Roger and Mary Mead bought Holt Farm in 1961 and established a dairy herd to graze the lovely, lush grass down in the valley. Soon after they opened a tea room on the banks of the lake, serving up their own clotted cream on their homemade scones. They decided to use all the left over skimmed milk to make delicious yogurt.

Roger and Mary had lots of help from local people, and the business grew and grew to the point where they could buy other farms nearby to grow winter feed for the animals, and to bring more cows into the fold.

Even today Mary is every bit the hands-on dairy farmer, and she has looked after the herd since Roger died. No one knows pedigree British Friesians like Mary, and she has helped make our girls some of the finest and happiest in the land. She’s a regular on farming programmes and, as in all big, happy families, she has a major say in all the important decisions.