Taste the landscape

Rolling fields, native wildlife and much-loved livestock are the key ingredients for superb English fare. Add passionate producers, and you’re in for something extra special

“When we first rebuilt the dairy I put speakers in there as I’d heard that cows liked to listen to music while being milked,” says farmer Richard Hollingbery. “Sadly my dairy manager didn’t like music, so we never got to try it out.” Godminster Farm is set on the outskirts of Bruton, Somerset, and since taking it on in 1993 Richard has planted 25,000 broadleaf trees, including an orchard of cider apples, peaches and nectarines. He’s also created 15 ponds to encourage biodiversity and reeds that cleanse the groundwater.

His herd of 320 dairy cows – the ‘Godminster girls’ – graze outside as much as possible, eating grass and clover. And when the summer months are over they tuck into a specially grown feed of oats, barley, grasses and peas, topped up with herbs they forage near the dairy.

“We get plenty of rain, which means we have lush, green grazing. It’s the perfect climate for dairy cows, and more than 60 per cent of their feed is foraged. We get a really rich milk, which makes a fabulous cheddar.” Richard believes that, “Nature repays those who treat her kindly. There are as many organisms in a handful of healthy soil as there are people on the planet – that’s how important it is to look after our planet.”