on farmyard walls,
moves dappled shades on backs of cows and timber boards.
Now, see a dairy maid with bucket full and fresh.
See her pause and gently place the milk to rest.
This is how a ”Wyfe of Bath” will taste,
brimful of life and earthy love, but at the same time blest.

Autumn approaches and with it the urgency to plough up old weedy pasture and reseed with new clover leys. Seeds sown in early September establish well before winter, but a delay due to weather or machinery breakdown means that the new crop is not properly established. It is then vulnerable to frost and, if the plants are small, what little leaf they have will be gobbled up slugs.

Next spring any gaps in the crop will be colonised by weeds and all the hard work of ploughing, cultivation, and the cost of seed and fuel will be wasted. Timeliness is everything.

Hence the saying: ”God speed the plough”

From Farm images

Our Wyfe of Bath Cheese got Gold and our Blue Cheese got Silver in the Organic Cheese catagory at the Nantwich International cheese awards held yesterday and today. If you want great organic cheese then come to us. Getting first and second in the catagory is a great result, all credit to our fanatastic cheese makers

Some of the land in Kelston rises up to the local landmark “Kelston Round Hill”.

The view from up there is marvellous; you can see Wales and the Black Mountains to the west, the Wiltshire Downs to the east, and the Mendip Hills to the South. Bath spreads itself out tidily at your feet, and in the distance the conurbation of Bristol spr…awls busily.

But though it has a great view, the hill has little water, and cows in particular need up to 50 litres per head per day to produce milk.

Fortunately, the fields lie over a limestone aquifer. So a bore hole has been sunk and water found at 70 metres. Soon every field will have an abundant water supply

Here is a photo of the very first water to come up – crystal clear

From Farm images

Wyfe of Bath was named as the best British organic hard cheese (exc Cheddars) at the National Cheese Awards, held at the Bath and West Show last week. This is the second year in a row that Wyfe of Bath Cheese has won Gold in this category, showing that it really is consistently the best

From Selling cheese

Silaging is when we harvest the spring grass for the cows to eat next winter. We need a balance between quality and quantity.
The grass is cut, allowed to dry for a few hours in the sun then picked up by the forage harvester and blown into a trailer, then we put it into a clamp where naturally occurring bacteria ferment the sugars producing a vinegary acid that preserves the grass. It is similar to preserving onions in vinegar.

The earlier we cut the grass the more succulent, digestible and nutritious it is. But there is a risk that the yield will insufficient to last the whole of the winter. Silage is bulky and expensive to transport. And when you want to buy some in, so does everyone else, so the price can be exorbitant.

Last year we delayed silaging to ensure we had sufficient quantity and in hindsight left it too late, so we had lots of bulk, but poor quality. The cows didn’t milk too well and it was difficult to get them back in calf.

So this year we started in good time. The grass is lovely but the silage clamp is only half full! Now we need regular rain to bring on another cut of grass. If we don t get it we‘ll be ruined

From Farm images

Bath Soft Cheese dates from Admiral Lord Nelson’s time. Nelson not only ate Bath Cheese but famously beat the French at Trafalgar. Now he may be turning in his grave. Last month we were bowled over as Frenchman and cheese making expert Ivan Larcher paid us a visit, showing us how to computerise the record keeping and improve the consistency of the cheese. Here he is with cheesemakers Yarek and Valery.

From Ivan in cheese room

The driest March for 50 years meant that our fields were firm enough to get the cows out on the 28th March, which is 2 weeks earlier than usual. This was a great relief as silage stocks are low after last summers drought. The abundant and highly nutritious spring grass meant that we could dramatically reduce consumption of scarce silage and expensive cow concentrate nuts, while at the same time the milk from each cow went up by an average of 3 litres a day.
Just as well as we need to make more cheese to keep sending stock to the London Farmer’s Markets and our stall at Borough Market.

From Farm images

Milk is produced by the female of the species. The milk for our cheese comes from cows. But before a cow can produce milk she must produce a calf and in order to produce a calf she has to be mated with a bull.
So the male of the species does have a small but significant part to play in this largely female dominated food production system.
Here is our bull.

From Cows at Park Farm