Green top milk producer quits after 60 years
Green top milk producer quits after 60 years
By John Burns
AFTER almost 60 years of milking cows Eileen Webber is giving up. Not because she wants a rest, but because the 50-cow herd she ran with her son Roger in the middle of the Exmoor village of Wheddon Cross has fallen victim to a combination of low prices, the ever-greater burden of regulations on sales of unpasteurised (green top) milk and the difficulties of bringing the cows in through holiday traffic.
Throughout the last six decades the villagers and guest houses have been supplied with milk by Mrs Webber and her family. First to go was the guest house trade, killed by laws preventing them serving green top to guests. No-one was ever made ill by the milk from the Webbers cows, but ever more costly inspections and tests were imposed on their cows, their milk, and their premises, until Roger decided it was no longer sensible to carry on.
Mrs Webber filled her last green top bottle on Sunday, Oct 31, breaking for ever that link between village people and village farm.
Parish newsletter
In a moving article for the parish newsletter, recording the end of Webbers green top milk, resident Victoria Thomas noted Rogers doubts about what he had achieved working all his life with the herd, but disagreed.
"Many of us would argue that to provide a top quality product for 365 days a year, to contribute to the health of several generations of families, living in the community and to do it all with a personal touch is a very great achievement indeed," wrote Ms Thomas.
"I believe the closure of the Webbers dairy is a loss to the community in all kinds of ways, some of which may not be realised for some time." *