One of the most important sources of information about traditional dairying in the Yorkshire Dales is Marie Hartley & Joan Ingilby’s book ‘Life & Tradition in the Yorkshire Dales’. The pair recorded and photographed life in the area during the 1930s when the last farmhouse cheeses were being made and people still milked by hand.
Not only did they publish, they also collected examples of the objects they watched being used and that material ended up in our Dales Countryside Museum.
Milking display at the Dales Countryside Museum
The book is about to be reissued by the Yorkshire Archaeological & Historical Society and as part of the celebration there will be some fantastic events on a dairying theme to coincide with our Cheese Festival in September.
These include a chance to make traditional Wensleydale Cheese using 1930s recipes at the wonderful Courtyard Dairy – book your place here for a half day workshop. Andy Swinscoe who runs the Courtyard Dairy, was recently interviewed by the Craven Herald about his search for traditional Wensleydale Cheese recipes and we are really looking forward to following his progress.
Dairying objects at the Dales Countryside Museum
