"When she was born, my daughter - who's now 27 - had an allergy to cows' milk. We'd just moved to this smallholding and had a few cows but in order to overcome the allergy, I bought our first goat - Sarah.
By the end of the year she'd had a kid, Stella, and by the end of the following year she'd had twins. My daughter's eczema had improved. However my family were getting thoroughly sick of a daily diet of rice puddings and egg custard!
Having been a home economics teacher, I had experimented with making cheese in the past. As we had all this milk, I decided to give it a go. I experimented for about two years with various cheese recipes. I eventually came up with this hard cheese which was quite a departure from the traditional goat soft cheese.
The main reason behind this was that living on a remote smallholding in the Welsh mountains could be problematic during the winter months. During the 1980s, the winters were quite hard and of course this disrupted distribution. I had to come up with a cheese with a longer shelf-life. Also during my market research, I found out that there was a call for something different.
When we started selling Merlin cheese, there was a lot of soft goats' cheese being produced in West Wales. But a lot of them fell by the wayside with the advent of stricter environmental health rules.
We used to milk 200 goats as well as produce the cheese. However, after an accident in the milking parlour, I suffered concussion and things had to change.
Whilst I was recovering from my accident, the kids took over the production. They were getting up at 3am, milking, cleaning, going to school and making the cheese after coming home.
They were working really hard but it was just too much for them so a local farmer took our goats for milking, and we've stuck to that system ever since.
The children still help me with the business and we are currently building a new production set-up on the site of the original dairy.
Along with other cheese Welsh producers, we've established a co-operative called Cheese from Wales which is going from strength to strength. I've already been to New York, Barcelona, and London marketing our products. Welsh cheese has a very high profile, but this co-operative enables us to market all the various cheese as one and gives us a louder voice." Gill Pateman from Pontrhydygroes
your comments
Peter Rose, Alabama
I would love to try some goat's cheese.Please tell me more about it.
Tue Jun 30 19:13:33 2009
Andie Myers Lao PDR SE Asia
I am writing to you as I live and work in a new area of tourism, in its infancy you could say and in a very remote area of Lao , actually in the south a region called si pan don literally 4000 islands. We have a real problem in aquiring good dairy products and this entails a round trip of approx 1000kmI understand the principles of making a good hardcheese but am not sure as how to go about producing a soft cheese, in England we were always able to purchase a culture for this. Please could you advise as I'm sure it must be a simple process.With many thanks and a warm welcome to the county of Lao which is one of the most unspoilt areas in S E Asia a gem for sure.
With regards
Tue May 27 11:31:22 2008
Prescott, UK canal system
We sell Welsh cheese from our narrowboat, travelling around the country. We are looking to stock and sell a variety of cheeses and yours sound wonderful.
Tue May 20 09:27:50 2008
Courtney from Vancouver Wa,
I'm welsh and doing a report for one of my classes im in the 5th grade my grandpa is welsh his name is peter stenhouse he so cool he has a really cool kilt...
Wed Mar 5 09:17:33 2008
Denise Burgess
I am moving to live in Africa, there are few cows, and so goats cheese will be the order of the day. Can you advise me re making goats cheese, and how many goats I may need to give a small living to women in the village. Brufut in the Gambia is a third world area, I am opening a learning centre where females will learn to read, write, and work in a vocational area [Goats milk cheese] as workers, makers, and sellers. This is a charity learning centre and we need areas of business for the locals. Many thanks.
Mon May 7 10:26:59 2007
Kath McNulty, Llanrug (North Wales)
At every show I've always bought several Merlin cheeses, I've run out again and would like to buy mail order. I've just eaten a Merlin that was 3 years old, it had really matured! Will keep them a little less long next time! Great Cheeses.
Tue Apr 11 12:33:08 2006
Kjellfrid from Norway
Goat farmers in countries with expencive energy (either expensive in economical or enviromental ways) have not the same opportunity to make brown cheese as we do in Norway. You have to cook the milk (after you`ve made the white cheese) for several hours. Earlier, before we had electrical energy in Norway, the goat districts with brown cheese production were without trees, because of the use of firewood.
Tue Jan 31 15:52:26 2006
Norwegian Marit living in New York City
I am reading your page on goat cheese. Are you familiar with the Norwegian brown goat cheese? It is sweet and all kids in Norway grow up with this type of cheese. It can also be used when adding flavor when making brown gravy for meat dishes. But very interesting reading about your variation to goat cheese.
Mon Jul 11 21:13:13 2005
Lorraine Paterson from Tenerife
I know this is a bit of a cheek but I want to make soft goats cheese (no rind)can you help with a recipe. I live in Tenerife and my goat will be serviced next month. I have no intention of mass producing - definitly no competion.
Regards
Thu May 19 11:35:36 2005
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Find out how her daughter's milk allergy 18 years ago led Gill Pateman from Pontrhydygroes in Ceredigion to becoming a cheesemaker. 
