Lower Barker Farm
Brother to Gillian, Andrew took over the reins of Lower Barker Farm with his wife Ann nine years ago, when Grandad Butler moved to Throstle Nest Farm to rear the young heifers.
Lower Barker Farm is literally on the doorstep of Inglewhite Dairy so the milk tanker really does not have far to go!
Andrew’s work is now split between a dairy herd of 320 cows and 1000 goats, currently providing 700 milkers to be milked twice daily.
Sheardley Fold Farm
Our Kids
Smile!
The cheeky goats live a couple of miles down the lane at Sheardley Fold Farm and are now managed by Andrew’s daughter Nicola and partner Matt, making their first mark on Butlers and dairy farming as the goats cheese market continues to develop.
Andrew likes the goats as they are very friendly and much cleaner than cows – he only needs to wear his trainers when he visits the goats whereas wellies are essential when the cows are about!
There is quite an investment of time to create high quality goats milk. Using three breeds of goat: Saanen, Toggenburg and Alpine, Butlers goats are bred and reared from birth onwards. The kids all need to be weaned and cared for until they are about a year old before they can give something back.
Ravens Oak Dairy
Katy - Our Cheesemaker
Our tiny Ravens Oak Dairy is close to Nantwich in Cheshire, purchased from the founder, Sandra Allwood in 2003. With a great reputation, like us, Sandra loved making real handmade cheeses that won awards everywhere she took them.
Headed by our resident cheese maker Katy Hollinshead, this little gem of a dairy makes many of our goats cheeses including Kidderton Ash and Ravens Oak, in addition to our golden soft cheese made from Guernsey cows milk, Guernsey Gold and a soft spreadable goats cheese– outstanding cheeses that are enjoyed by many and keep winning awards.
Throstle Nest Farm
Throstle Nest is where we carefully age our rinded cheeses. The muslin cheese cloth is carefully stripped from a whole handmade cheese which is then transferred to our stone barn where the unique flora and climate are left to work there magic. Over time a natural rind develops on the cheese to protect it and the cheese takes on a whole new character.
Throstle Nest is just one and a half miles down the road from the Dairy so Bill can keep a close eye on the cheeses as they develop, turning them regularly, checking them and sampling and picking the optimum time to finally get them trimmed and cut and ready for sale.
Inglewhite Dairy
Wilson Fields Farm Entrance
Tim our Cheesemaker
Our main dairy is at Wilson Fields Farm, just outside the picturesque village of Inglewhite, at the foot of Beacon Fell.
This is the home of Blacksticks; in addition to our collection of
handmade regional cheeses.
Tim Fisher is the head cheese maker there – there is not much he doesn’t know about cheese. Tim makes sure that everything is just as it should be in the dairy so that you get the tastiest cheese that we can make.