WELCOME TO THE CHEeSE AGENT
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Artisan and local cheeses for WeSt Berkshire and North Hampshire
Based in Newbury UK
Hi, I'm Tony and I sell cheeses at local village markets in West Berkshire and North Hampshire.
With the closure of all the independent delis in Newbury and Hungerford there's still a place to get artisan and local cheeses, either by visiting the markets or contacting me on-line.
I am very much a "hobbyist" business, doing this for the love of the product and the people who produce such great cheeses and as such work at a scale that I'm happy with, giving great customer service without it taking over my life.
2024: See below for updates
With the closure of all the independent delis in Newbury and Hungerford there's still a place to get artisan and local cheeses, either by visiting the markets or contacting me on-line.
I am very much a "hobbyist" business, doing this for the love of the product and the people who produce such great cheeses and as such work at a scale that I'm happy with, giving great customer service without it taking over my life.
2024: See below for updates
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UPDATE 02/07/24:
Summer market so far is Woolton Hill on Sat 27th July. I am looking into other events, but my July and August is pretty busy so it''s more likely I'll be more active in September.
Newbury Cheese Club continues throughout the summer, with a possible break in mid-August. For the club I deliver a 3 or 4 cheese selection every month or fortnight to club members for a set price of £12 and £15.50 respectively. Anyone interested please contact me.
UPDATE 15/04/24:
Spring markets are: Woolton Hill, Sat 27th April, Highclere, Sat 25th May and Woolton Hill Sat 22nd June. Details on the calendar page.
UPDATE 06/01/24:
Markets resume in February at Highclere, North Hampshire. See the Events calendar for details. This is very much a low key return as I continue the search for market mojo.
Newbury Cheese Club resumes on Wed 24th January for all subscribers. For the club I deliver a 3 or 4 cheese selection every month or fortnight to club members for a set price of £12 and £15.50 respectively. Anyone interested please contact me.
18/10/23: Autumn Business Update
As I still have family issues to close off over the next few months I am not re-starting markets at the moment. This is likely to include Christmas events, so anyone after a festive delivery contact me in November and I'll see what I can do.
Apologies to all my regular market customers, but it's been difficult getting the energy for markets with all these administrative issues to sort out.
My subscription club in Newbury and Woolton Hill is still going strong and definitely will have a Christmas order. Anyone interested in joining for a monthly or fortnightly delivery please contact me using the Contacts page.
UPDATE 26/04/23: Business Update
Update from the Cheese Agent - I am taking a summer break from markets due to a family bereavement and ongoing care issues. I've ducked out of several markets at the last minute this year and it's not fair on organisers and customers alike.
So my last market for now is at Woolton Hill this Saturday (29th April) from 10:30 to 1pm - location Thorngrove School in Woolton Hill.
I intend to restart at the end of Sept, with Woolton Hill on 30th followed by Silchester on 7th October, but will confirm these dates closer to the events.
These are great village markets and I will be there as a customer during the summer.
If you live in the South Newbury, and Woolton Hill I will be continuing my Cheese Club subscription service during the summer. I deliver a 3 or 4 cheese selection every month or fortnight to club members for a set price of £12 and £15.50 respectively.
I'm happy to accept new members, so feel free to message me for more details using the Contacts page
UPDATE 21/11/22: Christmas Update
Due to family health issues the Cheese Agent will not be very active this Christmas. I will not be attending Christmas markets and will only have a modest Christmas offering available with set delivery dates in the Newbury and Woolton Hill area. . This will be posted here shortly.
I hope to resume activities in the New Year.
UPDATE 17/05/22: Markets for the summer
The market schedule has been updated to cover June to August. I am deliberately doing fewer markets this summer to make time to to see friends and family.
Newbury Cheese Club continues through the summer and new members are welcome - use the contact form if you are interested. This is a subscription service where you receive a regular delivery on a fortnightly or monthly basis (for a standard cost of £14.00). I have 3 groups – Wash Common/Greenham, Woolton Hill/Highclere and Central Newbury.
UPDATE 04/01/22: Markets for the new year
Thank you for all the Christmas orders. I hope your seasonal celebrations went well.
As is customary I am taking January off, with markets restarting at he end of the month at Woolton Hill on 29th.
