A Ploughman’s Day Out

The barley

The morning starts with a tour of the barley fields of Calmsden Farm near Cirencester, a family run affair of about 2,000 acres. They grow two different types of barley - Maris Otter for the specialist bitter market and Concerto for the lager or distillery market. Though not organic, the farm is in an agri-environment scheme (Higher Level Scheme - HLS) with a focus on enhancing habitats for farmland birds, bumble bees and rare arable plants.

The cheese

Our next stop? The Ravenhills of Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, at their organic dairy. They’ve been producing their award-winning range of Woefuldane cheese for nearly 20 years, and it really is a family affair. This part of the day includes meeting the dairy herd in the field, a tour of the dairy, a quick lesson in cheese-making and a cheese-tasting session.

The beer

Stroud Brewery’s Founder and MD Greg Pilley shows us round the brewery, with some beer tasting thrown in for good measure. You can see the process of beer making from the arrival of the malted grains to the pouring of the golden nectar… We’ll also enjoy some stone-baked Ploughman-inspired pizzas at the brewery’s restaurant, made with Shipton Mill sourdough flour, Lye Cross cheese and other local ingredients.

And if there’s time, we’ll pop down the road to enjoy some Winstone Ice Cream, made from Woefuldane milk.

You can carry goodies home in bags kindly donated by Triodos Bank.

Tickets: £25+booking fee. Available from Event Brite. (Over 18s only)

Date: Saturday, 3 May
Time: 09:00 - 17:30