Wondered about the Vale of Belvoir - At present, all but one of the licenced dairies are based in the Vale of Belvoir, which straddles the Nottinghamshire-Leicestershire border. This area is commonly regarded as the heartland of stilton production, with dairies located in the villages of Colston Bassett, Cropwell Bishop and Long Clawson. The only current dairy producing stilton elsewhere (at Hartington in Derbyshire) owes this fact to a native of the Vale who bought the dairy over a century ago.