St Ivo

St Ivo is a cheese made by John Sugden, using the milk from Valley View Farm.

Bevistan cheeses are made on Valley View Farm, which is nestled away in a beautiful North Bedfordshire Valley overlooking the Great Ouse river. The farm, which has hosted milking animals for over 50 years, is home to a flock of French and Dutch sheep, who graze on lush grass from spring to the end of autumn. During the harsh winter months, they are moved into purpose built sheds, with lambing taking place in February. The farm’s sheepdog ‘Toad’ then has the great and wonderful responsibility of leading the sheep back out to graze at the arrival of spring, once fresh, sweet, new grass has grown.

Bev and Steve have a particular passion for ewe’s milk as it is prized for its health benefits, naturally a little lower in lactose and can be enjoyed without modification. As ewe’s only lactate for 180 days per year, all the cheeses are seasonal, so are extra special too.

St Ivo and Cambaa are made by friend, John Sugden, of Bevistan dairy, using milk from their farm, right here in Cambridgeshire.

John’s adventure into Cheese making started 15 years ago, while he was working at a design job with a friend (Gary). During long shifts, they used to chat about all things food. They were both keen foodies and had experimented with home cheesemaking but it was only when they were both made redundant, that Gary just went for it and set up a cheese making business. John helped him out, learnt many lessons as he went, and eventually decided to take the plunge and go for it himself.

6 years ago, he built a micro dairy in his garden and began making small batches of cheese using Sheep’s milk from Bevistan dairy, initially just selling at the farm gate in Bedford.

In 2021, he sold to us at the Cambridge Cheese Company and his cheeses remain exclusive to us.

The St Ivo was pretty much developed around the fact that John had another job, so it is almost a happy accident that it is how it is. St Ivo is a ripened Lactic cheese; the curds are set over 24hrs at a low temperature (long and slow so meant he could go to his normal job!). This long acidification means the milk must be exceptional as the delicate flavours draw attention to even the slightest flavour taints. After the curd is set, it is ladled in to moulds and drained for a further 24 hours (another day at work), it’s then salted and aged ideally for 2-3 weeks but can be enjoyed at any stage.

Cambaa is a made in a similar way but it designed around a little mini brie style cheese. It was developed just for us at Cambridge Cheese Co.

The ewes are outdoor reared and home fed. The St Ivo is our most local cheese and doesn’t travel far from St Ives to our shop, so there are very few food miles involved in production and transport.