My provisional market schedule for the first half of the year is now on the event calendar page.
Newbury Cheese Club will also resume on the last week of January. This is a subscription service where you receive a regular delivery on a fortnightly or monthly basis (for a standard cost of £14.00). I have 3 groups – Wash Common/Greenham, Woolton Hill/Highclere and Central Newbury and there are currently spaces in each group.
Delivery is on a Wednesday, late afternoon / early evening (usually 4:30 – 6:30). The first delivery in the New Year will be to Woolton Hill and West Mills members on Wednesday 26th January, with Wash Common resuming the following week.
UPDATE 12/12/21: Christmas Cheeseboards and markets
I really need all Christmas orders sent to me by Tuesday 14th Dec to be sure of getting stock. Any orders received after that may require substitutions of popular cheeses.
My last market appearance this year is now on Thursday 16th Dec at Wash Common -SustainHUBle market, 11am - 2pm at St Francis Parish Hall, Warren Road, Newbury
UPDATE 23/11/21: Christmas Cheeseboards and markets
I can now offer home delivery Christmas Cheeseboards - see the new page here. This is similar to the offering I made last year, with a few different guest cheeses. Prices are the same as last year.
The market schedule for the run up to Christmas is also finalised. I am deliberately doing fewer events than in 2019 and focussing on my local area.
Join Cheese Club in February 2022:
If you want to join the Newbury cheese club and receive a regular delivery on a fortnightly or monthly basis (for a standard cost of £14.00) please contact me.
I have 3 groups – Wash Common/Greenham, Woolton Hill/Highclere and Central Newbury and there are currently spaces in each group.
Delivery is on a Wednesday, late afternoon / early evening (usually 4:30 – 6:30). The first delivery in the New Year will be to Woolton Hill and West Mills members on Wednesday 26th January, with Wash Common resuming the following week.
UPDATE 30/09/21:
Market schedule for October through to December is now on the Event Calendar list. There are a few new events, with the re start of the Wash Common SutainHUBle market and the new rugby season at Newbury. There may be a few more Christmas events added, but this year I am downscaling these a lot to have more family time.
UPDATE 02/08/21:
Market schedule for August and September is now on the Event Calendar list - this is likely to be the regular schedule now of one busy month followed by a quiet one. I'm unlikely to do any one-off events this year like summer fetes, etc simply because I need time to visit friends and family.
Anyone interested in joining cheese club for the autumn, please drop me a line as there are a few spaces - sign up for a monthly or fortnightly delivery.
UPDATE 16/06/21:
Thanks to everyone who turned up at the recent Silchester and Woolton Hill markets. They were very successful and are confirming they will be running throughout the rest of the year, restrictions allowing.
The July Silchester and Woolton Hill markets are now in the planning stages and I've updated the calendar.
In addition I will be at the July Hungerford outdoor market as a test run with the view of being there every other month.
UPDATE 21/04/21: Markets return
Markets are returning:
I will be at the following:
Sat 1st May - Silchester Village market - 10- 12.30am at the Village Hall and surrounding grounds
Sat 15th May - Woolton Hill village market - 11am - 2pm in the grounds of Woolton Hill Junior School.
The Newbury cheese clubs are still running, and there is space on the Woolton Hill/Highclere run if anyone is interested in joining on a monthly or fortnightly schedule.
Due to the success of the Christmas cheeseboard offer to non-Club members, I have extended this service into 2021 and details can be found on the Cheeseboard Orders 2021 page. Note that only a limited selection of cheeses are offered there, as I cannot store too much stock at the moment. Guests cheeses will appear depending on demand from the main Club. So the full cheese description list does not represent what I have in stock or what I can get.
UPDATE 04/10/20:
Alas the late Sept Woolton Hill and October Silchester markets were both cancelled due to worries from Hampshire Council about meeting current regulations about gatherings. Both markets had extensive risk assessments in place, but apparently the surge in case numbers in September was enough to prompt a more risk averse approach.
Both markets were operating outdoors, so now that autumn and winter are with us it's unclear if they are viable as the weather closes in. Several Christmas events are already cancelled as their indoor space is too cramped and organisers do not have the scope to set up outdoors with enough cover for customers.
