About us
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.
In early 2022 we left the farm and set up Curlew Dairy - our micro dairy 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. It’s 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. It’s handmade slowly in small batches, allowing us to give it the care and attention it deserves.
The key to great unpasteurised cheese is great milk, so we knew we needed to find a farm with high quality milk and a commitment to animal welfare and happy cows. That’s when we met Will and we knew he would be a perfect fit.
All our milk comes from Will’s small herd of Holstein and Ayrshire cows. Keeping his girls healthy and happy is his number one priority. They graze outside for as long as the harsh Yorkshire weather will allow (usually April to November). In winter they feed on haylage made on the farm, giving the milk a sweeter taste which comes through to the final cheese.
We use unpasteurised milk, so the cheese 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.
Our dairy really is a "micro" dairy - it's 6x3m and set up in our garage! It took us 3 weeks to go from cluttered garage to a working cheese room and the space is now completely unrecognisable.
The support we have had from other small cheesemakers has been incredible, lending us their time, expertise and even equipment. We cannot thank them enough! We now make in small batches of 500 litres, allowing us to keep an eye on every detail and giving us the flexibility to perfect our recipe.
