Wigan

A PIE BOOK UPDATE: THE LAST HURRAH (SURELY)

jimmy2026-08-03T15:25:40+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

jimmy2022-12-14T12:32:36+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

jimmy2021-07-06T14:41:56+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 […]

The Muffin Man Meat and Potato Pie

jimmy2019-09-14T22:18:32+01:00September 14th, 2019|

Saturday January 21^st 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 […]

jimmy2019-03-24T14:56:43+00:00March 24th, 2019|

It’s been a while, I actually did this review at Christmas but only just managed to plonk it on the site. Anyway, here goes….

Like I need more food to eat over Christmas. But I suppose it’s a pleasant change from the mountain of cheese and pate I’m currently wading through.

Purchased from THEE ALDI at a price of, hang on, *checks receipts*, £1.79, I bought it because I had not seen it before and I fancied […]

Red Hot Pie Action: The Will Grigg pie

jimmy2018-03-17T18:43:25+00:00March 17th, 2018|

As many readers know I’m a Wiganer as well as a pie lover, and let’s face it, the two normally go hand in hand anyway. Following Wigan Athletic’s remarkable run to the quarter final of the FA Cup, the Rolling Pin Bakery in Wigan decided to produce a one off pie to celebrate our centre forward’s goal scoring feats.

Without further ado, your roving reporter, who is technically on a diet, thought it best to go and check it out in the interests of research.

The Will Grigg pie contains chicken, chorizo (pronounced CHH-orizo NOT Kor-izo eh Pie at Night lads?) and […]

Living the dream as a Pie Judge

jimmy2018-03-09T13:35:36+00:00March 9th, 2018|

I’ve written at length in the past about pies, reviewed pies, looked at particular types of pies, or pies by area and I write about loads of other stuff too but then you’ll have to go elsewhere for that as this blog is solely about pies.

I’ve also bemoaned certain events, some but not all which were out of my control but essentially resulted in my decision to write a book about pies into something of a mini-disaster.

Still, I wrote a book about pies which is what I set out to do and nobody can take that away from me. Moreover, […]

Free postage on Life of Pies – the ideal pie based Xmas gift!

jimmy2017-11-24T17:20:48+00:00November 24th, 2017|

It’s Black Friday and soon enough Christmas is coming and the pie eater is getting fat as they say. The nights are drawing in and you’ll be needing a good book to read. Well, I can’t promise that, but I can promise you the opportunity to get hold of a copy of the Life of Pies for just £9.99 including FREE POSTAGE for a limited time.

So if you’re looking for a birthday gift or Christmas present for the pie lover in your life, and your budget is, let’s say £10, then Life of Pies could be the answer. Containing 388 […]

Taylor Made!

jimmy2017-10-17T17:42:00+01:00October 17th, 2017|

It’s time for the latest episode of my “pies which didn’t make it into the book (and probably deserved to)” series and today I’m sampling the pies from Derby House, or rather Taylor’s Farm Shop near Ormskirk, West Lancashire.

For all the pies I tried during the making of Life of Pies (copies still available here etc etc http://www.lifeofpies.co.uk/buy) I never visited my local farm shop, so it’s time to rectify that and dive back in on the pie trail.

Derby House is a place where the well-heeled “ladies do lunch” in the heart of rural (rich) West Lancashire, just a […]

The Top Ten Pies in Wigan

admin2017-06-15T15:29:11+01:00February 7th, 2016|

piebarm Welcome to Wigan – undisputed pie capital of the world! Maybe it is disputed though? The British Pie Awards are on next month and they are held not in Wigan but in Melton Mowbray, where the pies are very different but no less famous. The World Pie Eating Championships are however held in Wigan but that might imply that Wiganers go for quantity – or speed of consumption appears to […]

Muffin Tops

admin2017-06-15T15:29:11+01:00November 1st, 2015|

muffinman At least I’ve finally got the answer to a question posed right at the beginning of Life of Pies, namely – when a pie shop sells a small and large meat and potato pie, why on earth would anyone order a small one?

The answer of course is that the large ones have run out….

And speaking of going right back to the start, the Muffin Man was one of the first places I visited when commencing […]

How not to write a book

admin2015-10-25T15:47:34+00:00October 25th, 2015|

piesreset It’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.

[…]

21 days later

admin2014-11-14T11:34:03+00:00November 14th, 2014|

pallets It was a night which delivered everything it promised. Pies, mainly and plenty of them! The back room of the Raven proved a great little spot for the assorted ladies and gents of Wigan Pie Society to celebrate the launch of Life of Pies in no uncertain terms.

I had a few shocks and setbacks along the way, not least concerns about the delivery of the books in time after they got held up in customs […]

The time is PIE

admin2014-10-24T10:36:58+01:00October 24th, 2014|

pietime I’m sat at home waiting for the delivery of 1,000 books. Nervous and exciting times indeed. It has been a long haul: nearly three years in the making but the Life of Pies is nearly ready to be unleashed onto an unsuspecting public.

First job will be to post out many of the 114 copies that have been advanced ordered. I’m also tied up with preparations for tonight’s book launch at The Raven Hotel in Wigan […]

FREE PIES!!! LIFE OF PIES BOOK LAUNCH!

admin2014-09-25T19:39:24+01:00September 25th, 2014|

Life of Pies book launch Friday Oct 24th @ The Raven Hotel

The above might be a headline grabber but it’s absolutely true!

My blog updates have dried up. However, with under four weeks to go I have a ridiculous amount of things to do in a short space of time.

[…]

Guess what came yesterday?

admin2017-06-15T15:29:08+01:00September 14th, 2014|

advance1 Yes – It’s a pair of advance copies of Life of Pies sent by air freight!

As the picture below testifies! (pie supplied for measurement purposes)

I’m still waiting for a definitive date for the launch. The pallets have been shipped I just don’t know exactly when they will land at my door.

Current estimate is some point between October 16th – 24th, so just over a month to go!

I will be holding a launch in Wigan on […]