Melton Mowbray is easily among the most unique towns in all of England. Sitting aside two rivers (the River Eye and the River Wreake), this city, with a population of over twenty-six thousand, most definitely follows its own heart.
Many people familiar with Melton Mowbray will immediately conjure up in their mind images of pork pie and other specialty foods. This is just how Melton Mowbray wants it, though, and such thought processes have led the city to be nicknamed the "Rural Capital of Food". To be sure, nobody cooks it like Melton Mowbray cooks it. The aforementioned Melton Mowbray pork pie is easily among the most popular offerings by the city and people come from all around to indulge in one of these slices of heaven. Visitors are warned, however, to be sure that they're eating a real Melton Mowbray pork pie and not a paltry imitation. The special raising process and dough kneading technique involved with making an authentic Melton Mowbray pork pie helps to ensure that one bite will clue you in to whether or not you're eating the real deal, though. Another incredibly popular delicacy is the famed Stilton cheese. This dairy product, named after the town of Stilton just north of London, attracts nearly as many hungry patrons as the pork pies and one taste of this treasure will quickly make you understand why.
Melton Mowbray's most odd claim to fame, however, is not its pork pie but instead a rather charming anecdote about the fox hunting groups that would permeate the city in days of old. Back in the early and mid-1800s, fox hunting was one of the most popular sports for people of both noble backgrounds and impoverished roots. In 1837, the Marquess of Waterford had returned back to Melton Mowbray with his crew after a particularly successful and enjoyable fox hunt. Upon their return they noticed that someone had abandoned several tin cans full of red paint. Perhaps jacked up on pork pie or just reeling with adventure still, the Marquess and his hunting buddies began to splash paint all over the walls and front edifices of the buildings on high street. They apparently did quite a thorough job of it, since traces of the red paint can still be seen on some parts of the buildings to this day. All the same, this action is said to have become the origin for the popular phrase "paint the town red". While this story has certainly been proven true, the jury is still out on whether or not our friend the Marquess was truly the inspiration for this venerable saying. Many think it originated in America when people from the red light district would come into the nicer parts of town and bring some of the "red" with them to the more innocent nooks and crannies. Whether the city is the true home of this phrase or not, though, one thing remains true: Melton Mowbray is the kind of city that inspires the imagination and wows the senses in ways that nearly every other place wishes it could.
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