Sir, – When we read the D&S article – about the Hawes Creamery visitor centre re-development – we decided, as fairly regular visitors, that we just had to go and look.

Nothing is visible from the front, but once inside, the first change is clear: the old tasting room has been replaced by the gift shop’s till and counters, opening up floor space but, oddly enough, without any extra shelf space. We went in deeper.

The restaurant, where we have sat and watched the snow fall across the dales, has lost its wonderful views, with all but one window now looking into the new cheese tasting area; our first disappointment.

The next change noticed was the toilets. That narrow corridor has gone – replaced by a bright clean hallway – but a visit to the gents revealed a mass of hand soap on the floor, obviously haven fallen from the dispenser over some period of time despite a schedule on the back of the door that indicated the toilet had been checked twice that day (Sept 1). No points scored there either.

On to the new cheese tasting area. It’s about 30 per cent bigger than the old one and overlooks the restaurant and the new café with long glass windows looking into both. The selection was as usual (as expected) but the products were better displayed because of the extra space. A review of the third party products (the cakes) did reveal however that many were almost at the end of their shelf life, which was disappointing.

My other disappointment was that the staff did not interact to any degree. It’s not a requirement of course, but it would have been a nice touch.

After finishing with the tasting – and collecting a selection of cheeses in the process – we moved onto the new café. In the past the café was small, cramped, with great views and a warm homely feeling. The new café is spacious, spotless and almost clinical – it could pass for a food hall almost anywhere. The coffee was reasonable but nothing special and, I am saddened to say, that reflected the entire experience.

Wensleydale cheese still has its unique flavour, but the creamery’s visitor centre seems to have lost it.

LES ROBINSON Great Smeaton Northallerton.

Editor’s note: We understand the development will not be completed until the end of the year.