No.1 - 'The UK's Best Cheese Shops (The Times Newspaper 2024)

The Wensleydale Cheese Project

16th July 2025

“The real Wensleydale died during the War, murdered by a pinstripe power … … what a cheese it was, creamy and moist and white with a totally unique flavour”. [Famous Dalesman and iconic Yorkshire cheesemaker Kit Calvert] Introduction The renowned British territorial cheese, Wensleydale, has changed monumentally over the last century. Dying out as a farmhouse cheese in the 1950s the recipe evolved to be more efficient, stable, fast maturing and economic to produce. It became quite a different beast: the crumbly, tart, dry cheese you would associate with the modern-day Wensleydale cheese, that you will find in supermarkets today. In the late 2010s, as part of a general trend for revival of artisan produce and farm cheesemaking, The Courtyard Dairy, and several local farmers in the Yorkshire Dales looked to reverse that trend. Taking influence from old pre-war recipes and notes, scraps of paper and faded photos, they looked to recreate this iconic cheese and construct a new chapter for farmhouse Wensleydale cheese. Trying to piece together knowledge, recipes, and thoughts to establish how Wensleydale used to be made was a challenge. From these same influences three producers eventually developed their own example of Wensleydale: Curlew Dairy, Whin Yeats…

Northern Dairy Cheese School, Seminar 2: Starter Culture

12th June 2025

Seminar 2: Starter Culture. 8-10 Sept 2025. 2.5 Days An in depth look at how the starter culture you add affects the end results. The objective is to discuss a bit more the role of starters within the make and final flavour/texture and how different starters can affect that so you can improve your cheesemaking. The exact same recipe will be made with four different starter strains and their differences observed: how they grow and acidify (bench top), how this affected the cheesemaking, and how they affected the flavour in the final product. With input from Barbers Maryland Cultures and Standa Cultures we will discuss how better to manage starter and what affect it is having on our end cheese. Using this knowledge, day 2 features a cheesemaking day where you will make cheese (recipe to your choice) altering the starter (varying potentially type, quantity, low/high activity or using a wild starter) to see if you can manage the process and get your desired results. Cost to attend: £250*. Only 10 places available. (Attendees must have previous cheesemaking experience – please get in touch if you want to discuss this). Detail: The seminar is designed for cheesemakers to discuss starter usage and how…

The Resurgence of Farmhouse Wensleydale (video)

26th May 2024

Watch Andy speaking on the resurgence of farmhouse raw milk Wensleydale cheese: an iconic traditional British cheese that had disappeared into the annals of history. In this short 3-minute video he tells of it’s decline and revival, explaining the three new producers and their differences. Video by Angus Birditt of Our Isles. To buy these Wensleydale’s as a set to compare, click here >. If you want to learn more about Wensleydale Cheese, this fascinating book explores it in depth >

40p in every £1 stays within 40 miles – Where your money goes when you spend with The Courtyard Dairy.

10th August 2019

After seeing a diagram produced by an American farmstead cheese-maker showing how much of their turnover went back into their community I thought we’d do a similar analysis at The Courtyard Dairy. Using last years accounts I decided to see just how much an impact our business was having in the locality from The Courtyard Dairy’s cheese shop and café. I always knew in my heart that supporting small local enterprises helps to keep a community vibrant but I was pleasantly surprised at how much went back into the local communities in the north of England from our own turnover. We worked it out by analysing the bills the business had paid during the last year and working out how much money had been spent locally. I appreciate that it is often much harder to use local enterprises rather than opting for the convenience of shopping online or big retailers – for example small shops are often not open for as long as larger retailers, are sometimes located in areas where it is difficult to park and are perceived as being more expensive. And whilst I emphasise to all who work at The Courtyard Dairy the importance of doing things…

‘The Most Amazing Cheese Shops in the World’ (The Daily Telegraph 2015)

20th July 2015

The Courtyard Dairy is featured in The Daily Telegraph’s ‘Most Amazing Cheese Shops in the World’.

Exploring territorial British Cheese – from Cheddar to Cheshire: what’s the difference?

2nd May 2015

The traditional British Cheese types are often called the ‘territorials’; as they take name from the counties or areas where they come from, but what is the difference? Find out here.