Thelma Adams (farmer)

Thelma Adams
as Cleopatra in 1984
Born(1938-11-10)10 November 1938
Died2024 (aged 86)
Occupations
  • Cheesemonger
  • activist
Spouse
Gwynfor Adams
​
(m. 1961)​
Children2

Thelma Adams (10 November 1938 – 2024) was a Welsh farmer and activist. After unsuccessfully protesting against milk quotas under the European Commission's Common Agricultural Policy, she and her husband restarted the family cheese producer Caws Cenarth Cheese as managing director, winning accolades and acclaim for her cheese.

Early life

Thelma Adams was born on 10 November 1938,[1] and raised in the Pant y Blaidd inn in Llanfyrnach.[2] In 1961, she married Gwynfor Adams, and they moved to their farm Glyneithinog;[3] located in Boncath, the family business Caws Cenarth had been producing cheese there since 1903.[4][5]

Career

In 1984, with plans to implement milk quotas in the United Kingdom under the European Commission's Common Agricultural Policy, Adams protested by sitting in a bathtub full of milk as it was driven throughout Carmarthen, while dressed as Cleopatra.[5] She stated that the idea of the protest was to show that "it was cheaper to bathe in milk than water".[4] The BBC reported that this incident "brought [the town] to a standstill."[2]

After the milk quotas were still introduced and resulted in potential financial issues with the farm,[5] Adams and her husband restarted Caws Cenarth at Glyneithinog in 1986,[6] becoming the farm's first managing director herself;[7] she once told the Carmarthen Journal that "my mother made cheese so it was in my blood".[6] She had originally considered making butter, but found "no delight in making [it]".[2] She also went to a Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food course in cheesemaking.[6]

In 1986, the Adams couple's cheese won the 1986 Edible Ideas competition.[8] In December 1987, the Adams couple hosted ADAS director-general Ronald Leslie Bell at their farm.[9] In 1988, she was appointed to a non-statutory agriculture panel by Secretary of State for Wales Peter Walker.[10] In March 1989, Brendan Berry of The Daily Telegraph called Adams "one of Wales's best known cheesemakers".[11] She was runner-up for the 1989 Welsh Agricultural Organisation Society/NatWest Marketing Initiative Award.[12]

In 1991, the Adams couple won first prize in dairy products at the South West Dairy Show and entered a Radio Times Enterprise competition.[13] In Saint David's Day 1993, she promoted her cheese at the Selfridges flagship store in London.[14] In 1997, Malcolm Smith of The Independent recommended her cheesemaking as a tourist attraction.[15] In July 1997, she reportedly got a request for a sample from Charles, Prince of Wales (now Charles III).[7] She was one of several farmers interviewed for Ron Davies' Working Lives: Voices from Rural Wales online initiative.[16] In December 1998, she was a non-winning finalist for the National Farmers' Union's Welsh Woman Farmer of the Year.[17] By 1999, her customers included Caerphilly County Borough Council, Fortnum & Mason, and Harrods.[18]

In September 1999, Adams protested Caerphilly County Borough Council's campaign to assign protected geographical status to Caerphilly cheese, which would restrict its production to Caerphilly.[18] In 2015, amid concerns about another financial downturn in the dairy industry due to a recent drop in milk prices, she called for agricultural families to address the crisis with a publicity stunt similar to hers.[19]

Adams was still a director of Caws Cenarth as late as 2022.[20] The company received two Royal Warrants for supplying their organic cheese to Charles III: in 2022 and 2024.[6]

Personal life and death

She was married to Gwynfor Adams until his death on 15 October 2021 at 87. They had two children: Carwyn, who had taken over as managing director of Caws Cenarth by 2020, and Caroline, who runs an artisan cracker brand called Hedyn Aur and also worked as a volunteer nurse.[20]

Both Thelma and Gwynfor spoke Welsh.[20] She later moved out of her Glyneithinog farmhouse and into a flat, and afterwards the farm's dairy production facilities had been modernized by 2022.[20]

In addition to cheesemaking, the Adamses bred a pedigree herd of Holstein Friesian cows,[8] whose milk would be used for her cheese.[11]

Adams died in 2024, aged 86.[21]

References

  1. ^ "Adams, Thelma, 1938-". Library of Congress Authorities. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Sylfaenydd Caws Cenarth, Thelma Adams wedi marw yn 86 oed". BBC (in Welsh). 15 December 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  3. ^ Ross, Ian (14 February 1990). "Adams family are not just small cheese". Carmarthen Journal. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Absalom, Sarah Jane (16 December 2024). "Caws Cenarth 'matriarch', Thelma Adams, dies aged 86". Pembrokeshire Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "Thelma Adams, un o sefydlwyr cwmni Caws Cenarth, wedi marw yn 86 oed" (in Welsh). 15 December 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Ian (17 December 2024). "Founder of Carmarthenshire's Caws Cenarth passes away". In Your Area. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Say cheese for success". Carmarthen Journal. 23 July 1997. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "Hand-made cheese wins £5,000 award". South Wales Evening Post. 27 October 1986. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Cheese-making farm impresses ADAS chief". Carmarthen Journal. 4 December 1987. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Thelma and Petronella add voices to farm panel". Daily Post. 25 October 1988. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b Berry, Brendan (16 March 1989). "Its own special flavour". The Daily Telegraph. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "An enterprising couple". Daily Post. 12 December 1989. p. 26 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Whey ahead". Carmarthen Journal. 9 October 1991. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Trade talk". Carmarthen Journal. 3 March 1993. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Smith, Malcolm (28 June 1997). "Savour the flavour". The Independent. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Worldwide internet fun for rural Wales". South Wales Evening Post. 24 July 1998. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Lloyd, David (15 December 1998). "Cheshire farmer's wife in line for two NFU awards". Liverpool Daily Post. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b Jones, Emma (21 September 1999). "'Hard cheese, I'm going to fight on'". South Wales Evening Post. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Williams, Sally (27 January 2015). "'Cleopatra' dairy campaigner who bathed in milk in the '80s is at it again!". Wales Online. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  20. ^ a b c d Clements, Laura (10 December 2022). "The half naked woman who brought Welsh cheese back to life". Wales Online. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  21. ^ "Thelma Adams, un o sefydlwyr cwmni Caws Cenarth, wedi marw yn 86 oed" (in Welsh). 15 December 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
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