Rural Leicestershire

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The Stilton Dairy

1.47 minutes

[435 kb]

Interviewee:

We had a Stilton cheese dairy in the next village.

EMOHA:

Can you remember what it was called?

Interviewee:

Well, it was just Wilts United Dairies and of course, a lot of the village girls worked at the Dairies. But they never got the smell out of their skin. You could always tell if she was a Dairy girl. And they worked most unusual hours because they used to have to go and turn and do things to the cheeses at different hours of the day. And they were allowed to buy Stilt', a part of a Stilton cheese if it was dropped and broken then you could buy the cheese but otherwise, of course, it was sent away.

EMOHA:

How did people feel about this Stilton smell on these young women who worked there?

Interviewee:

Well, you got used to it because it was in the air. You see, all the whey at that time used to go through the fields and into the brooks and things… I mean, my Aunt worked at the Dairy and she used to get, they used to get a lot of milk you see, and of course she used to say, my grandma'd send word, "We've got some spare milk", and we'd go and collect it 'cause my Mum could always use it and you could smell my aunt's, her skin, I mean they always came home, of course they hadn't got showers then but they always had a good wash and everything, I mean they were, the copper was always on with boiling water, they kept a copper full of boiling water but it somehow never seemed to go away. It seemed to be in their skin.

Last updated: 21/11/03
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