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Village of Stilton finally allowed to produce the famous blue cheese

A bizarre ban preventing the villagers of Stilton in Cambridgeshire from producing their famous blue cheese has been lifted but the latest ruling means that the cheese they make must be called something else.

The ruling in 1996 stated that ‘Stilton’ cheese could only be produced in Derbshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. As the village of Stilton is located in Cambridgeshire the village was prevented from producing any of the famous of the cheese.

The new decision will allow the village pub called the Bell Inn, which first sold the cheese back in the 18^th century to again produce and sell it to locals, providing it is not called Stilton. Landlord, Liam McGivern has celebrated the ban by making a special batch of Stilton cheese, which he is going to call Bell Blue.

Reacting to the decision he said: “This is something to really celebrate.  Stilton has come home. It was ridiculous that up until now we couldn’t make Stilton in Stilton.”

“People would come in and ask for it and I’d have to explain we legally couldn’t make it.  It was embarrassing”

Although the cheese may have originated in the village of Stilton production moved away a long time ago and the cheese was then made in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. This led to the previous decision to only allow production of the cheese in those areas. However local historian Richard Landy successfully challenged the ruling after discovering a recipe in the village of Stilton.

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