A PIE BOOK UPDATE: THE LAST HURRAH (SURELY)

2026-08-03T15:25:40+01:00August 3rd, 2026|

Hurrah indeed as many of you will say. Someone pointed out to me the other day that Life of Pies is currently retailing for nearly £30 for a paperback on Amazon and Ebay at one point. And that’s for a “nearly new” version.

Not to labour the point but I have been half arsedly selling it for half price at £4.99 plus p&p on my own site here, and I still have considerable stock left as follows:

First edition: 3 boxes, circa 60 copies

Second edition: Between 3 and 5 boxes, 60-100 […]

The perfect gift for the pie lover in your life

2022-12-14T12:32:36+00:00December 14th, 2022|

It’s that time of year when I get a steady trickle of orders for Life of Pies. It is over 8 years old now but still garners a bit of attention, because there is nothing else like that out there, in book form at least.

You can pick up a copy for just £4.99 plus P&P, either for yourself or for someone who might appreciate it. It is a weighty affair with a good sprinkling of FULL COLOUR PIE PHOTOS in it.

All in all, it is over 380 pages and documents a light hearted journey around the country […]

Life of Pies: just a few copies left

2021-07-06T14:41:56+01:00July 6th, 2021|

If you are wondering why this blog hasn’t been updated for a while, it is because I have moved on to a new, exciting follow up project.

The Good Pie Guide is coming soon, and I am busy compiling details from hundreds of pie purveyors up and down the country. If you want to add your favourite or suggest a pie I need to try, just drop me a line here.

I am down to less than a hundred copies of Life of Pies, so you can still buy a copy here for […]

Great North Pie Co: Lancashire Cheese and Onion Pie

2020-02-07T16:39:23+00:00February 7th, 2020|

I’ve had previous with these chaps, I featured the Boxing Day Turkey Curry Pie in Life of Pies. I’ve always fancied their Lancashire Cheese and Onion Pie but it has always eluded me. Or rather, I have chosen a meat based option.

At the time, and I don’t know if this is still the case, they used to do a changing menu every quarter featuring four rotating pies with innovative flavours. As I recall, they did a pie with nettles in it once, ouch!!

Anyway, this one was purchased from Booths and although I can’t remember if it was identified as a […]

Steve’s Steak and Veg Pie

2020-01-06T17:54:14+00:00January 6th, 2020|

This is an interesting one, a perk of the job, well, the hobby as it stands. A Man City fan I know, Johnny Stafford got in touch to tell me about his mate who makes his own pies and sell them at work. And guess what? He made me one! It would be a travesty not to review it, wouldn’t it?

In return for the pie, I sent Steve a present money can’t buy, a priceless* copy of my book, Life of Pies.

Before Christmas, I finally managed to nip out to Eccles to transfer it from Johnny’s freezer to mine, and […]

The Muffin Man Meat and Potato Pie

2019-09-14T22:18:32+01:00September 14th, 2019|

Saturday January 21st 2012

It’s highly probable that blood has been spilled over the debate as to who makes the best pies in Wigan. Or pie gravy at least. This is why the question needs answering. There are people who swear by the Muffin Man. Plus it’s in my village so giving it a shit review will see me ostracised by my local community and earn me the nickname “that pie wanker”.

Keep it simple for now:

“Right darling – going getting my hair cut, then I’m getting some petrol. Fancy a pie for lunch?”

It needs to be a local one given we’re […]

A Potted pie guide

2019-05-31T08:53:45+01:00May 31st, 2019|

The beauty of my extensive research (2012-present*) is that whenever I find myself in a foreign town, I always know where to sniff out the best pies.

(*though if truth be known, like most Wiganers, I have been sampling pies for as long as I cut my first teeth)

So it was that after finishing a 10k in Lancaster in a respectable 47.06m, I needed to rebuild my carbohydrate store.
What better place to go, than an old favourite in the form of Potts Pies of Lancaster, Morecambe and Carnforth?

On my way out of […]

A festival of pies!

2017-10-12T15:42:52+01:00July 25th, 2017|

It’s not often I get a gig to go to. Even when I do it tends to fall through, like the unfortunate incident over the cancelled BBC Documentary. There are numerous events in the pie calendar that simply cannot be missed however and this year’s PIE FEST in Melton Mowbray is definitely one of them.

It’s quite telling that even in Wigan, the local council have never ever attempted anything so ambitious. Of course, we have the annual World Pie Eating Championships but a fine foodie weekend in Melton Mowbray offers up a whole host of cultural pie related entertainment.

At this […]

Shed Heaven

2017-11-28T13:53:23+00:00July 11th, 2017|

It happens once maybe twice a year, when the time comes to empty my shed, usually quickly followed by a tip to the trip and whacking a load of stuff on eBay. Unfortunately, I also uncovered a whole stack of boxes of books. Pie books, the bane of my life.

I’ll be honest, I’ve done very little in the past year to do anything about this. Having two young children has rendered it somewhat impossible to engage on any kind of marketing campaign. Like most authors, I wrote the book and thought […]

A festive treat for a pie lover!

2015-12-03T15:03:47+00:00December 3rd, 2015|

piebookLooking for a literary treat for the pie lover in your life? Well, look no further as “Life of Pies” can fulfil your needs….

What’s it all about then?

[…]

How not to write a book

2015-10-25T15:47:34+00:00October 25th, 2015|

piesresetIt’s just over 12 months to the day since I launched my self-published epic Life of Pies and I’d be lying if I said things had gone exactly to plan. I’ve not had the best year to be perfectly frank, in fact in a literary sense, it has been something of an unmitigated disaster. 

[…]

Put a DUNK on it!

2017-06-15T15:29:11+01:00September 27th, 2015|

dunkleys1It was a sunny, summer’s day when I found myself at the Table Table chain in the Stone Cross pub near Haydock. It was actually the same day as when I last updated the blog and I had already polished off a Greens Cheese and Onion pie for lunch yet as I found myself perusing the menu, I uncovered a fine selection of Dunkleys pies to be on offer.

Now me […]

Back on the pie trail: Greens Cheese & Onion

2015-07-08T22:44:12+01:00July 8th, 2015|

greenscheese1A familiar establishment but a pie I’ve never tried before from there. It’s a cheese and onion pie from Greens which I think cost around £1.50.

If I’m honest, I didn’t taste and review anything like enough cheese and onion pies during the making of Life of Pies. The main reason for this being, I love meat! Ahem. Indeed, who doesn’t love meat?? Yes, OK thanks – vegetarians! They don’t.

The pie is of a hefty size […]

One hundred days of pie No.50 Grasmere Farm Steak Pie

2017-06-15T15:29:10+01:00June 7th, 2015|

grasmere1At last, 50up! This is still under 16% of the pies featured in all their glory in the Life of Pies, magnificent value for under a tenner.

Ahem, anyway towards the end of the book, I started to get a few recommendations coming my way, one in particular came from Mudhutter’s very own Orrible Ives who had recently decamped to rural Lincolnshire.

On a brief reconnaissance back to home turf, I met him in the car park of […]

One hundred days of pie – No.49 Burchalls of St Helens

2017-06-15T15:29:10+01:00June 7th, 2015|

burchalls1‘Tis a shameful admission but I worked in St Helens for three years and parked up around the back of this place with no knowledge it was actually there. But maybe that’s a deliberate thing, as it is an understated institution where the locals furtively enter with a knowing nod. 

Even as you walk past, it can be difficult to ascertain that there are top notch pastry products being served up in here as it is […]

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