Made by Graham Kirkham, near Goosnargh, in Lancashire, Kirkham’s Lancashire is a classic British cheese. In the county of Lancashire, the cheeses are enjoyed at a variety of ages, evolving from buttery and creamy in their youth into powerful and savoury mature cheeses which can be aged for up to a year.

The Kirkham family has been farming and making cheese for three generations. When we began buying the cheese in the mid-1980s, John Kirkham managed the cows and his wife Ruth made the cheese. Today, the mantle has passed to their son Graham, whose partner Kellie and sons Mike and Shaun are also involved in all aspects of the business.

What sets the Kirkham’s Lancashire apart is the quality of the milk and the long, slow make; the first step in the cheesemaking is an overnight pre-ripening of the milk, designed to get the native cheesemaking bacteria working and active. Graham uses only a tiny amount of starter culture and works the curds carefully to drain them at their own gentle pace over the course of many hours. The result is a cheese that tastes intensely of the milk that was used to make it, with an extraordinarily complex and long-lasting flavour.

Milk: Raw Cow’s Milk, farm’s own milk

Coagulant: Animal Rennet

Additional information