Great British Cheese Awards

It was an exciting day last week as I headed up to London for the announcement of the Great British Cheese Awards. We were finalists in the 'Best Speciality Cheese Retailer' category, and up against some pretty stiff competition. I arrived at the St Pancras Rennaissance Hotel to find some great names from the artisan cheese scene all waiting to find out who the winners were. There were people I knew - Jamie Montgomery, Catherine Mead who makes Cornish Yarg, plus others I was meeting for the first time.

And it turned out to be a good result for us, since we came away as Runners Up! It's an accolade we're delighted by, I have to say, and it put a spring in my step all week. Country Cheeses were the very well-deserved winners: this amazing firm (also from Devon) have three shops and have been doing brilliant work over the last 20 years. So hurrah for them!

Sharpham got Runner-Up in two categories - 'Peoples' Choice' and Best Soft Cheese. That's me with Mark from Sharpham in the picture bottom left. Giel Spierings took Best Hard Cheese for Cornish Gouda, Bath Soft won Best Semi-Soft with Wyfe Of Bath, and Cornish Blue took the top slot as well for People's Choice. So all in all, a great day for The Cheese Shed, for Westcountry cheese, and a chance for us all to feel good about what we're doing.

To read about all the winners, go here.