Lye Cross Farm is situated at the foot of the Mendip Hills in Somerset just seven miles from the village of Cheddar, the home of cheddar cheesemaking.

The rich soils of the Wrington Vale, nurtured by the limestone waters of the Mendips, encourage the lush growth of natural grasses on which dairy cattle thrive. Here, three generations of the Alvis family have been hand making cheese for more than fifty years and continue the traditional craft of "cheddaring" the cheese by hand-piling and turning the curd.

Today, traditional methods and skills together with modern technology are used to produce cheese under strictly controlled hygienic conditions.

Milk from the farms is pasteurised and filled into cheese vats, where a starter culture is added to the warm milk to acidify it. The culture converts the milk sugar (lactose) into lactic acid. When the correct acidity is reached, vegetarian rennet is added to coagulate the milk.

The coagulated curd is then cut to separate the solid curd from the liquid whey. The curds and whey are scalded and stirred until the Head Cheesemaker is satisfied that the curd is of the correct firmness and is then transferred to the cooling tables. The whey is drained off and the curd is left to settle. The age-old 'traditional cheddaring' process takes place with the solidifying curd being cut into blocks and turned and stacked by hand. The cheddared curd is then milled and salt added.

The salt expels moisture from within the curd, enhances the flavour and acts as a preservative. The salted curd is then pressed into the required shape.

The cheese is matured under carefully controlled conditions for a period of up to 18 months. Regular inspections and grading of the maturing cheese are carried out. The grader decides which cheeses are best eaten young and which should be left to mature and develop the special features and flavours associated with West Country Farmhouse Cheese.