Piper Hole Dairy Goats Farm – Organic Goat Cheese
It was shortly after moving to Cumbria when I first came across Piper Hole Dairy Goat Farm. That was in a book published in 2022, written by Amy Bateman, called Forty Farms. This award-winning book has since become a best-seller and the subject of a number of exhibitions in the UK.
In short, the book captures the many and various challenges facing different farmers and farms across Cumbria, through the farmer’s own words and brilliant photography. One of its recurring themes is how farms can enhance nature and sustainability while ensuring their financial survival.
Forty Farms Exhibition Board at Keswick, Cumbria
A little later, I’d become a regular customer at Kendal Farmers Market. There I met Frank Hunter of Piper Hole, who was selling their outstanding organic goat cheeses.
The cheeses are also unique because Piper Hole is the only organic goat farm in Britain! The farming is now what modernists call “regenerative”, though Frank’s description is a more understated, “farming as my Grandfather did”.
However, those descriptions only hint at the tough choices and radical decisions necessary to convert an unprofitable upland sheep farm to a sustainable dairy goat farm, and in so doing ensure financial survival.
Naturally, in the four years since Forty Farms was first published, the Piper Hole story has continued to develop. But before we get to that, here’s a brief history of Piper Hole and the Hunter family’s involvement with it.
Piper Hole Dairy Goats Farm
Piper Hole is situated close to the picturesque village of Ravenstonedale in Cumbria, a few miles from the town of Kirkby Stephen. The farm is located about 1,000 feet up, on limestone. This is on the edge of the secluded Howgill Fells, whose rounded bare gritstone hills rise quickly to nearly 2,000 feet.
Piper Hole gets its name from a steep-sided natural limestone sinkhole on the farm. Legend says that this name refers to a fallen Scottish Piper buried here during the retreat of the Jacobite army to Scotland in 1745. It’s plausible, as this a peaceful resting place.
If you visit this area in June and July, you’ll quickly be seduced by its quiet natural beauty and abundant nature, which attracts a brief tourist season. Upland hill farming has been the way of life here for many centuries, based on sheep and cattle rearing. But winter here is harsh and long. It’s cold, wet and snowy, windy and frequently stormy. The high fells, much of it common land, can only support the grazing of the hardiest sheep and cattle. And the farmers need to be just as hardy.
Piper Hole – Umbrella Pine near the entrance
Transition
When Frank, Ruth and their daughter Georgia took over Piper Hole in 2009, upland farming was already economically challenging, but the biggest crisis came in 2014. By this time, January lambing had become essential to get the best early market price. However, that meant extra costly winter feed was necessary, and then the market price tanked. To compound this, the ewe’s milk was inadequate for their new lambs. To save the lambs, they bought six milking goats as their milk is far more nutritious.
That goat milk helped save the lambs, but then what to do with six goats and their milk? Ruth Hunter used the milk to make soap. Goats milk is well known to be good for the skin, and this is now a thriving business. Entrepreneurial Georgia Hunter also developed Capra Meats to sell goat meat into local pubs, shops and restaurants.
Meanwhile the farm overheads including the usual feed and vets bills were inevitably rising and lamb prices remained stubbornly low. So, having had small scale success with the goats, they gradually bought more and so produced more milk. This milk was then sold on fresh and was also being turned into ice cream and cheese. However, these new activities still relied on third parties and reduced the farm’s profit potential. That could be offset somewhat by running a farm campsite in summer, but tourism is fickle too, and then there was Covid-19. Need I say more?
Radical change
The way forward was to go all-in on goats but become as self-sufficient as possible to secure income for the farm rather than for others. Goats are foragers and are known to survive on just about anything. Demand and far higher prices for cheese could generate a far superior income if they made and sold the cheese themselves. So this is what the Hunter family did next.
But hindsight is a wonderful thing and this can’t have been easy. In reality, such adaptation involves enormous and emotional decisions. There must have been setbacks, dark days and doubts. But what was riding on it was even bigger – the future viability of the farm itself and the ability to then pass this on intact for future generations.
Sounds simple too, but it wasn’t just about buying more goats. From a land perspective, the farm meadows are the best land, and began the transition to organic certification, which demands a detailed long-term plan. Meanwhile, the common land usage was reduced. The farm is now smaller in size. Only small numbers of Border Leicester sheep and Ayrshire cattle provide continuity of tradition. For the cheeses, a small dairy was built onsite and the family had to learn artisanal cheesemaking. In turn, that meant a focus on producing goat milk rather than meat.
Finally, retail selling had to be adopted – online, plus a new shop at the farm for locals and tourists, plus outlets at local farmers markets. That’s a whole new skill set. In all this, communication and promotion are key, so there are now farm tours held for groups, plus periodic events such as wine tastings. And before you ask, all this was achieved without subsidies.