The Newbury Cheese clubs will be running until Christmas, and there are a few monthly delivery spaces available if anyone is interested. Use the contact form to check what is available.
The cost of cheese club will be £14 from October to cover increased costs, especially as many small dairies remain unable to resume full production due to space restrictions on their sites preventing workplace social distancing for staff. Consequently they are raising their wholesale prices and some weeks supplies can be interrupted, so I have substitute products in line to cover this.
Christmas deliveries:
I am working on a Christmas cheese list, somewhat reduced from the standard list, to offer for deliveries later in the year. I now have access to my storage area, so it's becoming easier to hold stock and I plan to extend the home delivery service during December.
I can now do some one-off orders - if I hear about what you want on a Monday I can see what can be supplied that same week (on Wednesday or Thursday). Any queries after that usually have to wait until the following week.
UPDATE 21/07/20: Markets resume
Some village markets are resuming in our post-lockdown world. They are:
Sat 25th July 11am - 2pm Woolton Hill market - new venue on the playoing fields of Woolton Hill primary school that is next door to the usual Village Hall venue to enable social distancing and slightly later timings to help stall holders set up.
Sat 1st August - 10am - 12:30pm - Silchester market - again an open air venue on the Green opposite the village hall site.
Hope to see some of you there.
UPDATE 13/05/20:
Newbury Lockdown Cheese Club FULL / Producer News:
I now have over 40 members for the cheese club, so will have to close memberships until I know I can supply everyone who has signed up. Next week I'll be doing the first deliveries to the Woolton Hiill/Highclere group and Central Newbury group.
I have a waiting list for other customers who have expressed an interest and if anyone drops out or if I can expand they will take priority to join.
I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill one-off orders at present as I have a variable supply chain and no storage.
What is the Cheese Club?
In the absence of markets, I launched the "Newbury Cheese Club", where I will supply 4 cheeses (generally a blue, brie, cheddar and guest) every fortnight to those who sign up. The cost is £12 per delivery and you get 500-600g of cheese each time. There will be a mixture of true artisan and more general cheeses, but all from smaller dairies and products you don't always get in the supermarkets. I delivery directly to your house, with payment by bank transfer after each delivery. I have a Facebook Group for club members or can email members with information about each delivery.
I will run this whilst interest lasts and until lockdown ends and probably beyond since I doubt many of the local village markets I do will re-open until well into the summer. At the moment this is only running in Newbury and nearby villages, e.g. Woolton Hill, Highclere, Hamstead Marshall.
UPDATE 18/03/20:
Understandably all local markets have been cancelled for the foreseeable future and I do not intend, at present, to offer a home delivery service until I see whether I can get stock reliably.
Look out for further posts and keep safe. Tony
UPDATE 12/02/20:
NEW Location: Starting on Tuesday 18th Feb I shall be running a weekly stall at Mrs B's Kitchen in Newbury as a trial for the next two months into April.
They have a space at their cafe on Faraday Road, Newbury for stalls and Tuesday is Food day. I shall be there from 10am to 3pm (or possibly beyond).
You can find out more at https://www.mrsb.kitchen/copy-of-our-services or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MrsBKitchen/
AND: Following positive feedback after the first regular SustainHUBle market at Wash Common, this event will now run until 3:30pm rather than finish at 2pm. Again this is a trial run to see how busy we are at this later time, which now covers the Falkland School run.
Markets for 2020 resumed on Saturday 25th at Woolton Hill.
The full year schedule can now be found on the Event Calendar page. New additional - Newbury Rugby Club stalls for the remainder of the 2019/20 season.
NEW CHEESES - update 28/09/18:
I am delighted to announce that I will be stocking a selection of excellent goat's cheeses from Beau Farm, Bramley in Hampshire.
Beau Farm is located on a private estate in Bramley, Hampshire, just north of Basingstoke, where Margaretha is producing a fine selection of goats cheeses.
There’s a Gouda based on a recipe of her Dutch grandmother’s, a soft goat’s Brie and a lactic soft cheese with a dusting of ash.
Also available are flavoured Gouda’s - with cumin, fenugreek, garlic and herbs and lavender (yes that's right, lavender).
