Torrylinn Creamery on the island of Arran was established by the Scottish Milk Marketing Board (S.M.M.B.) in 1945.
The creamery was refurbished in 1992, both in fabric and plant and equipment. The new facility still retained the traditional hand-made approach to cheesemaking.
Milk was supplied exclusively from twelve producers, all of whom were based on the southern half of the island.
Output was of a hard-pressed cheese more akin to a Dunlop rather than a typical cheddar type. Although much of the cheese produced at the creamery was in 20 kilogram blocks, a significant proportion was made into a wide range of traditional truckles and wheels in an effort to generate additional added value.
The small 1 kilogram mini cheese sold under the Arran brand was at the forefront of this specialist concept, but the round waxed truckles were equally important in both home and export markets including France Belgium, Germany as well as the U.S.A.
Throughout its history, and under various owners, the business faced many challenges, most notably the nationwide decline in the industry and the ever-dwindling number of dairy farms on the island.
The ever present threat of dwindling Arran milk suppliers and the declining markets continued though it was hoped that when First Milk took over the company in 2007 that fortunes would change for one of Arran’s oldest factories on the island.
Following a concerted effort by First Milk, industry leaders and local politicians, to save the organisation, the enterprise received no offers and no credible interest and the announcement was made that the creamery would shut down for good on Wednesday July 31, 2019.
Sources:
Adam Gray, White Gold? Scotland’s Dairying in the Past (1995)
Colin Smeaton, Arran Banner https://www.arranbanner.co.uk/2019/07/26/a-sad-end-to-73-years-of-torrylinn-creamery/