Bob Kitching and his small friendly team make award winning local cheese at Leagram Dairies near Chipping. We visited on a production day, and watched as John and Lee worked their magic to create a batch of cheese. Bob explained the process as it happened, and it was really interesting to see the science behind cheese.

Bob is really passionate about what he does, and is proud of the fact he sources organic milk from local farms. They make lots of different kinds of cheese - including the popular sheeps cheese!

We came home with Christmas Pudding cheese, a delicious blue cheese, and Creamy Lancashire with Fried onions! For more info atbout Leagram Dairies, please visit http://www.ribblevalleyfoodtrail.com/leagram-organic-dairy.htm

Latvian Evija lives in Accrington and creates soft toys from recycled fabric. She makes bears, mice, frogs and cats for the One Planet shop with her partner Davis in their spare time, sourcing material from old clothes, charity shops and flea markets. They use vintage buttons and decorations to bring each animal to life, and enjoy designing them from scratch.

Each creation is unique, and the staff in the shop tell me they love it when Evija and Davis bring in new toys as they have a lot of fun naming each animal based on its appearance and 'personality'. They are always excited when one gets sold and finds a new home, but a little bit sad to see it go from its temporary One Planet home!

Sue Tomlinson makes felt embellishments to decorate jute bags, and creates unique hand crafted cards and badges for the One Planet shop. She makes them in her spare time, adding her own style and techniques to each design.

Sue sells her work at craft fayres as well as the One Planet shop, and the demand for her products at this time of year means she is busy sewing and crafting at every opportunity she can get. We watched as a felt cupcake came to life, and filmed Sue sewing colourful sequins onto the design.

Essentially Natural are based in Irwell Vale in Rossendale. The Essentially Natural website sums up their philosophy:

We are a small, ethical family-run business aiming to provide products that are as natural as possible....We are passionate about everything we sell – whether it’s our organic, handmade soaps, our organic, handmade skincare products, or our natural aromatherapy soy candles. We love using traditional handcrafting methods to produce luxury products of superior quality, and think of ourselves as a local cottage industry that will benefit not only our customers but also our community.

It was really inspiring to meet Dennis, and we filmed with his son Anton as he demonstrated the process involved in creating a scented candle. We chatted with Dennis about the products and his company as we interviewed him, and found out about the reason for him setting up in the first place.

The website explains:

Essentially Natural was founded in 2005 by Dennis Freedman after a long search for natural products that would assist his disabled wife in her recovery from a traffic accident. Himself being blind, Dennis was deeply concerned about the chemicals found in the usual health and beauty products.

“We found that using pure and natural products really helped to relieve my wife’s discomforts and aided the overall healing process – the results were miraculous. We now produce over 100 different hand-made 100% organic products without any chemicals or preservatives.”

Dennis is a firm believer in encouraging other disabled people that they can be successful in pursuing their dreams and ambitions. He employs disadvantaged people in the business and donates a percentage of the profits to the Guide Dogs for the Blind.

For more details, please visit the Essentially Natural website at http://www.e-nat.co.uk