Vale of Belvoir to produce true Stilton cheese under the terms of its protected origin status, only one is not located in the area. The vale is the historic centre for the production of this king of English cheeses and until the end of the 19th century all Stilton cheese was being produced within 20 miles of Melton Mowbray. However, the cheese took its name from the Huntingdonshire village of Stilton, where it was served at the coaching inns on the Great North Road. Melton is also the home of the Melton Mowbray pork pie, produced by traditional methods using uncured pork and
Melton Mowbray Navigation per year in the 1830s. Cargoes benefited from the connection at Syston to the very successful Leicester Navigation. The Oakham canal had never been so profitable, paying dividends of around 3.8 per cent, and lack of water during the dry summer of 1844 resulted in it closing for five months. When the Midland Railway sought to build their Syston and Peterborough Railway, the Oakham company negotiated, and the railway bought the canal on 29 October 1847, with a view to closing it and using part of the bed for their line. The effect on the Melton Mowbray Navigation was dramatic.