A YORKSHIRE Dales cheese shop owner is hoping the public can help him find out more about genuine farmhouse Wensleydale cheese.

Andy Swinscoe, of The Courtyard Dairy shop and cheese museum at Crows Nest Barn, Austwick near Settle, wants to know as much as he can about how small farms and housewives made cheese in bygone days.

He has been inspired by the 50th anniversary of the publishing of a "masterpiece" - Life and Tradition in the Yorkshire Dales, by Marie Hartley and Joan Ingilby.

"Hartley and Ingilby’s book included photos of a long-lost method of making farmhouse Wensleydale, which is fascinating”, said Andy, who set up the award-winning business with wife Kathy in 2012. "We’d like to find out as much as there is to know about how small farms and housewives made cheese on the farm and in their own homes.

"The book is useful as a record of the way people historically lived and farmed in the Dales, but we’re seeking to find out even more about cheese-making in particular.”

Andy originates from Cumbria and embarked on his cheese career working for Paxton and Whitfield in London and The Fine Cheese Co. in Bath. He completed an apprenticeship in the complicated art of ‘affinage’ (cheese maturing) in France with Hervé Mons, widely regarded as the best ‘affineur’ in the world.

The Courtyard Dairy was judged Cheesemonger of the Year at the 2016 Farm Shop & Deli Awards.

During September's Yorkshire Dales Cheese Festival, a special event at The Courtyard Dairy will see Andy will try to replicate making Wensleydale exactly as it was done on farms in the 1930s. He is keen to ensure the methods used are as authentic as possible.

"We suspect many people have cheese-making items, photographs or information hidden away in lofts and cupboards – treasures that would be seriously useful to us to help discover exactly how farmhouse cheese was made in those days," he explained.

"Over the last year we’ve luckily discovered some farmers’ wives’ hand-written cheese recipes, and a few bits of equipment, but we know there’s much more out there. We think many people could have hidden gems in their attic or stored away, and we’d love to see them."

If you can help, please call Andy on 01729-823391 or email andy@thecourtyarddairy.co.uk