Cheese Chats

Graham Kirkham talks about what tradition means to him and for his farm. Andy Swinscoe at the Courtyard Dairy interview Graham to explore British farmhouse cheese in depth exploring it from Graham Kirkham's point of view as a farmhouse Lancashire cheesemaker. Kirkhams have been making their eponymous Lancashire cheese at Beesley Farm near Goosnargh for over forty years.

An interview with Andrew Hattan, of Low Riggs Farm in Nidderdale, on his experiences of small scale sustainable upland hill farming, returning to traditional dairying, the environmental impact of farming and how to survive on an upland farm in the Dales.

Barry Graham, who was at the forefront of the raw-cheese British cheese-making revival in the 1980’s talks about his experiences in this in-depth interview. Starting with just four Ayrshire cows and a parcel of land. A founder committee member of Britain’s Specialist Cheesemakers Association, Barry has helped grow Loch Arthur community from its humble to a multi-million pound farm, farmshop and creamery, whilst still retaining true to its farmhouse and raw milk routes. In this interview he talks about the challenges he’s faced and how the industry has changed in the last 30 years.

Martin Gott, maker of St James Cheese and one of Britain’s foremost cheese-makers talks about his farm and natural cheese-making in this in-depth interview. In this 50-minute podcast, Andy & Kathy of The Courtyard Dairy chat to Martin on how he creates a truly unique farmhouse cheese that captures the nature of his Cumbrian farm, and how he is doing so by harnessing the bacteria natural to his milk, and creating his own 'starter cultures' to truly show the uniqueness of his farm.