WENSLEYDALE Dairy Products scooped three trophies at the Cheese and Dairy Show, which was reintroduced to the Great Yorkshre Show after a gap of 40 years.

The Hawes and Kirkby Malzeard-based cheese maker won the Champion Cheese, Best Yorkshire Product and Best Territorial trophies.

Public and media interest in the section was very strong. People waited patiently behind barriers as judges tested, smelled, squeezed and crumbled all sorts of cheeses. There was also soft cheese, cream, butter and yoghurt.

Cheese varieties included Cheddar, Cheshire, Red Leicester Double Gloucester, Lancashire and, of course, Wensleydale. Samples were drawn from huge rounds and blocks of cheese, using tubular tools, and then rolled below expert nostrils.

Emmerdale TV actor Chris Chitell was shown how to do it by Sir Kenneth Morrison, chairman of the supermarket firm which sponsored the cheese show.

Sir Kenneth said: "Are you a cheese expert, yet?" and Mr Chittell replied: "I'm going to be!"

During the trophy presentations, Sir Kenneth emphaised: "I would like to congratulate all the producers. An enormous amount of work has gone into this exhibition, showing deep thought and consideration.

"Morrisons is trying to support agriculture in Yorkshire and this is a wonderful opportunity for local producers to present their products."

He recalled how he bought champion cheeses at the Great Yorkshire Show during the Fifties. He remembered paying 3s 6d one year, which was double the standard rate.

"In those days, I ran a cheese stall a Bradford market , but the range available was much narrower than today. I had just 12 varieties.

"I think the reintroduction of the cheese and dairy show is an excellent thing. Things are not easy for the farming industry and this is a wonderful fillip."

John Gibson, chairman of Wensleydale Creamery, received the trophies and said: "We are very pleased with our success, particularly as this is the first show for 40 years. To win Championship Cheese and Best Yorkshire Product is excellent. Being very much a Yorkshire company, we are delighted."

Managing director David Hartley added: "This success is a testament to the workforce. A lot of care goes into making our cheeses."

The successes coincided with the Wensleydale company's tenth anniversary, following a management buy-out from Dairy Crest, and the launch of a Real Blue Wensleydale.

Until the Twenties, Wensleydale cheese often had a blue vein. However, cheese made in commercial dairies, rather than farmhouses, was white and crumbly. The blue variety became unfashionable and then extinct.

However, the firm which has 130 staff, is now reviving the tradition.

Mr Gibson said the cheese was lightly pressed for 24 hours before being bound in a muslin bandage. It was moved to a humidified maturing room, which he said resembled the dark, cool conditions found in farmhouses and monastery cellars. Maturing took six weeks, and the cheese was regularly pierced to facilitate blue mould development.

The finished blue cheese has a golden rind and its flavour is described as delicate, full and honey-like, he said.

Following the trophy presentations, the public was admitted into the exhibition room. The adjoining food hall was packed with customers sampling and buying food and produce made across Yorkshire and the North-East.