Nature, Sustainability and Economics working together
There are some amazing consequences too, not least the restoration of natural ecosystems. Farming is now less intensive. The soils are recovering, and in turn the meadows are now full of diverse local plant species as well as grass. Many of those species are nutritionally useful for flavoursome milk. They include Great Burnett, Yellow Rattle, Meadow Buttercup and Pignut. Another, Meadowsweet is so useful as a sweetener that you can dip the flower heads in the milk to give it a slight sweet almond flavour. In short, this pasture quality is the key to great milk quality. Goats naturally select the most aromatic plants when foraging, and those aromatic compounds are transported into the milk as part of their digestion.
These meadows also support a wide range of insects, birds and other fauna. In summer, the Swallows seem to be everywhere. In fact, this land is SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest).1 Piper Hole is also one of the country’s Coronation Meadows. Indeed, it’s a sad and staggering fact that in Britain, 97% of meadows like these have been lost over the past 75 years.
Operating overheads like feed, fertiliser and vets bills are much reduced. Meanwhile, goats love grazing willow, which is a powerful natural antibiotic. Hence stands of willow are grown at the farm precisely for this purpose.
The Goat Milk
The goats chosen are a breed known as British Saanen, crossed with a Toggenburg Billy for extra hardiness. There’s now Royal Golden Guernsey goats as well. These breeds are known for their milk quality and year-round production. They are also sociable and can run freely, so they lead unstressed and healthy lives.
As well as being wholesome and flavoursome, goat milk has nutritional benefits. It’s high in calcium and vitamins and low in cholesterol. Unlike other milk, and cheese, it can be consumed by those with lactose intolerance. In addition, the cheeses are free from artificial flavouring, preservatives and colouring.
The dairy goats are milked twice daily. Some milk is for making soap. The rest is carefully and slowly pasteurised. From there the milk is used to create a range of gourmet goat cheeses in the onsite dairy. Vegetarian rennet is used to coagulate the milk, so these cheeses are also suitable for vegetarians..
Piper Hole – the Goat Cheeses
Frank Hunter with a cheese press
The goat cheeses include Plain Goat, plus Nettle and Thyme, Rosemary. Meadowsweet and Garlic versions. At certain times of year when the goat milk is rich enough, Piper Hole also produces its own goat Butter. They also produce a little cow cheese from the Ayrshire cows.
If your perception of goat cheese is that it’s “too goaty or too strong”, then do try these cheeses instead as you’re in for a pleasant surprise. There is no pungent “goaty” smell or high acid sharpness here. Goatiness occurs when fragile molecules of Capric Acid2 in the milk break down and release goaty flavours. This happens when the milk heating and stirring is rushed or aggressive. This is, quite literally, Slow Food. Another factor is that the Piper Hole cheeses are young and fresh, and goatiness can develop with older cheeses.
Instead, the cheeses are mild, slightly soft and crumbly, with incredible richness and subtle flavours that’s good served fresh or it can be used in cooking. In fact, Piper Hole has redefined my perception of what goat cheese can be.
Cheese and Wine?
Pairing dry wines with these cheeses is a joy because these goat cheeses work well with a wide range of styles.
White wine will always be my first port of call, whether sparkling or still. Their higher acidity cuts the fat in the cheese, leaving the palate clean. For the same reason, Rosé wines, whether still or sparkling, also work well.
Orange wine and big Red wines fare less well because they have a much bigger proportion of tannins, which can clash with the cheese fat and result in bitter flavours. If you prefer to drink reds, then choose those that are naturally lighter with lower tannin. Keep the big reds for hard aged cheeses instead.
You’ll find some of the existing and future wine reviews on this website have suggestions for pairing with Piper Hole cheeses.
And Finally
With confidence in the future, what’s next for Piper Hole? There’s room for some more growth, but the idea is to stay small and focus on quality rather than quantity. That also means the farm remains manageable and adaptable should circumstances change. Now, Georgia Hunter is about to get married and is gradually taking over. She is the featured Young Farmer on BBCs Countryfile, first broadcast on 16 August 2026. and available on iPlayer.
Frank Hunter says he’s looking forward to retirement, but there again, do farmers ever really retire? I’m sure the Hunter family story will continue to inspire customers like me.
Here’s to the goats that have made this possible!
Curious Goats – naturally inquisitive
Location
3 Townhead Lane
Ravenstonedale
Kirkby Stephen
Cumbria
CA17 4NN
UK
(Visits by Appointment)
What3words Location
Notes
- SSSI – A Site of Special Scientific Interest is designated under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). These are the finest sites for wildlife and natural features in England and Wales, supporting many characteristic, rare and endangered species, habitats and natural features.
- Capric, Caproic and Caprylic Acids are natural short-chain fatty acids. Source: Ned Palmer, A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles. In addition, these acids have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, are easily digestible by humans and aid gut health.