THE cheeriest smile at last weekend’s festival was undoubtedly that of Swaledale cheesemaker Mandy Reed.

It may have had something to do with the small glass of champagne she was holding, but also, I suspect, the fact the future’s looking a lot rosier for the feisty pioneer of local, craft cheesemaking.

After a dreadful few years, during which she lost her husband and business partner David, lost out on the chance to open up a base at Richmond Station, and suffered a production-halting fire at the existing base, things are looking up.

Production is back in full swing, sales are booming and they have even had a Foreign Office camera crew crawling all over them, filming for an educational item about the benefits of European Protected Designation of Origin status.

Swaledale Cheese has long enjoyed this status which, in short, means nobody else can make a cheese and call it Swaledale. It is worth a lot because of the exclusivity it gives the product.

It’s that exclusivity that the Wensleydale Creamery deservedly seeks for its Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese and a decision on its application is expected soon.

The creamery was well represented at the festival. One of the most popular displays in the Farming for Food section was its DIY butter-making stand, which allowed visitors to make something recognisably golden and creamy, provided they were prepared to shake a small container of Wensleydale milk long enough to bring about that magic transformation.

Spectator understands the creamery may well move into butter production on a rather more commercial scale.

The highlight of the Saturday was lunch with the Calendar Girls, attending the festival to promote their range of preserves (30p from every jar goes to Leukaemia Research).

Over the fantastic spread laid on by Leyburn Bespoke Baking, we discussed the Calendar Girls phenomenon, not just the £2m raised by the girls’ efforts, but all the money raised by the thousands of other alternative calendars, produced by firemen, huntsmen, traffic wardens and almost every trade. It’s a lot of calendars and a lot of cash for good causes.