The world of cheese making is absorbing, fascinating and never dull. We cannot wait to develop this craft and to grow this fantastic business and legacy.
There are many aspects of cheese making that excite me - from the nuances of time and climate impacting flavour - to exploring how small adjustments in starter culture create different tastes and textures.
Dean Storey - Cheesemaker
My foundations in the culinary world lie in the kitchen. In my 20 year career as a chef I have been lucky to work with some fantastic Herefordshire producers - the Tudge family’s unequalled bacon & ham, Wye Valley Brewery’s delicious beer and Charlie’s gorgeous lactic goat’s cheese at Neal’s Yard Creamery. When the chance came along to learn the art of cheesemaking from Karen & Mark Hindle at Monkland dairy and produce a much-loved Herefordshire favourite I could not resist.
Changing career path, developing my ever growing cheesemaking knowledge and taking on a new business have demanded a lot. Thanks to the incredible support of Karen & Mark in sharing their wealth of experience, the Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association, The Chiswick Cheesemarket, my steadfast family and the wider Cheesemaking community I am growing the business and sharing our love for cheese. I am excited about our future as our cheeses are on sale in various shops, delis, vending machines, restaurants and markets. I look forward to meeting more cheeselovers!
Ellen Yeld - MBE
The recipe for Little Hereford, our flag ship cheese, is first recorded in print in 1917.
At this time the Chief Dairy Instructress to the County of Herefordshire was Ellen Yeld MBE. Pre WW2 Cheesemaking was largely carried out by women. This was work that would be carried out to fit into the routine of the farming day.
Ellen wrote a book called Practical Cheesemaking in 1917, it is here that the recipe for Little Hereford is recorded.
Thanks to Karen & Mark, Ellen’s work was utilised again and we feel honoured to be continuing to be custodians of this Herefordshire recipe and technique. Each dairy producing region would have had its own style for cheesemaking. Sadly, many of the nuances from region to region were lost with the change in production of milk and dairy work that was caused by WW2.
Here in Herefordshire, Ellen and her amazing team of women will not be forgotten. Let’s load up a cracker with Little Hereford and raise a toast to this remarkable woman who has left us and cheese-lovers a fantastic legacy.
A fantastic Herefordshire product - milk from our local partner farms and turned into the range of well-loved cheese that Monkland has a reputation for.
Our Team
The cheesemaking is a huge team effort - “I thoroughly enjoy this job, not only because of the fantastic product we are making, but working alongside these committed, kind, and focused people makes our days a lot of fun as well.” Dean
Meet the team: Jo on the left keeps our production running with the vital role of milk collection and also supports us with making, the ever present cleaning and organising orders.
Tara next on left is part of our cheesemaking team with Dean, and also Robert (in red). Tara and Robert’s backgrounds incorporate a valuable range of skills and add food appreciation and a joy for learning into their work.
Behind the scenes are Ruth (Dean’s wife) and Dean’s father in law Andrew. These two muck in mainly with admin and you will find Ruth at markets.
