Farmer Revives Double Gloucester Cheese Tradition After 50 Years

A farmer, who reactivated his cheese-making equipment five decades ago to document the production of Double Gloucester for a television program, humorously described his initial attempt as “disgusting.” Charles Martell, residing in Dymock, Gloucestershire, possessed one of the last remaining herds of Gloucester cattle when BBC producer Andrew Snell contacted him in 1974. Mr. Martell recounted that he had jokingly informed someone he made cheese from the cows when asked about their purpose, and this information somehow reached the BBC. He subsequently became the first individual in 30 years to produce authentic Farmhouse Double Gloucester for the BBC program “A taste of Britain.” “You can’t imagine how this country was in 1970 in terms of food,” stated Mr. Snell. He added that the BBC initially told him, “The BBC told me nobody in Britain wants to watch a programme with food in it,” but after some convincing, the program launched with Mr. Snell and his Double Gloucestershire cheese featured in its inaugural episode. Mr. Snell expressed his intention to test the validity of the saying, “The old adage was you can only make real Double Gloucester using the milk of the Gloucester cow.” Mr. Martell remarked: “It’s a hell of a thing to actually milk cows and make cheese because you need equipment and I had no money.” However, after Mr. Snell informed him that a film crew would arrive the following Thursday, he retrieved some antiquated equipment and produced the cheese for the documentary. He noted, though, that the first batch was “disgusting. It was awful.” Nevertheless, 50 years later, he continues to craft Double Gloucester using the original recipe and has also diversified into distilling. “It’s been great fun,” he commented, further mentioning his good fortune in being present at an opportune moment. Regarding their recent reunion, Mr. Snell reflected: “Both of our lives have completely diverged – it’s a strange thing in life to get a moment when you can share what happened 50 years ago and what it’s meant to both of us.” Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.