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The Spence family have farmed at Home Farm in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales since 1953, starting out milking 20 Dairy Shorthorn cows. Three generations later, Ben Spence has restarted traditional cheesemaking in the area, along with his wife Sam.

Starting out on their own farm, they diversified into cheesemaking in 2019. For many years the milk was ferried up to the factory at Wensleydale Creamery and was used by the Creamery to make a range of block and traditional cheeses. With fluctuations in the milk price, however, the Spence family decided to take their future into their own hands and start making cheese at Home Farm –which would be the first farm-produced Wensleydale made in the Dale since 1957. There were once thousands of Wensleydale farms making cheese, each producing their own style of Wensleydale cheese.

The Spence family attended a cheese-making course held by The Courtyard Dairy, took further advice from The Courtyard Dairy owner Andy Swinscoe, then set about producing their Wensleydale cheese from raw milk. Blocking and turning the curd by hand, they fill traditional tall ‘Wensleydale hoops’ before cloth-binding the cheese and maturing it for 3-4 months. Made following the old-fashioned methods, it retains a touch more moisture than its modern faster-made, crumblier and drier cousins. But is still very much a Wensleydale cheese.

in 2021 Ben and Sam left the family farm in Aysgarth to move onto the Castle Bolton estate in the actual town of Wensley from where the Dale and cheese take it’s name (Wensleydale is one of the few ‘Dales’ not named after a river – unlike it’s neighbours Ribblesdale, Swaledale, Nidderdale, Coverdale, Wharfedale….). The cheese was originally called Old Roan but re-named to Yoredale when they moved farm.