9:30am Saturday 1st May 2010
By Megi Rychlikova
MEGI RYCHLIKOVA savours a trip to the Wensleydale Creamery deep in the Yorkshire Dales.
Why? The Wensleydale Creamery, just up the road from the centre of Hawes, is the only producer of real Yorkshire Wensleydale. The creamery has a visitor centre where you can see the cheese being made and read about the process.
It also has a museum, which is as fascinating as the cheesemaking because it relates the story of the cheese from medieval monks and farmwives to today’s factory. One section is devoted to the months in the 1990s when the then owners transferred manufacture to Lancashire, making a sizeable proportion of the town redundant. But the community and local businessmen rallied round and reopened the creamery. Later, they added the visitor centre, open seven days a week, 9.30am to 5pm.
Family friendly? Children will love it, as will filmgoers – a certain Mr Wallace and his dog Gromit lend their sign of approval – and anyone interested in the history of Dales folk. It makes an excellent place to take a breather on a day out in the Dales. It has a restaurant and a coffee shop with bar and two shops – the obligatory gift shop and a specialist cheese shop.
How much? £2.50 for adults, £1.50 for children with reduced admission on non-cheese-making days.
Getting there: Take the A684 west off the A1 through Bedale to Hawes then turn left heading to Gayles and follow the signs with a cow’s head to the creamery. Very infrequent buses run to Hawes from York (one on Sundays only) and Northallerton. No train service.
Please note, not every day is cheese making day, so check in advance on 01969 667664.
l This weekend, at the Dales Festival of Food and Drink, the Wensleydale Creamery will be launching a new cheese, Jervaulx Blue, named after the famous abbey.
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