Dale End Cheddar and Botton Creamery
An amazing, well-developed, rich Cheddar. Alastair only makes a small amount of cheese: he farms only 46 Dairy Shorthorn cows (a traditional Craven breed known for the rich quality of their milk). Alastair, a local lad who worked at Botton, travelled to Germany to learn his cheesemaking trade.
Using the Dairy Shorthorn’s rich, yellow milk Alastair makes a traditional cloth-bound Cheddar. Andy Swinscoe met him by chance on a cheese-making course several years ago when Alastair was trying to perfect Dale End Cheddar.
When The Courtyard Dairy set up in North Yorkshire, Andy visited Alastair. Alastair’s cheese was relatively 
unknown and only sold locally. The Courtyard Dairy took on the Cheddar and aged it until 18-months old. At that age it is rich, with a sharp Cheddar bite, which is how it is sold by The Courtyard Dairy.
Dale End Cheddar is made by a Camphill Village Trust (Botton Village Community) who support people with learning and other disabilities. The community has over 130 residents and is set in the wild and beautiful North Yorkshire Moors. Each of the residents has a role: on the farms and helping Alastair to make and age his cheese, or in other roles (the local store, wood workshops, making preserves and baking bread).
Click here to buy Dale End Cheddar from The Courtyard Dairy.