MY HAVEN ALEX JAMES

The Blur bassist turned cheesemaker, 44, in the music room at the Oxfordshire farm he shares with his wife and five children

1 KIDS’ CLUB My wife Claire and I bought this farm on our honeymoon nine years ago, and we all use this room to relax. The kids – Geronimo, nine, twins Galileo and Artemis, six, Sable, four, and Beatrix, two – have started bashing about on this keyboard, it’s great having all the instruments around for them to explore. Clubbing at Studio 54 in New York in my Blur days was terrific fun, but I’m quite happy dancing round in here with the children now.

2 IT CAME FROM MARS One of the great things out here in the country is that you can see the stars at night. I’ve always been fascinated by space, in fact I blew my first royalty cheque on a telescope – the start of an obsession that led to me investing in the Beagle 2 mission to Mars in 2003. About 70 tons of Mars falls to Earth every year, like this iron meteorite I bought online. Just knowing that it’s travelled so far is quite mind-blowing.

3 CRUNCH TIME This Iron Age pestle was given to me by my dear friend Robert Chambers, an artist who lives in America. His mother tripped over this beautifully ergonomic bit of Native American stone in a wood in Oregon when she was a child, as you do. It’s magical just holding it and you wonder who might have held it before in the days when people were feral. I use it practically every day for crushing something or other.

4 THE BIG CHEESE I invented this cheese called Spudsworth a couple of years ago. It’s the world’s first pouring cheese. I was inspired by traditional Swiss raclette – which is melted and eaten with potato – but this is much easier to do in the microwave. I had cheese on a jacket potato every day after school, and when I discovered raclette it blew my mind. I’ve been making posh cheese for a while but the kids really love this.

5 RUN LIKE THE WIND My wife has lots of shoes and I never really understood why she loves them so much until I got a pair of spiked running shoes. It’s like putting on ballet shoes or wings. Suddenly you can run like the wind. It’s strange how your pleasures change as you get older. Running is like the opposite of drinking. You feel awful while you’re doing it and great afterwards. I’ve started chasing deer now and I reckon I might catch one soon!

6 MR HAPPY Having a big family is terrific and I don’t know how people get by with less than five children, frankly. Getting them all off to sleep isn’t easy though, which is where these Mr Men books come in. They’re clever and funny, just the perfect length and they suit all ages – they keep me happy as much as they do the kids. As far as I’m concerned the author – Roger Hargreaves – is right up there with Truman Capote.

As told to Yvonne Swann. Alex’s second autobiography, All Cheeses Great And Small: A Life Less Blurry, is out now in paperback.