Andy Swinscoe, co-owner of The Courtyard Dairy, recently commissioned fellow Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust Scholar Clare Pattinson to create a unique piece of art using her automata scholarship.

Andy and Clare have both been awarded scholarships from The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST). QEST is an art and craft educational trust created to sustain traditional British craftsmanship. Its scholarship programme is committed to helping support craftspeople of all ages and from all backgrounds, at a critical stage in their careers.

Andy received his scholarship in 2010 which facilitated him undertaking a six-month apprenticeship in the intricate art of affinage (ageing cheese). The scholarship was in France, at the maturing cellars of Hervé Mons (widely regarded as the best affineur in the world), and included several advanced theoretical courses under French cheese consultant Ivan Larcher. Andy is in no doubt about the usefulness of the scholarship: “At that time in my career, the six-months I spent working in Herve’s cave was key. Coupled with the theoretical knowledge, it helped me to establish a real connection with and understanding of what makes a top-quality cheese, and how careful maturing brings out the absolute best. At the beginning of my career the scholarship set me off on the right route, which has culminated with The Courtyard Dairy being the great success it is today.”

In 2023 Andy opened a new and enlarged cheese museum at The Courtyard Dairy featuring numerous ancient cheese-related artefacts, and upon being gifted an old hand-operated butter churn, he decided to turn it into a feature. “In the list of QEST alumni I had seen that Clare Pattinson, a QEST Scholar in 2015, had studied Automata & Mechanical Art – and I thought ‘that’s perfect for what I have in mind for the butter churn.’”

Andy commissioned Clare to turn the butter churn into something quirky for the museum. She cleverly converted the churn into a fascinating mechanical piece of art, in which a set of mechanical mice perform gym weightlifting acts in defiance of their mouse-trap captors! The butter churn now sits proudly in The Courtyard Dairy, visibly championing and showcasing the traditional crafts of both QEST Scholars.