Change and continuity in Sussex cheesemaking: the Traditional Cheese Dairy.

The Delves, 3rd generation East Sussex dairy farmers, took over this iconic business in August 2020. In early 2020, we met the news that the Dyballs were due to cease production at their Stonegate dairy with more than a little concern. The Traditional Cheese Dairy cheeses have been a staple in our counters for many

The Delves, 3rd generation East Sussex dairy farmers, took over this iconic business in August 2020.

In early 2020, we met the news that the Dyballs were due to cease production at their Stonegate dairy with more than a little concern. The Traditional Cheese Dairy cheeses have been a staple in our counters for many years, providing that rarest of commodities: consistently exceptional quality across a range of iconic styles. We were relieved when we learned that the Delves had decided to take over. A year on, and the Traditional Cheese Dairy remains a standard-bearer for quality East Sussex produce.

We had been aware of the Dyballs’ commendable attempts to bring their dairy farming in-house, and that the scale required to do so proved unviable. Dairy farming is one business – cheesemaking another. So the Delves’ approach, which is to start, instead, with a large, established herd, seems the better way to do it. That control of the raw material (the milk) lies now in the hands of a respected family fully committed not just to bringing a quality product to market, but to the high welfare and environmental stewardship that requires, brings an added dimension to our appreciation of these cheeses.

Making cheese has been a venture we have always very much wanted to embrace. This year we will move our dairy to our farm near Horam, where we will use the milk from our crossbred herd of cows to produce the cheese.
Joe Delves, The Traditional Cheese Dairy

An additional source of delight is the dairy’s embrace of seasonality and the variation it brings:

Flavours vary slightly across the seasons due to the changing diet of the animals. Cheeses made from spring and summer milk tend to be quite floral and grassy, while winter cheeses you’ll notice they’re more savoury. Each is unique, the joy of raw milk!
Joe Delves, The Traditional Cheese Dairy

Cuculo stocks most of the Traditional Cheese Dairy’s range, as described below, and you can order them for nationwide delivery. Click the images to link through to the relevant shop pages. Wherever you are in the country: if you love cheese and have never tried the Traditional Cheese Dairy’s produce, we cannot recommend them highly enough.

When we are able once again to visit, we have planned a Cuculo Cheese & Wine Club members’ trip to the dairy.

The Traditional Cheese Dairy Range

Burwash Rose

A semi-soft cheese. Washed in English rose water as it matures, Burwash Rose is creamy and sticky, with an evocative and pungent aroma. Unique, distinctive and with the perfect balance of aroma and texture, this iconic local cheese is a Cuculo best-seller.

Goodweald Smoked

Goodweald Smoked is a hard farmhouse cheese that has been naturally smoked over oak chippings by the award winning Weald smokery, creating a rich, full bodied and pleasant toasted aroma.