A NEW farmhouse cheesemaking business near Settle is set to launch its first cheese during the Yorkshire Dales Cheese Festival, ‘Celebrating Local Produce’, from September 14 to September 22.

Sam Horton and Rachael Turner set up Long Churn Cheese at The Courtyard Dairy, Austwick last yearm and their passion and enthusiasm for reviving the Dales tradition of using sheep for milk production will be evident during a one-day event as part of the festival.

‘Sheeptember’ will celebrate sheep dairying and will introduce visitors to Long Churn’s first soft cheeses, which look like a French goat’s cheese but are produced using milk from a small flock of dairy sheep called Lacaune.

Together with sheepdog and sheep milking demonstrations, the Courtyard Dairy’s owner Andy Swinscoe will show how to pair cheese with beers from Lamb Brewery at Littondale. There will also be caving tours by Dales guides to the Long Churn caves, including the most famous ‘squeeze’ in the Dales, the Cheese Press. More information from: yorkshiredales.org.uk/cheese-festival.