Kirkham's Lancashire

In 1939 there were 202 farmhouse producers of Lancashire. Today, only the Kirkham family remain, with Graham Kirkham the third generation to follow in his family's footsteps by making raw milk Lancashire according to the traditional method. This involves combining curds from several days' milkings – an approach as unique as it is time consuming, having originated in the days when Lancashire farms were much smaller, and didn't have enough cows to make cheese on a daily basis. But it's well worth the effort for the resulting complexity of taste. We have worked closely with the Kirkhams for over 30 years, beginning when Graham's father John managed the cows and his mother Ruth was responsible for the cheesemaking, and we look forward to many more years of this treasured territorial cheese.

Every month we visit Beesley Farm, taste our way through the batches of Kirkham's Lancashire that are one to two months old, and select those we think are best for us. The majority of these will be sold the following month, when the cheese is just three or four months old and the flavours are fresh and gentle, but a few cheeses will lend themselves to a longer maturation period of approximately nine to twelve months. These we will take back to Bermondsey and tend to in our own maturing arches, to become Mature Kirkham's Lancashire. During maturation they will develop a texture that is closer to the crumbly side of 'buttery crumble' and some flavours that are more upfront and punchy.