Profiles

Tucked away at the end of a farm track just outside of the little hamlet of Arkleby, is the one room that makes up Wardhall Dairy.

Lynn Balantine Dykes

Here Lynn Balantine Dykes makes her passion for cheese a reality, creating different goats' cheeses and butter, which is finding outlets across the county.

Her cheese making career has started late in life though, "I didn't think retirement was for me really and decided to do something a bit different" she says with a big smile.

After moving to Cumbria Lynn spent time working at the Thornaby Moor Dairy where she perfected her skills.

Salting the cheese.

And where did the idea of goats' cheese come from? Well when Lynnn left nursing she was given a couple of goats as a leaving present from her last job and it sprung from there, but her original idea was to milk buffalo to make mozzarella, an idea that Lynn still hopes to carry out one day.

Some of the milk for the cheese comes from Lynn's own herd, but she has to buy some in too from local dairies as her herd isn't big enough to supply all her cheese making needs.

It's a time intensive job too, taking some eight hours to make the cheeses and another three weeks of maturing before they are ready to sell.

Rubbing salt in to the cheese.

And for the future? After Christmas, when it's quite, Lynn plans on developing a soft, cows' milk cheese to add to her current range of goats' cheeses.

And what's Lynn's favourite cheese? She grins and says" I have to confess to loving Stinking Bishop"!