Vine Farm Dairy – Leicestershire

We were lucky to pick up this special edition Jubilee bottle from Vine Farm Dairy in Great Dalby, three miles south of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. The name Great Dalby is derived from the Old English dalr-by, meaning a farm or settlement in a valley.

The dairy began operations in the 1950s with only two cows. The pair were milked by hand. Since then, the herd has grown considerably to three-hundred and fifty cows, a mixture of Jersey, Montbeliarde and Holstein. The girls produce fresh pasteurised, but not homogenised, standardised or separated, milk and is available to you and me via milk vending the machine on the corner of Station Road and Kirby Road. (Also with three-hundred and fifty cows, the hand milking has stopped now.)

Less than half a kilometre from the vending machine (South East, along Top End Road), you will find Great Dalby Church, dedicated to St Swithun. Construction of the church was started in the thirteenth century, but much has changed since then. On the 2nd of January 1658, the church’s spire was struck by lightning, causing it to collapse into the nave of the church. Much damage occurred and remained for several years, allowing time to raise money to enact repairs. Unfortunately, the money collected was stolen before any repairs were made, and this led to the spire being capped off, leaving the current, slightly strange appearance we see today.

If you still fancy a walk after visiting the church, you could head west along Station Road until you reach a nice skew bridge that once carried the Maresfield Junction to the Saxondale railway line through the countryside and over the road. The line closed to all traffic in 1962.

This special edition bottle has been decked out with flags and bunting to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Having been on the throne for seventy years, Queen Elizabeth II was the UK’s longest-reigning monarch.

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