IIRC:
The Wensleydale creamery was about to close due to lack of business. Sadly despite the freedom offered by cheesemakers from the straight-jacket of the old Milk Marketing Board following its demise, people's impression of Wensleydale resolutely remained in the generic, tasteless rubbish that was being sold in the '70's. Rumour had it that a creamery, having made a white, soft, mild crumbly cheese, this was then named Cheshire, Wensleydale or Caerphilly depending on the orders awaiting delivery.
Somewhere in Bristol, Nick Park was slowly creating the Wallace and Gromit characters for his Film School submission. This was based on the childhood fantasy of a back-yard shed project to build a rocket to go to the moon, linked to a childhood myth of the moon being made of cheese. Nick Park was the sort of person who had almost masochistic edge to film making, using a claymation process where other methods film-making (e.g CGI) would take a matter of years, rather than months or even weeks for even a short film. Challenges were there for making, not avoiding, and nothing seemed better than trying to animate the mouth to say "Wensleydale" rather than "Cheddar" or "Brie".
Several films later, "Wensleydale" became a well-recognised part of the Wallace and Gromit vocabulary, and part of the collective conciousness of the UK. Wensleydale cheese became popular again, and the almost condemned creamery became a thriving plant and visitor attraction.
