Wensleydale

Wensleydale cheese is a cheese produced in the town of Hawes in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, England. Wensleydale cheese was first made by French Cistercian monks from the Roquefort region, who had settled in Wensleydale. They brought with them a recipe for making cheese from ewe's milk. The Wensleydale pastures give the cheese the unique flavour for which it is renowned. Good Wensleydale has a supple, crumbly, moist texture and resembles a young Caerphilly. The flavour suggests wild honey balanced with a fresh acidity.

In the 1990s, sales had fallen so low that production was at risk of being suspended. Fortunately, inspiration struck when in 1995, Wallace proclaimed Wensleydale as his favourite cheese in A Close Shave in response to Wendolene's expressed rejection of the food (the audiobook also confirming the cheese Shaun eats as being Wensleydale). The company was actually sent a postcard from Vernon Sproxton, the father of Aardman's co-founder, David Sproxton, on Christmas Eve 1995 that cryptically urged them to keep their eyes peeled for the film airing that day on BBC Two. Wensleydale had previously been mentioned by Wallace in A Grand Day Out, as he namedrops its location of origin as a cheese-related place to go and later wonders if the moon is made from the substance. Animator Nick Park said he picked the cheese solely because it had a good name that would be interesting to animate and was unaware of the company's financial difficulties.

Wensleydale would continue to be mentioned throughout the series. Wallace's room contains a "Wensleydale Lovers Society" banner in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and he also reads an Ay-Up! magazine beside the BunVac with a "welcome to... Wensleydale" advertisement for the location. In the TV Licensing Wallace & Gromit advert, Wallace asks the phone service if they also offer the cheese. It's also mentioned in Wallace & Gromit and the Lost Slipper, Wallace & Gromit: Cheese Lover's Yearbook and Anoraknophobia. The location was also mentioned in both Crackers in Space and A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman, where Wallace prepares to watch live churning after the documentary.

After the release of A Close Shave, sales of Wensleydale began to rise. The company avoided bankruptcy and credits Wallace and Gromit for saving the brand. In 1995, the company contacted Aardman Animations about a licence for a special brand of "Wallace and Gromit Wensleydale", which has proven to be an enormous success. It was advertised and purchasable on their official website in 1998. In 2005, in conjunction with the release of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the company released Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit branded cheese. Sandra Bell, the Wensleydale Creamery's marketing chief, said "The Wallace and Gromit effect has certainly raised the awareness of British cheese as a whole and has been particularly helpful with Wensleydale."

Wallace and Gromit continue to appear on Wensleydale cheese to this day. In 2024, to celebrate the release of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, though not directly branded with it, the company released limited-edition Wallace & Gromit character truckles and round truckles sold in certain, mostly differing retailers. The former featured Wallace on Yorkshire Wensleydale, Gromit on Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries and Feathers McGraw on Mature Cheddar, whilst the latter featured the duo on Yorkshire Wensleydale and Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries. The Wensleydale Creamery Visitor Centre in Hawes also contains wool versions of Wallace and Gromit knitted by the Hawes Yarnbombers, a group of six friends brought together by their love of knitting and crocheting, and the Cheese and Gift Shop features a huge range of merchandise for the franchise. In 2025, a yarn version of Norbot was added.

Types of Wendsleydale

• Mature Wensleydale is a harder, more highly-flavoured version of the Real Yorkshire Wensleydale
• Extra Mature Wensleydale the strongest Wensleydale cheese, matured for nine months
• Blue Wensleydale has blue veins and is produced in range of sizes. It is highly flavoured but less salty than the classic British blue Stilton
• Oak Smoked Wensleydale is cold smoked to produce a cheese with a special tang and texture
• Real Yorkshire Wensleydale is usually shaped into a variety of weights moulds ranging in size from a small flat disc known as a "truckle" that is highly pressed, and preserved in wax, to several larger cheeses, it is a mild cheese with an acidic-honeyed flavour

Trivia

• In July 2024, Tyrells launched a Wallace & Gromit limited-edition Wensleydale and cranberry flavour of their crisps, exclusively being sold in Co-op stores and featuring a publicity image from The Wrong Trousers edited to feature the cheese and crisps.
• In spite of its strong connection to the series, the cheese itself is practically never physically seen therein.
  • Some kind of imagery can be seen on the sides of Wallace's "Wensleydale Lovers Society" banner in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, whilst the audiobook for A Close Shave identifies the cheese that Shaun was already finishing as being Wensleydale.
• The Wallace & Gromit official website at one point hosted a recipe for leek, egg and cheese puffs using Wensleydale, being a favourite recipe of Nick Park. It also directly linked to the creamery's official website.

See also

• Cheese

External links

• Wensleydale Creamery