YORKSHIRE clotted cream is going down well ... even in Cornwall.

For since Sue and Angus Gaudie launched their organic cream, they have had numerous customers wanting to send it to relatives in the South-West.

"We have had a very good response from them," said Mrs Gaudie, whose own family and friends in Penzance have also given it the thumbs-up.

And this weekend visitors to the St Nicholas' Fair in York, which opened yesterday and finishes on Sunday, will have the chance to sample and buy the cream.

The Gaudies, who farm at West Rounton, near Northallerton, have teamed up with I's Pies of Melmerby Business Park who are taking dozens of mince pies to the fair.

Both products can be sampled and bought from the I's Pies stand.

"In Cornwall everyone eats clotted cream with their puddings and pies but up here people tend to think of it more for summer fruits," said Mrs Gaudie, who used to watch her mother and grandmother making clotted cream on their Aga in Cornwall.

"People up here traditionally think of it as being for a cream tea, but in Cornwall you would not think of eating any pudding without it."

The couple met in 1990 through the Young Farmers' Club International exchange scheme. Mrs Gaudie had been to Canada the year before and was introduced to her future husband to tell him about her experiences before he went out there.

They married in 1992 and farm 200 acres at Stamfrey Farm where they run a 115-cow dairy herd. They also rent a further 105 acres from Alan Harland at Carlton in Cleveland where their heifers are reared.

Poor milk prices and the growing demand for organic products saw Stamfrey Farm become organic in June 2001.

They had weighed up the pros and cons for almost four years before taking the plunge and have no regrets - even though the organic milk price has dropped, like the conventional.

Mr Gaudie had been worried about mastitis and treatments under the organic system but they have proved unfounded.

Indeed he says organic farming is simply how farmers used to farm until the Second World War.

"What we are actually doing is common sense," he said, "It is only two generations of farmers who have not farmed organically. Organic is nothing new, it is not unreachable.

"I know it may not suit every farm but I was not going to get a premium unless I went organic."

Stamfrey Farm had been in the Countryside Stewardship Scheme for two years so the conversion to organic status was fairly simple.

But the change in policy was still a major one. At the time the herd average was 8,500 litres and Mr and Mrs Gaudie had planned to increase cow numbers and make a £300,000 investment.

"But milk prices crashed and we decided it was not a sensible approach. If we had made that investment it would have been very difficult."

Even though organic milk prices have fallen, the couple are convinced they made the right decision with demand for organic dairy products increasing by 15pc a year.

The switch to organics has led to the herd average falling back to 7,000 litres, largely because the diet has to be 60pc forage.

They grow their own organic barley, oats and wheat as well as white clover, red clover, Italian ryegrass and perennial ryegrass.

Mr and Mrs Gaudie have also begun to change their breeding policy away from the pedigree Holstein Friesian route.

Instead they have begun cross breeding with Danish Red, Brown Swiss and Jersey to improve hybrid vigour and get back to the more compact Friesian type.

Mr Gaudie does not believe the big Holstein Friesian is suited to the organic system.

The couple launched Stamfrey Farm Yorkshire clotted cream this summer at the Great Yorkshire Show and were at Stokesley and Ryedale shows.

They took things slowly to start with, based in the farm kitchen, to see what the demand was like.

But now it has become a full-blown diversification enterprise bringing in valuable extra income.

A former granny flat at the side of the farmhouse was perfect for conversion into a special production area where the cream is separated from the milk produced from their own cows.

It is then put into containers and scalded in boiling water to undergo the pasteurisation process, all of which is computer monitored and recorded.

The system and production area meets all the necessary hygiene regulations and has been licensed by Hambleton District Council. The cream is made to a traditional recipe.

It is delivered to restaurants, pubs, hotels, shops and delicatessens by Moorsfresh of Pickering, which specialises in distributing produce from small local food producers.

But the Gaudies, who have three sons - William, nine, Sam, seven and Joe, five - have just started a mail delivery service.

They are also investigating farmers' markets and will be at the next Pinchinthorpe farmers' market, near Guisborough.

Meanwhile anyone interested in purchasing their cream can contact them on 01609 88 22 97