Jamie Montgomery, 43, whose family has been making cheese at Manor Farm in North Cadbury since 1911, uses only the milk produced by his own herd of 140 Friesian cows to make his unpasteurised Farmhouse Cheddar, which is one of the very few that still uses calf rennet, the traditional source of the enzyme, to start the curd. This is possibly the only Farmhouse Cheddar still using an old, slow peg mill to cut the curd, equipment that results in the peculiar fissuring and brittleness of the cheese.

Cheesemaking is only one of a number of enterprises that Jamie manages. He also grows wheat, barley potatoes and cider apples, and rears a small number of Jersey cows. The farm provides grass and maize, some small potatoes and wheat for the Fresians. He makes his cheese 7 days a week to ensure the freshness of the milk and uses the same strains of starter cultures as when the family started cheesemaking 70 years ago. They are difficult to handle and produce a wide variation in flavours, but they produce cheese oozing with character.