3 Wensleydale Creamery

 We have a cheese addiction. 

Some of the best cheese around is at the Wensleydale Creamery, about 1.5 hours away in Hawes, a village in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

We needed some cheese, and today seemed as good a day as we were going to get in the foreseeable future to drive up.

The weather today was atrocious, with gale-force winds and thick rain that blew sideways.  The roads had deep puddles on the shoulders, and the rivers are full near to flooding.

The Dales are just as pretty as ever, though.

During a short lull and when there was a lay-by I had Paul pull over so I could take a picture.  I darted around the car and- "Hello, sheep!"  This waterfall isn't a regular occurrence, by the way.

 This road is a steep incline uphill, so no deep puddles here.

Since I have been a Wallace and Gromit fan for about 15 years now, I was jump-out-of-my-skin excited when I found out that the creamery was so close.   

(If you don't know W&G, stop reading this and go watch "The Wrong Trousers" or any of their other films. (clip here)  For pertinent info, W&G are Wensleydale addicts, too, and their love of the cheese rejuvenated and saved the creamery from being shuttered.)

Since I found this out about a year ago, we've been up to the creamery 5-6 times to buy cheese. 

They offer a tour with a history of both the creamery and Hawes and you can watch them make the cheese on some days. 

Or you can just go to the cheese shop... 

 There's a hand sanitizer dispenser at the entrance and signs requesting that all transactions occur in the front gift shop so as to keep the cheese room as clean as possible.

 They have out all of their regular kinds of cheese and several specialty flavors that change seasonally and sometimes just because.

 Tasting is encouraged, as are questions.

The room is kept quite chilled for optimal cheese storage.

(yeah, that's me cheesin' for you- so punny!)

Winter Warmer is a seasonal variety of their standard Wensleydale with Cranberries.  The Winter Warmer has cranberries and mulled wine- delicious with crackers!

Jervaulx is a type of blue cheese.  Paul likes it, but I'm not a fan.  

The shop also sells local-area food stuffs and drinks.

 One of our favorites, Rapeseed Oil.  The Rapeseed Oil with Mixed Herbs is pretty much a go-to in our house.  

Who can resist the Wallace and Gromit paraphernalia??

We're off to make our S&G M&C tonight- that's homemade macaroni and cheese, with four herbs: parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme... get it??