MONKLAND Cheese Dairy took home the prize for Best Dairy Producer.

Mark Hindle and his daughter Nathalie Hindle from the dairy near Leominster received the award from Frank Myers from the Herefordshire Community Foundation.

The runners-up in this category were Kelsmor Dairy in Garway and Rowlestone Farmhouse Ice Cream.

Mark said: “We were thrilled. It was great news.

“I was really pleased to see the Riverside Inn win overall.

“We provide them with our cheese. If you look at their suppliers they use all north Herefordshire people.

“There is a real network of good food in Herefordshire.”

Monkland Cheese Dairy is open to the public so visitors can watch Little Hereford cheese being made traditionally by hand.

Mark said: “We bought the property in 1995 and first started making cheese in 1996.

“We live in a beautiful part of the world and we have a livelihood we thoroughly enjoy doing. We are very lucky.”

They revived Ellen Yeld’s (chief dairy instructress for the county circa 1918) original Herefordshire cheese recipe in May 1996 and have gone on to develop a further six different cheeses.

They buy their unpasteurised milk from Cawley Farms near Brimfield, six miles from their dairy.

They farm a traditional low input/ low output grass fed system using cross-bred cows who produce great milk for cheese from grass.

Their starter cultures and rennet come from Orchard Dairy in Tenbury Wells.

Their cheeses are pressed using original cast iron presses and then they mature the cheeses on wooden shelves at around 13 degrees Celcius for four to six months.

Their cheeses are for sale in the farm shop attached to the dairy and many local independent retailers.

These retailers include The Mousetrap Cheeseshops, Pengethley Farm Shop, Oakchurch Farm shop, Truffles in Ross-on-Wye, Ludlow Food Centre, Canon Pyon and Weobley Village Shops and many more.

The dairy is well signposted off the A44 on the Brecon road just outside Leominster and just a hundred yards off the main road.

They have an award-winning tea room offering excellent coffee, leaf tea, homemade cakes and light lunches.

Visitors can take a tour of the cheesemaking or learn to make cheese on one of their cheese experience days.

Their cheeses include Little Hereford, Hereford Sage, Monkland, Monkland with garlic and chives, Smoked Little Hereford, Blue Monk and The Other Monk.

They also sell hampers.

Mark added: “We still very much thoroughly enjoy making cheese.”

To find out more go to monklandcheesedairy.co.uk or follow them on Twitter @monklandcheese.