A HISTORIC milk supply link is being revived after a quarter of a century.

The Wensleydale Creamery, in Hawes, North Yorkshire, has secured a deal that will see farms from neighbouring Coverdale supply it with milk.

WN Avison and Sons, of Middle Fields Farm, Melmerby, will be the first farm from Coverdale to supply a cheese creamery since the closure of the Coverham creamery in 1984.

Two more farms in Cloverdale, CS Uttley and J Pearson, will start supplying the creamery from November.

The three farms will deliver about three million litres of milk a year to the creamery.

Coverdale is a tributary dale, feeding into Wensleydale, and is one of the Yorkshire Dales within the designated Wensleydale area, as identified within The Wensleydale Creamery’s application for Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status.

Andrew Avison, whose dairy herd comprises 150 Friesians, said: “We like how The Wensleydale Creamery operates, with its commitment to and support for family farms in its surrounding area.

“It is great that Coverdale milk is once again being supplied to a local creamery and will be going into producing Real Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese, which has such a strong pedigree.”

Mr Avison, 33, is a third generation farmer and runs the business with his father, Michael.

The creamery’s managing director, David Hartley, said: “The Wensleydale Creamery is proud to have been able to revive a link between Coverdale and a cheese creamery after a break of 25 years following the closure of the Coverham Creamery.”

Although Mr Hartley said last week that the creamery was having to reduce the price it paid for milk from local farmers, with UK milk prices soaring by 40p a litre in the previous 18 months, he emphasised his determination to support local farmers.

The Wensleydale Creamery, which employs 198 people, puts more than £11m into the area through milk payments, wages, and purchases from an annual turnover of £17.7m.

Mr Hartley said: “The Wensleydale Creamery’s use of local farms to supply its milk is important on several levels – it supports the economy of the Dales, means we get a top quality local ingredient and it is the drawing of milk from cows grazing the sweet limestone pastures in the area that gives Real Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese its unique flavour.”

The Wensleydale Creamery’s milk producer group includes more than 40 farms, which supply the farm with about 17.5 million litres a year.