Champions of Gloucester cows and cheese

SIR – I read with interest your article on Lady Bamford’s Daylesford farm (Magazine, April 21). However, as a former dairy farmer and cheese maker, I must refute the suggestion that she was solely responsible for saving the Gloucester cow breed.

Joe Henson, father of the Countryfile presenter Adam Henson and founder of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, bought up the few remaining cows that he could find and he – together with the cheese makers and breed stalwarts Diane Smart and Charles Martell – saved the Gloucester cow.

That Lady Bamford has invested heavily in Gloucester cows over the past half dozen years is very true, but it is Jonathan Crump, of Standish Park Farm, who is the true hero of that breed today. His single and double Gloucester cheeses, made with milk from his herd of 25 beautiful cows, should really gain him the greatest accolades.

Roger Crudge

Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire