Food & Drink – “The Ribble Valley has some truly world class producers”
Dining & Drinking | Pub Grub | Gastro Pubs | Fine Dining | Cafés & Breakfast | International | Take-Aways
The Ribble Valley has a burgeoning reputation for food and drink. Blessed with a wide range of local fresh produce, it offers a superb range of award winning cafes, gastro pubs, specialist restaurants and even the Michelin star Northcote Hotel.
LANCASHIRE CHEESE – A WORLD FAMOUS DELICACY
Here in the Valley, there is a great number of independent cheesemakers – each offering a remarkable number of quality cheeses.
Based in Longridge and named after the founder and matriarch of Singletons Dairy, Grandma Singletons original offering is the strongest traditional Lancashire available and is still made exactly how Grandma liked it. Over four generations after she began making cheese herself, Grandma Singletons cheese is still aged for a minimum of ten months. Singleton’s dairy offers so much more than just Grandma’s famous Lancashire crumbly. Their range include classic cheddars, organic vintages and dessert cheeses – to name just a few. Grandma Singletons has become a guaranteed favourite for lovers of artisanal, handcrafted cheese with flavours that pack a punch. Every cheese is handcrafted to the highest quality standards using time honoured traditions and over four generations of expertise.
All the cheese produced at Grandma Singletons is made using only locally sourced milk from farms no more than 10 miles (16km) away. Some of the cows producing this milk were reared on the meadows surrounding Meadow Cottage at Hill Top Farm.
Set in the unspoilt Chipping countryside, Procter’s Cheeses has been in operation since the 1930s, with husband and wife team – Tim and Sue Procter – now at the forefront of the business. Their small, wax coated cheeses are all made in Ribble Valley, with a kick behind them; as their now famous brand ‘Kick Ass Cheddar’ is large enough to make the cheese a favourite in not only the Ribble Valley, but as far away as Australia!
Using milk from local farms, Leagram Organic Dairy is yet another fine example of the excellent food providers we have here. The Kitching family has been creating award-winning cheeses for more than three decades, sharing their high quality, organic produce with customers and large retailers across the country. Faye Kitching said: “Our suppliers provide the best quality milk from Holstein Friesian Cows, Boer Goats and Cheviot Sheep – ensuring the best quality of cheese can be produced, from the highest quality ingredients”. Leagram’s extensive range of organic Lancashire cheeses is available to purchase from the cheese-making site itself in Chipping where a small museum shows some of the implements used in cheese making over the centuries.
Little Town Dairy and Farm Shop is closely associated with Hill Top Farm. Cattle from Little Town Farm is reared on Hill Top Farm land. So unfortunately, some of the beef peering in to your kitchen window at Meadow Cottage will eventually be transformed into ‘rose veal’ on the Little Town shop butchery counter! The original family run business was established by Matt and Eileen Forshaw back in the early 1960s. Now, a haven for locally sourced yogurt, cream, crème fraîche and ice-cream, Little Town Dairy supplies to some of the world’s leading cruise-liners – including P&O. Not only is Little Town a leader in the production of dairy goods, their hand reared Aberdeen Angus Beef, Gloucester Old Spot Pork and Bowland Lamb is also available in the adjacent farm shop and cafe, not forgetting many of the family made cakes that are sold in the on-site tea room. Nicola, a family member herself, said: “Little Town Dairy has a growing interest in local produce and we try and show this in the products that we sell, both in the farm shop and in the tea room”.
DINING & DRINKING – In the recent 2018 Estrella Damm Top 50 UK Gastro Pubs, two of the top 10 were Ribble Valley locals, The Freemasons arms at Wiswell and The Parkers Arms at Newton. Both within easy drive from Meadow Cottage.
A full list of local dining and take-away foods is listed here:
Dining & Drinking | Pub Grub | Gastro Pubs | Fine Dining | Cafés & Breakfast | International | Take-Aways