The Stilton Cheesemaker's Association say the first person to market Blue Stilton cheese was Cooper Thornhill. He was the owner of the Bell Inn on the Great North Road, in the village of Stilton, Huntingdonshire. Huntingdonshire is now a district in modern Cambridgeshire. The story is that in 1730, Thornhill discovered a distinctive blue cheese while visiting a small farm near Melton Mowbray in rural Leicestershire — possibly in Wymondham. He fell in love with the cheese and made a business arrangement that gave the Bell Inn exclusive marketing rights to Blue Stilton. The Great North Road, a main stagecoach route from London to Northern England, passed through the village of Stilton. So he was able to promote the sale of Stilton cheese.