HIS MAJESTY THE KING WILL VISIT LINCOLNSHIRE POACHER CHEESE
Monday 24th July 2023
The King will visit the farm where the Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese is produced. His Majesty will also meet the family who have run the farm since 1918 and are now in their fourth generation.
On arrival at the Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese farm, the King will be met by Simon Jones, who first introduced the possibility of making cheese at the farm in the 1990s.
The farm began dairying in 1970 with Simon’s father, Richard, but it wasn’t until Simon came back from agricultural college that he began exploring the possibility of making cheese at the farm. Simon’s research began with a cheese making course at Reaseheath College and visiting various cheese dairies which eventually saw him set up a small dairy of his own, making his first batch of cheese on 17th February 1992.
Today, all the milk produced on the farm, apart from a small quantity bottled and sold at farmer’ markets, is turned into Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese.
During the visit, His Majesty will also be introduced to Simon’s brother Tim, who joined the business in 2000 to support with sales and marketing and Simon’s mother, Jenny Jones, who was the farm secretary in the 1980s and still supports the farm today.
After watching the cheese milling process from a viewing window, His Majesty will have an opportunity to meet members of staff who have supported work at the Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese including Richard Tagg, who worked as the cheesemaker for 25 years before retiring in 2019, and Robert Ranshaw who has worked on the farm for 47 years.
In the cheese store, where the cheese is housed and turned for full maturity, Simon and His Majesty will observe a robot called “Florence the Machine” turn the truckles of cheese between aisles. Before departing, His Majesty will sample Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese.
