Eketahuna's big cheese win

SPECIAL: Biddy Fraser-Davies won a silver medal at the World Cheese Awards in England.PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA.

It may not have equalled the singing at Cardiff Arms Park but the celebrations at Cwmglyn Farmhouse Cheeses in rural Eketahuna was just as heartfelt on the weekend.

Cheesemaker Biddy Fraser-Davies had just learned she had won a silver medal at the 2013 World Cheese Awards held in England, her biggest competition success in 11 years of specialist cheesemaking.

The award was not easily won either as Mrs Fraser-Davies had to ship her prized traditional organic farmhouse cheese to the other side of the world to add to 2776 other cheeses competing across the various classes.

Mrs Fraser-Davies said she had gone on the web to check out "who had won what" and became "quite excited" when she read she had scored a coveted silver medal.

Her success didn't remain a secret for long either.

Radio Eketahuna was soon on the telephone and broadcast "the news to the world" she said.

Yesterday Mrs Fraser-Davies was also contacted by national radio for an appointment on its rural radio programme.

In over a decade of making specialist cheeses at her Morgan's Rd property Mrs Fraser-Davies has enjoyed success before, albeit not on quite the scale of this week.

Last year she won a silver and a bronze medal for cheeses entered in the Jersey Cheese Awards held on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands.