Overview:

The 400 acres surrounding the new building complex has been farmed by the Barnes family since 1941. 4 generations have worked on the farm which has a cheese contract with the Long Clawson Dairy co-operative, the principal producer of Stilton cheese in the world. The co-operative is made up of 45 members taking milk from Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire only as the 3 single origins that milk for Stilton cheese must come from.

The 130 strong Ayrshire and British Friesian x Ayrshire milking cow herd are expanding leading to the requirement for new buildings and a larger milking parlour. The new buildings, manufactured by Wales-based manufacturer Shufflebottom of Cross Hands, have replaced older, much smaller buildings at South Fields Farm in Somerby village and the new site has the added benefit of its own entrance from a minor road linking Owston to Pickwell.

The new building complex consists of the milking parlour, 14,000-litre bulk tank, calving area, cow housing, straw storage and visitor education and viewing areas. The roof area of the largest building is 1.3 acres, covered with 80 tonnes of P6R fibre cement roof cladding, with rooflights on one-fifth of the area.

The two largest buildings are 220 feet long, and just over 110 feet and almost 71 feet wide respectively. The smaller third building is still 80 feet by 20 feet, and all three are 16 feet to the eaves. The open-sided galvanised barn on the edge of the site, which has a capacity of 80,000 cubic feet, is 100 feet long, 40 feet wide and 20 feet up to the eaves.

The Requirement: