A HEALTH lecturer at the University of Bradford will appear in the finals of a prime time BBC food contest thanks to her artisan goats’ cheese.

As well as being a lecturer in diagnostic radiotherapy at the university, Gillian Clough makes cheese from the milk of her own heard of goats based at a dairy in Hebden Bridge.

She has featured on BBC Two, as one of the artisan food producers appearing on the new series, Top of the Shop in which small-scale food producers compete for the title of best up-and-coming artisan. The show is presented by top professional chef Tom Kerridge.

During the episode, Mrs Clough competed with three other cheese producers trying to convince the locals in Malhamdale that her Tenacres Cheese should sweep the board. After a gruelling series of challenges, including persuading local shoppers to buy, marketing their product, choosing a dish to showcase their cheeses, and convincing Tom’s fellow judges Alison Swan Parente and Nisha Katona of the quality and viability of their produce and business, she won through to the final.

Each episode of the show follows producers of a certain type of food, from sweets to preserves and spreads. The cheese episode was screened earlier this week, and saw Mrs Clough competing against a number of other cheese makers.

The judges look at both the quality of the food products, and the likelihood that it could go on to be a success on the shelves.

The final will see a shop filled with the seven winning products from seven categories. The judges will ask customers to help decide which producer and product should take the top of the shop title.

On getting into the final, Mrs Clough said: “I am thrilled to have been chosen to go through to the final of Top of the Shop with Tom Kerridge”.

Mrs Clough is a lecturer in diagnostic radiography in the Faculty of Health Studies at Bradford and is a specialist in breast imaging.

She worked at the Bradford Royal Infirmary before taking up a Senior Radiographer post with the Leeds and Wakefield Breast Screening Service in 1991.

She has also worked at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds, and in 1998 was appointed Superintendent Radiographer of the Breast Imaging Department.

She joined the University of Bradford in 2003.

When she’s away from the lecture theatre, she runs Tenacres Cheese in Hebden Bridge, a smallholding she bought in 2007 with her husband and has since developed into a goat’s cheese dairy. The cheese has proved hugely popular.

Awards for the cheese have followed in rapid succession.

She won gold at the World Cheese Awards in 2017, repeating her triumph at the 2015 awards. In 2017 she also collected gold at the British Cheese Awards, and a further two golds and Best Goat’s Cheese designation at the Artisan Cheese Awards.

Now, after tasting success, Gillian is looking forward to the final, which is due to take place next month.