ABOUT US
Building a micro dairy from scratch
In early 2022 we left the farm and set up Curlew Dairy - our micro dairy in our garage in Wensley. Following a huge amount of hard work and determination combined with lots of support from the artisan cheese world, we began making Yoredale Wensleydale in a 500 litre vat twice a week.
See how we built the original dairy on Instagram here:
THE ORIGINAL DAIRY
OUR NEW DAIRY IN CARPERBY
BEN AND SAM
Ben and Sam began making cheese in 2019. After leaving our finance jobs in Manchester we moved to Wensleydale looking for a slower pace of life in the countryside. Initially on Ben’s family farm, we started to look for a way to diversify and the idea of making a raw milk Wensleydale cheese was born.
Yoredale quickly grew in popularity and we needed more space to increase production. In 2025 we moved to an old farmstead in Carperby. Yoredale is now stocked in some of the best independent cheese delis up and down the UK and this year won a gold award at the British Cheese Awards.
All cheese is still handmade in small batches of just 2500 litres of milk. This allows us to keep an eye on every detail and tweak our recipe to react to the natural seasonal fluctuations in the raw milk.
OUR MILK
Great quality cheese starts with the milk
We use unpasteurised milk, so it truly reflects the ‘terroir’ of the farm. Everything from the pastures on which the cows grazed, the weather, the season and even the bacteria in the soil plays a role in determining the final flavour. We use vegetarian rennet so all cheese is suitable for vegetarians.
We collect our milk from a local farm – it has a small herd size, high quality milk and a commitment to animal welfare and happy cows. They graze outside for as long as the harsh Yorkshire weather will allow (usually March to November).