Discover: A whey of life – exploring 800 years of Yorkshire Dales cheesemaking

Indelibly shaped by the surrounding landscape, Yorkshire Dales cheeses like Wensleydale are famous across the world. Tabby McNicholas explores this rich tradition.

Main image: A farm wife using a cheese press in the 19th century. Photo: Keld Resource Centre

Wensleydale is a beautiful glacier-carved valley in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, but for many people its name instantly evokes one thing – cheese!

Although the Yorkshire Dales are renowned for picturesque villages, drystone walls and rolling green pastures, they are also famed across the world for their produce (thanks in no small part to a famous animated character). For centuries, the Dales have been churning out world-renowned dairy products – making it a land rich in dairy lore.

I recently attended a fantastic talk at Keld Resource Centre in Swaledale. They work to preserve and explain the unique heritage and environment of Upper Swaledale and are keen to share stories of cheesemaking in the Dales.

I learned that traditional Dales cheesemaking dates back centuries, and that the people of Swaledale and Wensleydale have perfected their cheese craft to reflect the uniqueness of the land and its inhabitants. These cheeses are not simply curds and whey. They are a symbol of the resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and skill of local people.

Cheese wasn’t just made for the locals to eat – it was sold, traded, and renowned. Farm wives brought their wheels to local markets. The best cheeses were taken to Yarm and sold on to merchants, destined for Christmas tables across the region. The deliciously rich accompaniment to Christmas cake is still a favourite today.

War and industry

By the late 19th century, the landscape of cheesemaking in the Yorkshire Dales was changing. What had long been the domain of farm wives was beginning to move toward industrialisation.

Factories began to pop up across the region, thanks to entrepreneurs like Alfred Rowntree. Purpose-built piggeries were constructed to deal with the large amounts of whey, which couldn’t be discarded into sewers or streams. Some dairies even sold the whey to protein powder manufacturers, turning waste into profit.

When World War II broke out, milk was rationed and redirected to support the war effort. In 1939, no Wensleydale cheese was made at all. The dairies struggled to source milk, and local cheesemaking was brought to a standstill.

Yet amid the hardship, resilience endured. Kit Calvert, a local visionary and owner of the creamery in Hawes, stepped in to preserve what remained. On 20 May 1935, he took over dairies at Kirby Malzeard and Masham, laying the foundation for what would become the present-day Wensleydale Cheese Company.

From curds to counters

Wensleydale is the ‘household name’ of Yorkshire Dales cheeses. But its neighbouring valley also has an overlooked tradition of its own.

By the 1980s, Swaledale cheese had largely been forgotten, with only a few farm wives still knowing how to make it. But in 1987, a chef from South Shields, driven by curiosity and reverence for tradition, sought to revive the lost art of Swaledale cheesemaking.

The recipe and method had never been written down, passed instead from one generation to the next, guarded like folklore. But one farm wife, recognising the importance of preserving her heritage, agreed to share the secret.

With her guidance, the Swaledale Cheese Company was born. The cheese, bold and earthy as ever, found its way from the rugged hills of the northern Dales to the polished counters of Harrods – a journey that would have seemed impossible a century earlier.

Keeping a taste alive

Although the methods may have changed and scaled up from the small farm kitchens of the Dales, the pride and heart that goes into Dales cheesemaking lives on.

Many are keen to keep the tradition and taste alive. Curlew Dairy in Carperby makes traditional Wensleydale in their local dairy. The Courtyard Dairy in Settle and The Cheese Press in Richmond are serving up some of the finest Dales cheeses to the surrounding communities. And the Wensleydale Creamery still stands strong as a tourist favourite in the heart of the Dales.

Cheesemaking is deeply rooted in tradition the landscape of the Yorkshire Dales – but it remains as relevant to the modern world as ever.