BIG may be beautiful but small can sometimes be special. And shops don't come much smaller than Terry Farr's Cheese and Wine Shop.

Tucked up in Clark's Yard off High Row in Darlington, it's a little treat for good food lovers, a tiny whitewashed room looking, appropriately, like a cross between a wine cellar and a dairy, where every item is probably the best of its kind.

Terry Farr was an RAF mess manager. When he left after 30 years he decided last autumn to open the shop he'd always wanted.

"I knew the sort of produce I wanted to buy and it was very hard to find it in Darlington so it seemed like a good idea to start selling it," he says, beaming under his boater.

The cheeses either come direct from local suppliers - Wensleydale, Cotherstone, Swaledale - or from the famous Neal's Yard in Covent Garden. "It means we get hand-made cheeses you certainly won't get in supermarkets - Doddington, Cuddy's Cave - and you won't get many of them on other cheese counters near here, either."

It's worth going just to read what he has written on the labels. Isle of Mull, for instance, matured at the Tobermory distillery, is "hard, dense, powerful, mouth- tingling". Another is "crumbly, moist, savoury with a slightly sharp finish." And Mrs Kirkham's is "Simply the best in Lancashire".

"I think I could be the Jilly Goolden of cheeses."

Not that there's much need for such labels, as he'll always let you have a bit to try for yourself, anyway. On a really good day, you might end up perched on stools in the middle of the shop, having a bit of a picnic - bit of cheese, bit of Melmerby organic bread (delivered three times a week), and a choice of wonderful pickles and relishes, from Rosebud Preserves, Wiltshire Tracklements, Cottage Delight. Possibly soon, too, he'll have a selection made by Wendy Brandon of Pembrokeshire.

There are 14 different marmalades and local honey - which is said to be good for hay fever sufferers. There are lots of oils, Tuscan biscuits and specialities by Antonion Carluccio. There are Patchwork pates, Belgian truffles, Whitakers English chocolates. It's a foodie's delight alright.

And there's the wine...

Again, not the sort you'd get in supermarkets. Some for under a fiver a bottle, such as the new Darlington labels, both Australians. There are many interesting and unusual wines. Terry Farr's no wine snob, "They have to be drinkable, likeable, available." And he is keen on New World wines. But he knows his stuff, so if you're ready to move on to something a bit more adventurous than basic plonk, this could be a good starting place.

There are champagnes too, and malt whiskies, with more in prospect. There's a limit to how much he can sell from such a small space, but with a bit of ingenuity, he'll be fitting a lot more in yet.

l The Cheese and Wine Shop, 8 Clarks Yard, Darlington. Tel: (01325) 384803. Specialist suppliers of cheese, wine and delicatessen foods. Plus a gift range of wine, whiskies and gadgets coming soon. Cheese boards made up for dinner parties or functions. Put your daughter's face on a bottle for her 21st, individual wine labels made from photos. At least two weeks' notice, please. Gift hampers made to order