Colston Bassett Dairy prepares to celebrate 100th Christmas with local member farm

As Colston Bassett Dairy begins production on the Stilton® destined for this year’s festive cheeseboards, the Nottinghamshire-based cheesemaker is also preparing to mark 100 years of partnership with the Faulks family at Hills Farm; one of three family farms that have supplied the dairy since production first began in 1913.

At a dairy where consistency and tradition mean everything, the relationships between Colston Bassett Dairy and its co-operative of farms remain of the utmost importance. With all three farms located within just 1.5 miles of the cheesemaking facility, Head Cheesemaker, Billy Kevan and his predecessors have been able to rely on exceptional quality, locally-sourced milk for over a century, each playing their part in earning Colston Bassett Dairy’s reputation for unsurpassable quality around the world. 

Made in the heartland of Stilton’s® Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) region, Colston Bassett Stilton® and Shropshire Blue are produced using handmade processes and techniques that have been honed over 113 years. Starting with just five raw ingredients and the dairy’s original recipes, the highly skilled team hand ladles, salts and turns every cheese by hand, before carefully individually grading each cheese for sale.

It is this commitment to tradition and excellence that has kept Colston Bassett Stilton® on Christmas cheeseboards decade after decade, maintaining its position in the cheese counters of Britain’s most respected retailers. Colston Bassett Stilton® is the only Stilton® that Neal’s Yard Dairy has carried since it was first established in 1979. Colston Bassett Stilton® is also available from other retailers such as Fine Cheese Co., Paxton & Whitfield, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer.

Hills Farm, currently under the stewardship of third-generation farmer, Sam Faulks, has worked alongside the neighbouring Home Farm and Langar Grange for 100 years and counting, to provide the perfect milk for traditional handmade Stilton®. An iconic cheese and a true slice of living food history, Colston Bassett Stilton® will take its place at the heart of thousands of Christmas celebrations once again this December.

Billy Kevan, Head Cheesemaker at Colston Bassett Dairy, commented:

“Producing a traditional PDO Stilton® of this quality is only possible through a combination of the skill and dedication of our cheesemaking team and the close relationships we've built with our member farms over many generations. To celebrate 100 years of working with Hills Farm while preparing for another Christmas season together is incredibly special for us all."

Colston Bassett Stilton® is available to purchase at retailers including Neal’s Yard Dairy, Fine Cheese Co., Paxton & Whitfield, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, The Cheese Society, The Cheese Works, DukesHill, Mons Cheesemongers, Mellis Cheese and many more.