Profile
David and Wilma Finlay reintroduced cheese making to Rainton Farm in 2013 after a 40 year break giving an opportunity to experiment and explore the flavours and textures of different types of cheese. They now have a fabulous range of cheeses, skilfully made by very accomplished cheesemakers. Indeed they have already won prizes such as the one pictured for their latest cheese, the delicious blue Bluebell. Their Tomme melts perfectly on my raclette and every cheese has its own taste characteristics. Their book, The Dairy Story is now available and I highly recommend it.
2024 Winner of the Net Zero Nature Award at the Climate Action Awards for ‘Holistic Agroecology in Action’.
August 2024: Carrick, Winner of Best Organic Hard Cheese, plus, The Best Specialist & Artisan Cheese Champion Award at Mid Somerset Cheese Awards. Bluebell also won the Gold in the Best Soft Blue Cheese Category & Fleet Valley Blue, a Silver in the Hard Blue Cheese Category. Quite a collection, congratulations to them.
- CHEESEMAKER
- UNPASTEURISED MILK FROM OWN MONTBELIARDE, SWEDISH RED & HOLSTEIN COWS – COWS WITH CALVES
- VEGETARIAN RENNET
- CHEESEMAKING COURSES
- FARM TOURS AVAILABLE
- ONLINE CHEESE SHOP
- CERTIFIED ORGANIC BY SOIL ASSOCIATION
The Finlay family has been farming at Rainton since the 1920s. They are now The Ethical Dairy with calves at foot, decreased carbon footprint and high sustainability. Their organic and green credentials are superb.
Slow Food Scotland 2022 Person of the Year: Wilma Findlay of The Ethical Dairy. “The Findlay’s run their farm and The Ethical Dairy in Dumfries and Galloway. They have confronted one of the most ‘invisible’ aspects of rearing dairy cattle regarding animal welfare and separating calves from their mothers. But they’re also farming organically, making raw milk cheese and fighting the good fight right to the brink of their own mental and physical capacities, documented in their recently published book ‘A Dairy Story’.”
It is a great sadness that Wilma passed away in March 2025. After coping incredibly bravely with a long illness, she passed peacefully at home with David by her side. David continues their mission to take their message onwards and outwards and to this end continues award-winning cheeses whilst being an ambassador for their movie of The Dairy Story – do look out for it. It has justly received many plaudits and is also, understandably, very moving as Wilma features at David’s side.
They have created a beautiful dairy, converted from lovely old stone farm buildings to increase their production and are fast becoming the UK ‘go to’ for knowledge and experience in dairying where the calves are kept with mum. They have a great range of cheese including..
- Carrick – Best UK Organic Cheese 2015 – A mature, farmhouse style cheese, traditionally aged, tangy, sweet and creamy. (won gold at the 2016 Artisan cheese awards)
- Laganory– light, crumbly; clean tasting with a pleasant tang.(won bronze at the 2016 Artisan cheese awards)
- Rainton Tomme – creamy flavoursome Swiss style cheese.(won silver at the 2016 Artisan cheese awards)
- Fleet Valley Blue – mild, creamy blue cheese with a smooth texture and nutty flavour.
Their cheeses are available online and in local shops. Winner of Rural Tourism category for 2017 Scottish Rural Awards.
Farm Tours & Cheese Workshops
The Farm Tours led by David and the full day Cheese Making Workshops – are now available to book directly on website. You can find all the dates listed in the expanded ‘Visit‘ section of website link.
In May 2024 David’s father James passed away, just a few weeks short of his 101 birthday. James gave a talk a decade earlier about the history of cheese making on the farm. His memories were so interesting that they kept a written copy. If you’d like to read his words, James’ speech is now published on their website.
