WHEN animator Nick Park bestowed a passion for Wensleydale on his Plasticine hero Wallace, he unwittingly gave the Hawes-made cheese a priceless publicity boost.

Wensleydale Creamery - no stranger to close shaves of its own - suddenly had the world at its feet and wasted no time in making the most of the connection with one very special man and his dog.

March 24, 1996, was the auspicious day when it all came together - Nick got his Oscar; the Wallace & Gromit contract was signed; and the farmers of Wensleydale pledged their allegiance to the creamery by agreeing to be sole suppliers of its milk.

Wensleydale is now a leading light among British cheese-makers and it is likely that, as the nation celebrates the British Cheese Festival (September 25 - October 8), the product in all its many guises will scoop some of the accolades expected to be dished out midweek.

And yet it could all have been so different if people had simply walked away and left Wensleydale to die ...

WALLACE isn't the only one passionate about Wensleydale.

Hawes-born Alice Amsden - my guide for the day - lives and breathes the cheese heritage she had a hand in saving.

It was April 30, 1992, when, within hours of arriving for work, the 59 staff were told that Hawes Creamery was to close as part of Dairy Crest's rationalisation plan and production of Wensleydale would switch to Lancashire.

Uproar ensued, and the media - locally and nationally - made it their business to keep the company's plight in the public eye, even though, disappointingly, one rescue plan after another was shot down.

Perseverance paid off, however, and in November that year a management buy-out was eventually agreed.

Fifty-nine people had been shown the door by Dairy Crest - 11 walked back in thanks to the new owners.

Eight years on, Wensleydale Creamery employs 136 across a company which has got diversification down to a fine art.

Fruit-filled cheeses are no longer a novelty but Wensleydale can take credit for being the first with cranberries.

The discovery of a hidden stash of 1lb baby cheese moulds has satisfied a growing demand for individual cheeses (in the two months before Christmas, the creamery will send out 800,000 of them).

A museum and viewing facility complete with shop and licensed restaurant had been expected to help boost cheese sales thanks to a projected 25,000-a-year visitor figure.

The average number of people enjoying a grand day out is nearer the 130,000 mark.

Over in the creamery, product development has included the purchase of a £75,000 smoker which has added a new dimension to the cheese range; meanwhile, a Wensleydale for sweet-tooths has yet to be tested on the wider market.

Although there will be no shortage of volunteers, I'm sure!

Unfortunately, that's where the Wensleydale Creamery expansion plan has come to a grinding halt.

It's almost a year since the directors got planning permission to develop the site.

While a Dutch company has been given more than £6 million of Euro funding to come and manufacture Edam in this country, Wensleydale Creamery is having grave difficulty securing help with the £4.5 million bill for its grand plan.

"We've tried just about everything," said Alice, a director of the creamery.

"But because Wensleydale isn't in a designated 'deprived' area, we can't have any financial support."

The fight goes on, however depressing the funding battle might seem.

After all, when you say 'cheese', you can't help but smile!