Hoping to keep an almost-forgotten Ayrshire tradition alive, Tricia Bey began to create Barwheys Dairy in 2008 in South Ayrshire – a landscape that boasts a rich history of being home to many cheese-producing dairies.

Moving up from London to her husband’s childhood home of Ayrshire, Tricia wanted to create her own business that would help to resurrect a local tradition.

After undertaking a course in cheese making in Kyle of Lochalsh, visiting other cheesemakers and beginning the build of Barwheys Dairy just outside of Maybole, Tricia was ready to buy her first two cows in 2008 with the first Barwheys cheese being produced in August 2010.

History of cheese making in Ayrshire

Tricia said: “My husband comes from Troon and he bought the farm some years ago and it was only when I moved up here from London permanently that I wanted to do something on the farm.

“I’ve always been a big foodie and I care a lot about the provenance of food and tradition. I’ve always been interested in dying traditions and Ayrshire was the milk churn of Scotland.

“It was a big dairy country and in those days – every dairy farm made cheese as a way of preserving it.”

“But once refrigeration came into play, the whole cheese industry collapsed in Ayrshire.”

Barwheys Dairy is now the only cheese-making dairy in South Ayrshire and it operates alongside just one other cheese-producing dairy in the whole of Ayrshire.

“I thought ‘How do you do it really traditionally?’, and it is to use milk from Ayrshire cows,” said Tricia.

She added: “Ayrshire milk is also one of the best for cheese making so I was lucky in that sense.”

Ayrshire cattle

Tricia bought her first two Ayrshire cattle – Jen and Madge – in 2008 and she began to produce cheese from the milk of those two cows.

Tricia has since continued to source pedigree Ayrshires and the herd is now made up of around 60 cows, with 34 currently used for milking and the rest are followers.

In addition to the herd of 60 cows, they also own one stock bull. Tricia made the decision to close the herd around four years ago in order to bring more security to the dairy which uses unpasteurised milk.

The Ayrshire herd is managed by Tricia’s neighbours – the Limond family – who tend to the cattle as well as milking them.

In total there is around 350ac for the cattle to graze on, with both the Limond family and Barwheys Dairy owning about half of the land each.

Barwheys cheese

At Barwheys itself, Tricia works alongside cheese maker Sam McCulloch as well as Andy Findlay who works with the cheese as it ages over the months.

“When I was starting up I asked around whether I should concentrate on just one thing or not and I was told to do one thing and try and do it really well,” said Tricia.

Barwheys Dairy focuses on producing an old-fashioned handmade cheddar that ages in cheesecloth on wooden shelves for about one year.

Tricia prides herself on working to produce a cheese that reflects the changes brought about on the milk by the seasons as well as the varying land.

She said: “It took four or five years for me to feel confident.

“Which field the cows are in, when the beech leaves are out and when they go to the clover fields makes big difference to all those batches of cheese.”

Tricia added: “It’s kind of a funny thing, people expect foods to be different yet they expect consistency.

“The land is very inconsistent and even though we make it the same way, winter cheese is different to the summer cheese.”

The wet weather and late start to the spring this year did bring an additional challenge for Tricia.

She said: “It’s been particularly difficult for us this spring as well as financially very difficult.

“With the weather it meant we couldn’t control feed as we had to buy in more feed and this affects the milk. I think that’s why a lot of people have their herds inside. The big benefit is it keeps feed consistent which means the milk is consistent.

“I wouldn’t say one way is better than the other – there are different systems for different products.”

In addition to the dairy’s main focus, a small number of truckles are held back for 18 months, or slightly longer, which then become ‘Barwheys Beasties’ which are cheeses released in time for Christmas and Burns Night.

“We decide in May which ones to hold back, it can be a little bit hit and miss as we don’t want them to taste too strong,” said Tricia. “Deciding on the cheeses is one of the most fun bits of the job.”

Discussing the aging process of the cheese, Andy said: “The older cheeses get turned about once a month and the newer stuff up to about one month old is turned about every week.”

The cheese store is kept at around 9°C with the humidity levels varying across the store depending on the ages of the cheeses in each area.

Andy added: “The reality is every truckle has its own personality and you’re making something for people to enjoy and that makes what you are doing worthwhile.”

Award-winning cheese

Since selling the first Barwheys Dairy cheese in September 2011, Tricia has gone on to win several awards at the Royal Highland Show over the years.

The dairy has won gold awards for their cheese at the Royal Highland Show each year from 2012 through to 2017. They have also won the title as Best Scottish Cheddar at the show in 2017.

Considering whether to enter their cheese again this year or not, Tricia said: “I don’t know if I should quit whilst on top, but it really depends on whether my taste buds are up to it.”

Tricia added: “I think every cheese maker in Scotland is different and we can’t replicate each other’s cheeses.

“That’s the great thing about being in the artisan food world.”