Cheesy Lunch @ Wensleydale Creamery, featuring Middleham Castle
It was almost lunch time when we finished seeing a ruined castle in Middleham. J seemed to already have a place to eat in mind. He was driving on narrow winding roads with some steep drops in Wensleydale while I was wondering where we were heading. After about 30 minutes, I saw a sign with a big cow's face: the Wensleydale Creamery.
We have been talking about visiting the creamery. I didn't know that was going to happen on the day. Surprise! In the creamery, there was Calvert’s Restaurant. It wasn't a cafeteria but a serious restaurant that offered a wide range of dishes made with locally sourced produce and their own cheese, milk and butter, of course!
J has Yorkshire Rarebit - Yorkshire Wensleydale, Yorkshire Cheddar and Red Leicester cheese, mixed with Black Sheep Ale, cream and their secret seasoning, served melted on a toasted ciabatta, as a starter. It was an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich. Cheesy and delish! His main was Home-made Dales Beef and Cheese Burger. Local Local Dales beef burger topped with Yorkshire Wensleydale! This place was a paradise for a cheese lover like J.
I had a little bite of J's Rarebit and had Sweet Potato & Butter Bean Yorkshire Cheddar Cobbler as my main. It was a kind of casserole dish - "Sweet potatoes, butter beans and winter veg slowly cooked in a ragout sauce topped with Yorkshire Cheddar cheese cobbler." When I ordered it, I didn't know what cheese cobbler would be. It was just like a cheese scone. The dish was tasty and comfort. I was very happy with a lot of veggie and the crispy cheesy topping.
Outside view from our table. Beautiful! Was that one of Yorkshire Three Peaks?
After the lovely lunch, we went to the cheese shop. From their famous Yorkshire Wensleydale, to cheddar, to brie, more than a dozen kinds of cheese were waiting for J! There were also various jams and relishes made by local farms. He picked four kinds of cheese and I did two kinds of jams. That will be another story...
There was a facility that we could watch a cheese-making demonstration. It was fun! And, finally we met Wallace and Gromit (and Penguin) in the facility! Visiting the creamery was enjoyable. What an excellent lunch trip, thank you J!
The weather on the day was supposed to be cloudy with some rain, but luckily the forecast was wrong. We had a great time at Middleham Castle in the morning. The 12th century castle is known as the childhood home of Richard III, King of England (1483-1485) and the last king of the House of York. According to English Heritage, the keep (about H:49 feet (15m), W:78 feet (24m) and D:105 feet (32m)), probably built in the late 12th century, is one of the largest keeps in England.
Wide open landscape view from the top of the remaining keep was fantastic! Middleham was a little peaceful town. We walked around the castle a bit, there weren't many to see... but horses. We ran into so many horse riders and horses in the town. Later I learned that Middleham was called a horse racing capital of the north with about 15 racehorse trainers and about 500 horses!
