Introducing Broughton Hall Dairy
It’s always exciting to watch a cheesemaker find their stride, and few have done so as quickly as Emily Tydeman, who founded Broughton Hall Dairy in 2023. Her first cheese, Pyghtle, a delicate lactic cheese made with raw sheep’s milk, has already become a favourite among those who appreciate the handful of soft raw milk cheeses still made in Britain today. Now, we are preparing to launch her second creation, Nettus, a hard cheese matured at Neal’s Yard Dairy in London, which will be available in very limited quantities between September and Christmas.
But to understand Emily’s cheeses, you need to know something about where the milk comes from.
Emily Tydeman at Broughton Hall Farm.
A Cheese Built on Partnership
Emily works in close collaboration with Jess Martin, who run Salter’s Farm just a few miles away. Jess grew up with sheep from the age of ten, beginning with “pets” before gradually building a flock. She met Emily (serendipitously, through a mutual friend at rugby practice) just as she was setting out on her cheesemaking journey. Both farm and dairy started at the same point, and they’ve grown together ever since.
Some of the flock from Salter's Farm and Broughton Hall farm buildings.
Jess milks her flock in a platform ten-cluster parlour set beside a purpose-built lambing shed, currently home to around 50 dairy sheep (and 150 commercial sheep) with plans to expand the dairy sheep numbers to 100 in the 2026 season. Her farming philosophy is based on low-input, pasture-focused methods: sheep graze outdoors year-round, rotating across herbal leys, cover crops, and bird-friendly pastures (including fields that form part of Emily’s own farm), supplemented with just a handful of nuts in the parlour. While milk yields are lower than those from intensively managed flocks, the quality of the milk is exceptional: rich, complex, and perfectly suited for cheesemaking.
Animal welfare is central to their approach. Lambs remain with their mothers for five to six weeks until naturally weaned, and the flock includes a mix of Lleyn, Friesland and Lacaune breeds, striking a balance between hardiness and milk quality. For Emily, this system is more than a source of milk: it’s the foundation of her cheeses.
Introducing Nettus
If Pyghtle was the cheese Emily wanted to make, then Nettus is the cheese she needed to make. Pyghtle is a labour-intensive diva (“the Mariah Carey of the cheese world,” Emily jokes), available only during certain times of the year. Nettus, on the other hand, helps smooth out the peaks and troughs of the cheesemaking calendar, offering a way to use surplus milk in the spring and a cheese to sell through the winter months.
Nettus cheese moulds at Broughton Hall Dairy.
The recipe emerged after months of trial and error, drawing inspiration from a range of traditions—Ossau Iraty, Manchego, Pecorino—without imitating any of them. Early on, and lacking the facilities to mature a hard cheese alongside the Pyghtle, Emily began collaborating with Neal’s Yard Dairy’s cheeseshift team on maturation experiments. We tried oil-rubbing, dry salting, and brine-washing, but it was the washed rind that stood out, unanimously preferred for the depth and complexity it brought.
Today, Emily sends Nettus up to our Bermondsey arches just a few days after it is made. We mature the wheels on wooden shelves for about three months before selecting batches to release. The result is a supple, aromatic cheese with its own distinct milky-savoury character.
Looking Ahead
Emily’s ambitions for Broughton Hall Dairy are as practical as they are creative. Next season, she hopes to bring more structure to the business, balancing growth with sustainability—no small feat while raising three children and working part-time elsewhere. Longer term, she sees Nettus becoming the “bread and butter” of the dairy, with Pyghtle continuing to captivate those who love its raw milk delicacy.
Emily and the barn that inspired the Broughton Hall Dairy logo.
For now, we’re delighted to be introducing the very first batches of Nettus in the coming weeks. With only a handful of wheels available, it’s a rare chance to taste a cheese at the very beginning of what promises to be an exciting journey.
Nettus, the aged raw ewe's milk cheese from Broughton Hall Dairy.