Hi and welcome to my blog!

My name is Jen and I’m the running cheesemonger!

My wife, Ali, and I took over the Pangbourne Cheese Shop in October 2015. Neither of us had any retail experience, let alone cheese knowledge, and so it was a bit of a leap into the unknown!

Ali is a netball coach and I was a Sports Therapist before closing down my practice to concentrate on cheese. Before I trained as a Sports Therapist I was an International Javelin thrower and so the cheese world was a total mystery. 

Luckily we have some fantastic staff in the shop and I have learnt a great deal from them as well as reading every cheese book that I could lay my hands on. Ali and I also both completed the Guild of Fine Foods Cheese Retail course, both gaining passes with distinction 🙂

But why the Running Cheesemonger? As I’ve said I have a sports background and as well as playing netball for a local team in the Newbury League, I’m a bit of a fitness enthusiast. I try and run 6km before work everyday, before completing another hour in the gym, and then try and do another 6-10km run after work 3-4 days a week. It helps to keep me focused and (Ali would say) out of mischief too! 

I’ll be writing my blog at least once a month (somethimes sooner…), talking about new cheeses we have in the shop as well as any visits we do to our local (and not so local) cheese makers.

Hopefully you’ll join me on the journey… 🙂