A 24-YEAR-OLD from Nantwich is the star of a new generation of cheese makers who are continuing the traditional skill.

Katy Hollinshead has already won a handful of medals at the 2004 British Cheese Awards and is hoping her cheeses, for Ravens Oak Dairy, will be a bestseller at Nantwich Food and Drink Festival from September 23 to 25.

She picked up the art of cheesemaking on only one module of a food technology course at Reaseheath College and now specialises in brie and soft-style cheeses from goat, cow and buffalo milk.

Brought up on a farm, Katy knew from an early age she didn't want to follow in her father's footsteps.

She said: "I'm a fair-weather girl and working in fields up to my knees in mud is not for me."

And although the young cheesemaker admits she can't cook 'to save her life', she certainly has the knack when it comes to judging the feel of the curd and making award-winning cheeses.