Market day has always been important to the farming families for they could buy and sell or barter their produce and catch up on the local news.

[John Gresham on childhood on the farm]

[Andrew Caldwell on making Stilton cheese]

The town is best known for its pork pies and also for the production of many varieties of cheese, especially Stilton.

Some of the dairy farmers in this area of Leicestershire have traditionally sold their milk to the local creameries for making into cheese.

Mr Caldwell has been a cheesemaker all his life and
he makes it clear that the process, whilst still basically the same, has changed technologically and requires far less labour. The methods and materials used are much more hygienic than they were 50 years ago...

[Andrew Caldwell on cheese making in 1951]

[Andrew Caldwell on chees making in the mid 1950s]

The traditional farming in this area would be classed as 'mixed'. The tenant farmers would primarily grow cereals and grass. A bean crop would possibly be incorporated into the rotation. From the 1930's, sugar beet became a very important crop for the area and more latterly; Linseed and Oil Seed Rape.

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