If there was an annual prize for the best Yorkshire cheeses then I’m sure you’d find the Botton Village Dairy regularly on the podium. Dale End Cheddar, the powerful Moorland Tomme, and Summer Fields the Swiss-style Yorkshire Gouda are all superb cheeses made by head cheesemaker Alastair Pearson and his team at the Camphill Village community of Botton Village, at the far end of Danby Dale within the North York Moors National Park. This special community is where people with special needs and learning disabilities live and work together with 150 co-workers in a caring and nurturing community.
When we first reported on the dairy we could only find the cheeses in a couple of local shops and on the tables of the Star at Harome, now that it’s becoming better known and enjoyed the dairy can barely keep up with demand. If you want to buy it, you can call at the dairy or buy from one of the best cheese suppliers in the UK: The Courtyard Dairy in Settle, where Andy Swinscoe matures the Dale End Cheddar for 18 months.