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JULY 2018
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Travel
Images courtesy of: © Andrew Marshall / © Paul Marshall / © Kate Moseley
CHEESE
For centuries people have been
churning cheeses in the Yorkshire
Dales; it’s thought that the origins of
local cheese-making lies with Cistercian
monks who arrived from Normandy
and settled in the local abbeys during
the 11th century. They passed on their
techniques to the farmers of Swaledale
and Wensleydale and a local industry
was born. Despite a steady decline in
bespoke cheese-making during the 20th
century, there’s been a resurgence of
interest in local hand-crafted cheese
around here in recent years.
With the help of
Wallace and Gromit
,
Wensleydale has to be Yorkshire’s
signature cheese. The village of Hawes
is home to the Wensleydale Creamery,
where this mild and creamy cheese with
a honeyed aftertaste and a crumbly, flaky
texture is still made to a time-honoured
recipe. Watch the cheese being made,
then visit the shop to pick up a sustaining
slab of Yorkshire’s finest – perhaps
an Oak Smoked Wensleydale or one
combined with apricots or cranberries.
For something different, try Wensleydale
the Yorkshire way, with a slice of apple
pie or fruitcake.
Look out for other Yorkshire cheeses
– Shepherd’s Purse of Thirsk make
Harrogate and Yorkshire Blue; and the
Swaledale Cheese Company in Richmond
SAY
CHEESE . . .
There are around
700 NAMED
CHEESES
made
in the UK
produces a fine array of cheeses including
Traditional Swaledale (made from
cow’s milk) and a cheese flavoured
with Theakston’s Old Peculier ale. Well
worth a visit is the award-winning
Courtyard Dairy in Settle, run by Andy
Swinscoe, a specialist cheesemonger with
an apprenticeship in affinage (cheese
aging) in France. This specialist cheese
shop champions small, independent
farmers and stocks a range of unusual
and exquisite artisan farmhouse cheeses,
like the tangy Dale End Cheddar from
Botton Creamery near Whitby, and the
cloth-bound Richard III Wensleydale
made to a traditional pre-war recipe by
Andy Ridley in Richmond.