There were 20 members present and three visitors. After an update of the financial situation and other relevant matters, ladies were introduced to Mrs Barbara Beevis, who had come to Eastbourne to talk about Le Gruyere – the Swiss cheese. There are nine very different irresistible cheeses from Switzerland and Le Gruyere comes from the East Cantons of that country. There is a village of Gruyere and it is regarded as a Protected Designated Area. The various farmers of the village take their small churn of milk twice a day to the village creameries for processing. Cheese is made every day of the year, even Christmas Day, and the milk is made into cheese within 18 hours. Mrs Beevis then outlined in pictorial details the process which the milk follows and the extreme cleanliness of the processing conditions. Because of the small creameries not having sufficient space to store the cheeses until maturity, they are moved into warehouses and sometimes caves. Maturing takes between five months and two years as each cheese is scrubbed every day all over with salted water to develop the rind and depending on the degree of maturity required.
In April the farmer moves his cows up to the high pastures for the summer months and he lives in a cabin with the cows and milks and makes cheese every day in the same cabin. In the autumn the cows are brought down to the lower pastures and on each occasion in spring and autumn it is a grand occasion and the whole village celebrates. Mrs Beevis then circulated samples of two Gruyere cheeses, one a young cheese and the other more matured and she also had prepared Swiss cheese tartlets for sampling to show how versatile the cheese was and booklets containing many recipes were available for the ladies to take home with them to experiment. On September 1 six ladies visited Ightham Mote for the day and the weather was perfect. On September 17 a visit to Chartwell was enjoyed by some members. Birthday cards were given out and a plant was given to one lady who celebrates a special birthday at the end of the month. On September 23 a group of ladies will be going out of a fish and chip lunch.
The Circle will meet again on October 17, at All Saints Church Centre, Grange Road, Eastbourne, at 2.15pm. Visitors and new members will be most welcome.