Shropshire man made a cheese in his kitchen at home and won gold award at International Cheese Awards
His day job sees him work in housing construction but a 49-year-old's hobby as a cheese maker has seen him scoop a major national award.
Matthew Lloyd from Gobowen is celebrating after his cheese – created in his domestic kitchen at home, scooped a gold prize in the International Cheese and Dairy Awards, which took place at Stafford.
Judges were wowed with the flavours of his 'Pepper Devil' – a soft cheese coated in pepper with garlic – awarding it top prize in the semi-soft cheese with additives section for the UK and the Republic of Ireland, beating efforts from The Great British Cheese Company and the Snowdonia Cheese Company into the silver and bronze places.
It's quite a feat for the 49-year-old, who only took up cheese-making just before lockdown after his sister bought him a £5.99 cheese kit as a Christmas present.
Mr Lloyd said he has "never sold a cheese in his life" and had learned his skills via books and the internet, saying: "YouTube was my friend!"
He said he had attended the Love Cheese festival last year and after good reviews from friends and family he had decided to enter the competition this year.
He said: "I said to myself if people like it so much why not enter this year."
Asked how he had come up with the cheese, Mr Lloyd said that he makes a lot of different cheese types but had taken inspiration from a Swiss cheese known as a Belper Knolle for the competition.
The product is also completely preservative free and the milk comes from HERD, which is less than two miles from his home, making it "very sustainable".
