The Dairies of Marnhull

In winter the fields of the broad Blackmoor Vale gleam and glint with standing water. The dampness and the soft, sweet air make for lush green meadows and, where there's rich pasture like this, there are dairy cattle. In the Blackmoor Vale, there are thousands of them, mainly black and white Holstein-Friesians. In spring and summer they graze their way slowly through the fields on a regular routine. In late autumn, when the ground becomes too churned up by their hoofs, they are herded into vast byres, from where they stare out balefully at passing walkers, through clouds of steamy breath, waiting for a warm, dry day when they, too, will be free to kick up their heels.

Any doubts that dairying is big business are soon dispelled in this part of Dorset, where a strong whiff of slurry often taints the wind. As you gaze around the big-eyed, chomping herds, you can believe that UK dairy farms produce around 3.15 billion gallons (14.3 billion litres) of milk a year, part of a total market for milk, cream, cheese, butter and yoghurt that stands at some £6 billion.

Until the development of refrigeration and pasteurisation, milk was a highly perishable commodity. Dairy herds were kept on the fringes of towns to minimise the delay between milking and getting the milk to the consumer, by hand or cart. Furthermore, prior to mechanisation, milking was a laborious, manual job and the risk of bacterial infection and contamination was much higher. Tess's experiences as a milkmaid in Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1861) give a good picture of this way of rural life. The little old barns of the third farm on this walk, Gomershay, are a poignant reminder.

Everything changed with the advent of mass refrigeration, to slow the bacteria, and pasteurisation to kill them off. The cows are milked by vacuum suction pumps on the farm, and efficiency is such that one cow can produce up to 1,320 gallons (6,000 litres) of milk in a year. Refrigerated road tankers transfer it to a central dairy where it is checked for bacteria before being pasteurised, processed and sent out, with an extended shop shelf-life. There are downsides to the success story, as with any industrial production or intensive farming, not least of which are concerns about livestock welfare. High levels of fertiliser and overflowing slurry pits contribute to around a quarter of water pollution incidents. Ruminating cattle produce vast amounts of methane gas, adding steadily to the perceived problems of global warming. Yet it is estimated that we drink around four times as much of the white stuff as our predecessors and, while the market continues to reinvent itself (who bought semi-skimmed 20 years ago?), there seems little likelihood of it slowing down.

Where to eat and drink

Thomas Hardy immortalised both Marnhull pubs in Tess of the D'Urbervilles (he renamed the village Marlott). The smart looking Blackmoor Vale was his 'Rolliver's'. Today it serves home-made food and has a sizeable beer garden to one side. Near the church is the Crown Inn (Hardy's 'Pure Drop'), boasting a priest hole, which leads to the church via a tunnel, as well as a low, thatched section dating from the 16th century. It, too, serves food.

While you're there

If you're hooked on Thomas Hardy 's story, go to Bere Regis (his 'Kingsbere'). In the church are the canopied tombs of the Turberville family and a 15th-century window depicting the arms of the Turbervilles, all under an extraordinary carved and painted roof. The family came over with William the Conqueror but eventually died out. Variations of their name lived on, which gave Hardy the starting point for his novel.

What to look for

Marnhull's church is not always open, but, if you can get in, look for the memorial to John Warren, an 18th-century parish clerk and keen pipe smoker, who died at the ripe old age of 94. It is inscribed with a philosophical rhyme to John and his wife: 'And now there's no doubt, But their pipes are both out, Be it said without joke, That life is but smoke'.