I'll have a selection of these cheeses at markets in October, starting at Woolton Hill on Saturday 29th Sept. Please come along and taste!
Find out more at: https://beaufarm.co.uk/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BeauFarmGoats/
See some photos below of the cheese and Margaretha (on the right) and Sedef, the cheesemakers
NEW CHEESES - update 28/09/18:
I am delighted to announce that I will be stocking a selection of excellent goat's cheeses from Beau Farm, Bramley in Hampshire.
Beau Farm is located on a private estate in Bramley, Hampshire, just north of Basingstoke, where Margaretha is producing a fine selection of goats cheeses.
There’s a Gouda based on a recipe of her Dutch grandmother’s, a soft goat’s Brie and a lactic soft cheese with a dusting of ash.
Also available are flavoured Gouda’s - with cumin, fenugreek, garlic and herbs and lavender (yes that's right, lavender).
I'll have a selection of these cheeses at markets in October, starting at Woolton Hill on Saturday 29th Sept. Please come along and taste!
Find out more at: https://beaufarm.co.uk/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BeauFarmGoats/
See some photos below of the cheese and Margaretha (on the right) and Sedef, the cheesemakers
UPDATE 17/07/17:
Searching for new cheeses:
A few weeks ago I received an email from Artisan Diary in Wincanton saying they were having to stop production of their cheeses due to a family illness. It's a reminder that many small dairies are just that - a few family members and employees working together - and even a small disruption can have a huge impact. So many market favourites - Old Tower cheddar, Lynchwood, Woolbury blue and the wonderful "Unnamed" sheeps Gouda are no longer available.
The cheese list has been updated to reflect that these cheeses are no longer available. I hope to add new ones before Christmas.
So I am now starting the search for new dairies to fill the gap. At the moment north Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds look this most likely locations with several cheese producers in the area, so hopefully new cheeses will be appearing for tasting and customer approval in the near future.
Searching for new cheeses:
A few weeks ago I received an email from Artisan Diary in Wincanton saying they were having to stop production of their cheeses due to a family illness. It's a reminder that many small dairies are just that - a few family members and employees working together - and even a small disruption can have a huge impact. So many market favourites - Old Tower cheddar, Lynchwood, Woolbury blue and the wonderful "Unnamed" sheeps Gouda are no longer available.
The cheese list has been updated to reflect that these cheeses are no longer available. I hope to add new ones before Christmas.
So I am now starting the search for new dairies to fill the gap. At the moment north Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds look this most likely locations with several cheese producers in the area, so hopefully new cheeses will be appearing for tasting and customer approval in the near future.
New Cheeses for Autumn 2016:
Left to right:
Norton & Yarrow Cheese, Oxfordshire
Sinodun Hill - a ripened goats’ cheese pyramid, matured for up to 21 days. A flavoursome cheese with a light nutty edge and a smooth texture. Bronze medal winner at 2016 British cheese awards
Brightwell Barrow - a fresh unpasteurised goat cheese, it has a light, mousse-like, creamy texture and fresh, citrus flavour. Gold medal winner at 2016 British cheese awards
Nettlebed Creamery, Oxfordshire
Bix - a soft, unpasteurised, triple cream cheese
Saint Bartholomew - a semi-hard, unpasteurised organic cheese made to an alpine recipe. It has a deep, nutty flavour with fruity, caramel overtones and a smooth texture. The cheese is matured for 5-6 months.
Left to right:
Norton & Yarrow Cheese, Oxfordshire
Sinodun Hill - a ripened goats’ cheese pyramid, matured for up to 21 days. A flavoursome cheese with a light nutty edge and a smooth texture. Bronze medal winner at 2016 British cheese awards
Brightwell Barrow - a fresh unpasteurised goat cheese, it has a light, mousse-like, creamy texture and fresh, citrus flavour. Gold medal winner at 2016 British cheese awards
Nettlebed Creamery, Oxfordshire
Bix - a soft, unpasteurised, triple cream cheese
Saint Bartholomew - a semi-hard, unpasteurised organic cheese made to an alpine recipe. It has a deep, nutty flavour with fruity, caramel overtones and a smooth texture. The cheese is matured for 5-6 months.
