The Leighterton Dairy, Gloucestershire

Gently pasteurised whole milk from Holstein Friesian cows who spend their day grazing one-hundred and seventy-five meters above sea level on the southern end of the Cotswolds area of outstanding natural beauty. The milk vending machine sits inside the petit and beautiful Bennetts Farm Shop, a space created from a repurposed shipping container. The Leighterton Dairy offers a one-litre bottle or if you’d prefer, a five-hundred-millilitre bottle of milk and a selection of milkshake flavours. The bigger bottle features an adult cow grazing happily, while the smaller bottle features a calf staring out from the bottle with a cheeky expression that almost looks as if she is smiling! You may have noticed that the leaves on the trees are different on each bottle, perhaps showing a change of season?

Less than a mile away from the farm shop sits Leighterton Long Barrow (known locally as West Barrow), a Neolithic burial chamber that dates back to 3800BC – 3625BC. In 1700 the barrow was unsealed and investigated by Matthew Huntley, and inside he discovered burnt human remains contained within earthen jars and complete skulls and thigh bones. A small wall protects the barrow, and the top is covered with trees, but one can still appreciate its size.

Is the Long Barrow featured on the front of these bottles? The cows graze next to a tree-covered mound that, to my untrained eye, looks very much like the Long Barrow. If this is true, one must marvel that the five and a half thousand-year-old burial chamber has traversed the river of time to be reproduced and printed on a milk bottle, still making an impression today.

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