Bath Soft Cheese Company
The village of Kelston, near beautiful Bath is home to The Bath Soft Cheese Co. Hugh Padfield and his family have farmed this gorgeous part of the world since his grandfather, Edward Ernest Padfield started out with the original 240 acres of Park Farm in August 1914. His wife made cheddar in one building, with the milking parlour (where the cows were milked by hand, no fancy machinery back then) just across the yard.
Fast forward to the 1990s, Graham (Hugh’s dad) started to make cheese again. He was able to use the very same buildings his grandmother had made her cheddar in almost 80 years before. Nowadays, things have moved a little bit with the milking parlour even closer (less than 50 yards) to where the award-winning cheeses are made.
Graham knew he wanted to make a traditional, regional cheese. The local Bath cheese was known in the 18th and 19th centuries and Admiral Lord Nelson himself was a fan. This was good enough for our hero, who found the recipe in an old grocer’s book at the library. He discovered the cheese must be made with full cream milk and salt hand sprinkled and then evenly distributed with the help of a feather (it’s all in the detail) yielding a soft cheese with a white mould.
Fast forward to the 1990s, Graham (Hugh’s dad) started to make cheese again. He was able to use the very same buildings his grandmother had made her cheddar in almost 80 years before. Nowadays, things have moved a little bit with the milking parlour even closer (less than 50 yards) to where the award-winning cheeses are made.
Graham knew he wanted to make a traditional, regional cheese. The local Bath cheese was known in the 18th and 19th centuries and Admiral Lord Nelson himself was a fan. This was good enough for our hero, who found the recipe in an old grocer’s book at the library. He discovered the cheese must be made with full cream milk and salt hand sprinkled and then evenly distributed with the help of a feather (it’s all in the detail) yielding a soft cheese with a white mould.