History of Neal's Yard Creamery

We are a small dairy near Dorstone, overlooking the Wye Valley, Herefordshire. We make fresh and mould-ripened cheeses. yoghurts and creme fraiche. I have owned and run the Creamery since 1990.

Originally we were the same company as Neal's Yard Dairy. Randolph Hodgson and the original Dairy team made the first Greek-Style yoghurt to be sold in the UK, Creme Fraiche and a couple of fresh cheeses. A few years later, Neal's Yard Dairy started selling, selecting and maturing farm-made cheeses, which, over the years, became its main focus.

In 1986, the Creamery became a separate company and moved out to Ide Hill, near Sevenoaks in Kent, where it was run for a few years by Perry James and Beatrice Garroche. Their names were amalgamated to christen the fresh goats cheese 'Perroche'.

In 1990, I had been working at Neal's Yard Dairy, selling, maturing and collecting cheese from the farms and I decided I would like to try cheesemaking. I took over the Creamery after Perry and Beatrice left. After 6 years at Ide Hill, in 1990, I moved the Creamery to Dorstone in Herefordshire where it is today. Our dairy is now located on Dorstone Hill with views down the Wye Valley and over to the Black Mountains.

I am helped in the Creamery by cheesemaker Haydn Robers and a team of about 5, and in the office by Sue Davies.

In time, we hope to expand this website to show the cheesemaking, explain the products in more detail and explain what we have done, during recent building work, to install renewable energy at the Creamery.

Charlie Westhead