(AGENPARL) – Tue 23 September 2025 Please find our latest news release below.
Andrew Fagg
Media Officer
Working hours: Mon | Tue | Fri
http://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk
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Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
Yoredale | Bainbridge | Leyburn | DL8 3EL
News Release
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Dairy opens on eve of Cheese Festival
Bainbridge, 23 September 2025
The only maker of unpasteurised cheese in Wensleydale has built a new dairy – just in time for the seventh annual Yorkshire Dales Cheese Festival, Celebrating Local Produce.
Curlew Dairy has transformed disused farm buildings in the village of Carperby into a facility which, since becoming operational at the end of last month, has seen several tonnes of Yoredale Wensleydale cheese made by hand.
It is one of 14 food, retail and hospitality businesses participating in the Cheese Festival, with events taking place in various locations around the National Park from Saturday the 11th of October to Sunday the 18th of October.
Until recently Curlew Dairy was based in a converted garage in Wensley. Artisan cheese maker Ben Spence – who features in a video also published today – said the new location was ideal:
““People are welcome to come by during the Cheese Festival, to see us making cheese that week through the vat room window. There will be samples to taste and there should be cheeses to buy. If you go an hour’s walk from Aysgarth Falls to Castle Bolton, you’ll almost pass the front door of this place.”
Mr Spence was pictured beside the very first cheeses to be made at the dairy. He explained why his Yoredale Wensleydale looked so colourful and “fluffy”:
“A garden of moulds grows through the cheeses as they age. This fluffy, kind of cat’s hair, mould that you see here, that is the mould that presents itself first. These cheeses will get patted down every week and eventually this mould will give way and allow other moulds to grow which form the tight rind that gives our cheese its characteristically mushroom, earthy flavours.
“In terms of flavour, we’re looking for the lemon acidity freshness of a Wensleydale towards the centre, with more earthy textures towards the rind. We aim for a texture that is akin to how farmhouse cheeses used to be: softer and more buttery than the mealy texture that many people would associate with Wensleydale today.”
Artisan cheesemaking in and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park has seen something of a resurgence during the past decade, with makers such as Stonebeck in Nidderdale, Piper Hole Goat Farm in Ravenstonedale, Lacey’s Cheese in Reeth and Courtyard Dairy near Settle finding a ready market.
Mr Spence added: ““We’ve seen ourselves grow. I think there is an appetite for food made with a lot less processing. That’s what our cheese is about. It’s made from local milk from Bolton Hall Farm’s herd. It’s handcrafted.
“I think the late David Hartley and the Wensleydale Creamery have done an incredible job at promoting Wensleydale as a brand, and it’s certainly what has allowed us to take our cheese to America. You can’t put too high a value on the importance of Yorkshire and Wensleydale, and the National Park, as brands.”
Member Champion for Promoting Understanding at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Neil Heseltine, said: “The Cheese Festival shines a spotlight on the high quality and unique food and drink businesses in the Yorkshire Dales. There will be much good food and drink to discover, and the festival is spread right across the National Park and into surrounding areas.
“Curlew Dairy’s investment in new facilities in Carperby, which has been backed by the Farming in Protected Landscapes grants programme, is a very promising development. Through food and drink producers such as Curlew Dairy, people can understand and enjoy the special qualities of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.”
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Note to Newsdesk
Image:
1 Artisan cheese maker Ben Spence in one of the maturing rooms at Curlew Diary’s new facility in Carperby, seen on 17 September.
2 Close up of the “fluffy” mould that grows on Yoredale Wensleydale cheese in the first few weeks of maturation.
1. The Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of 15 National Parks in the UK. It is administered by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, which has two main purposes: “to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage” and “to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the National Park”. In carrying out these purposes, the Authority has a duty “to seek to foster the economic and social well being of local communities”. The National Park Authority comprises 25 members, made up of unitary, county and city councillors and members appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment to represent parishes or in recognition of their specialist skills or knowledge.
1. All of our work is guided by the vision for the future of the National Park set out in the Yorkshire Dales National Park Management Plan: “Through their passion for this special place, local people and businesses will keep the Yorkshire Dales National Park a thriving area. Its unique cultural landscape will be treasured for its stunning scenery, exceptional heritage and wonderful wildlife, and every year millions of people will be inspired to be a part of it.”