They have been organic since the 1970s and now produce one of the best Cheddars out there – check them out! Full of personal stories, warmth and admiration, Angus teases out just what makes British cheese so special.

I want people to see Our Isles and be inspired themselves, to conserve the natural environment in a way that makes them happy and fulfilled. Farmhouse cheesemakers are also increasing the diversity of pasture their animals are grazing to see whether it affects the final flavour of the cheese. I love trying regional food and travelling to different regions in the British Isles, so artisan cheese seemed to be the perfect food product that expressed the former and allowed me the excuse to travel. Two cheesemakers who exemplifies this are Patrick and Becky Holden from Holden Farm Dairy in West Wales, who make Hafod cheese, a Welsh Cheddar.This book highlights the wonderful diversity of people, scales and skills which characterise and bind together the emergent community of UK artisan cheese makers. The UK farmhouse cheese industry has faced its biggest challenges in recent years, with the Covid-19 pandemic forcing many small cheesemakers out of business. It makes you truly admire the hard work of the cheese makers, appreciate the animals and reflect on where the food we eat comes from.

Factors like the health of the soil and the welfare and diet of the animals are things to consider in this case. However, as much as I moan about the production side of things, it opened up a world of food and drink as we visited local farmers markets and national food festivals selling our products. The book is rich with information and stunning photography, making it a beautiful addition to any coffee table. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Through his essays, many photos and recipes, Angus brings to life the joys and challenges of cheesemaking in 21st century Britain, and shows how each of us can play our own small part in keeping alive this important part of our culinary and agricultural heritage.

Through a selection of thirty cheesemakers and their cheeses, I hope to show how British artisan cheese is profoundly connected to the land, farm animals and people involved in making it. Birditt has been visiting and documenting dairies all over the British Isles, looking at the food, people and landscapes dedicated to artisan and farmhouse cheeses. And each aspect (soil/land, pasture/feed, animal, milk quality, maker) is so variable, which makes cheese such a diverse and fascinating product. We sat down to chat about the book and Our Isles, the platform he founded to celebrate the rural environment and the British Isles through food, nature, history and heritage.

Ultimately, Our Isles is a platform to explore and appreciate subjects like artisan and regional food, nature, rural history and heritage. The book shines a light on the industry’s rich heritage, community and, above all, its cheesemakers, looking at how, through a mixture of knowledge and intuition, science and artistry, they create their cheese. A Portrait of British Cheese celebrates the excellence of artisan and farmhouse cheese in the British Isles, expressing it as a product of the land, its animals, and its people, offering a snapshot of rural life, artisan traditions and delicious dishes. Birditt, the book takes readers on a journey through the stories, people, and landscapes dedicated to artisan and farmhouse cheeses. Several are trying to be self-sufficient, growing as much as they can on the farm and reducing expensive inputs like imported grain or soya to feed their animals.The farmhouse cheesemakers I have visited work to the highest levels of animal welfare, and many are looking to become more sustainable with what they are putting onto the land and feeding their animals for the best possible milk for cheesemaking. The countryside is where I find most of my inspiration for writing, photographing, curating and, well, eating! I found myself starting to collect a body of work (photographs and prose) on various cheesemakers across the British Isles, fascinated by their deep knowledge of their local landscape and ecosystem, and their care for their animals.

From Lincolnshire Poacher to Stichelton, Baron Bigod to Brefu Bach, the book explores the diversity of cheeses and the communities that make them. Over time, I had created a treasure trove of words and photographs (by this point I had found a camera to snap away with! The specific ecosystem and microbiome in the maturation process also affects the flavour of the cheeses, the microbiome being, again, like every aspect of the cheesemaking process, utterly fascinating. It is one of those rare food products can be spoken about in the same sentence as terroir – loosely defined as ‘evoking the character of the land’ or more broadly, the ecosystem. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.I loved that these cheeses were not only a wonderful, delicious food product but also an instrument to express heritage, tradition and history. This is a beautiful book celebrating iconic British cheesemakers that transports you across the British Isles with stunning photography and stories of culture, history and families. I loved how these cheeses were not only a wonderful, delicious food product but also an instrument to express heritage, tradition and history.