Pork Pie News

A & G Butchers, Attleborough

2011-02-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

We sample new pork pies this week: pies from A & G Butchers of Attleborough. To get ourselves ready to judge these porky delights we headed to Acle to repeat a walk we did four and a bit years ago. That walk was the first outing of Keith’s new puppy, Coffee, who had to be carried for the last half. Parking in the lay-by, by the bridge over the River Bure, we headed east down Stokesby New Road to Muck Fleet, to then head north. The Walk Master took us along the footpath on the east bank that became increasingly overgrown with brambles. After about a quarter of a mile we decided to turn back and then head north via the footpath on the west bank. We followed this until a footbridge allowed us to cross the water and then follow the south bank of New Muck Fleet a little way. Then we headed south by footpaths, reaching Stokesby. Here we headed up the hill in the biting wind to reach St. Andrew’s church. Here we sheltered in the porch to eat lunch. No scratch dials were found on this church, and the church itself was locked, so we made our way down to the river and along it to the Ferry Inn for pints of Adnams and welcome warmth. The route back to the cars followed the footpath along the north bank of the River Bure – we ignored the footpath closure notice, which had been imposed for health & safety while vegetation was being cut back – there was no work being carried out today. We returned to the cars by the busy road, and then drove to the War Memorial Recreation Ground to sample the pies. When cut the pie released little aroma and there was no jelly. The piecrust was soft, despite being stored in a paper bag, but the meat filling was tasty, with or without mustard. This pie was rated very diversely, resulting in a very high standard deviation of 1.33631. It did come through with a respectable score of 7.07143. We then had canapés: this week pickled quails eggs – very tasty. We finished with M&S Stem Ginger cookies. So a normalized score of 7 for A & G Butchers pies, from whose web site we see are supplied by Brookstreet Foods in Needham Market.

Sainsbury's Melton Mowbray Large pork pie

2011-02-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

To sample today’s pies, nine pie munchers, including Liz with her new boots, Paul with his newly repaired boots and new muncher Kevin, set off for a very bracing pre pie yomp. We parked at Salhouse church and headed east along a footpath, spotting the first snowdrops of the year. Then heading north, we passed beautiful white cattle before joining Salhouse Road. We then took a footpath to Wroxham and visited St. Mary's church, finding no scratch dials. We could not explore it internally as a service was taking place. Retracing our footsteps we headed for the recreation ground to eat our sandwiches. The seating provided a fantastic view of the River Bure but exposed us to the gale force winds. After lunch we walked along Skinners Lane, following the route of the river, passing Wroxham castle and then Wroxham football club ground. Following tracks south west into the strong wind, we came to Dobb’s Lane that we followed a short distance east. We then took refreshment from the good selection of real ales at the Green Man. While the shelter from the wind and warmth was initially welcomed, we were not disappointed to leave this far too hot pub. We crossed the A1151 Wroxham Road to walk along Stonehouse Road before taking the footpath back to Salhouse church. As the wind was so strong, we had our tea etc. in the porch of All Saints church. To accompany the tea we had canapés from Paul: Duck liver, Sauternes & truffle parfait on oatcakes and French Saucisson sec with herbs! On to Sainsbury’s pies, these were traditional Melton Mowbray pies but when cut were low on aroma and revealed no jelly! The crisp, though lardy, crust pleased but the filling rather bland and need the help of mustard, despite this the pie was judged to have a score of 7.1 with a standard deviation of 0.56765. Josie provided Royal Edinburgh luxury shortbread – this was very good indeed and eagerly consumed.

Yoxford Pie Day

2011-02-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

The Sole Bay Cheese Company is making Friday official Yoxford Pie Day. Read about their Organic Gloucester Old Spot pork pies by clicking here.

Select Meats large pie

2011-01-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

We ended the month with a proper pork pie – one sampled before on the November 15^th 2009, from Select Meats of Loddon. Ashwellthorpe was the chosen munching location, parking at All Saints church with its single scratch dial. We headed off north, leaving the picturesque rear of the church with its large “E” shaped pond in the grounds. A one and a half mile loop round on footpaths, returned us to The Street, that we crossed and then headed south for St. Nicolas church in Fundenhall. Here we ate our sandwiches followed by After Eight mints! brought along by Joan. Having previously recorded the single scratch dial and feeling rather cold for stopping, we headed briskly south west to Fundenhall Street. The going was very muddy and frequently punctuated by styles to negotiate. We passed dairy cows, as we made our way north back to Ashwellthorpe, and on to the warmth of the White Horse. Here we enjoyed warm welcome and sampled very reasonably priced pints of Ruddles County and Swallowtail from the Humpty Dumpy brewery. It was then a short walk along The Street to the cars and straight into the large pie. It looked good and smelt good too, though not a great deal of aroma. A little jelly was present and added to the very good taste of this pie with a good crust, not surprisingly finding favour with the munchers giving it a good score of 8.9357 with a standard deviation of 0.49552. So a normalised score of 9 for Select Meats this time, beating their previous score of 7.

Roll mouse over picture to see uncut pie

The second course was kindly baked by Liz: a wonderfully moist and tasty fruitcake. No shortbread was needed after this.

"Holly Lane" mince pies

2011-01-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

King Canape was not walking this week, and King Can was not feeling too well. Fearing that we would not have a quorum to judge a pork pie, the Pie Master provided the canapés and mince pies. The Walk Master had devised a walk slightly less than usual six miles starting from Neatherd Moor, East Dereham. From here we took a footpath north, emerging to a great view of the 1964 Water Tower. Continuing our way north to Northall Green, we then headed west. During this leg of the walk we took a couple of wrong turns and had to walk back, so we ended up doing our six miles. After walking through Humbletoft, the walk became very undulating before we emerged on to Rush Meadow, where we followed the river Wensum south, passing the sewage works. We made our way east towards East Dereham, emerging from a footpath by “Ted Ellis Walk”. Lunch was taken on the west facing seats in the churchyard, as St. Nicolas church porch was locked. Checking that the church did not have a scratch dial, we headed into town, pausing to admire the pargeting on Bishop Bonner's Cottage. On our search for liquid refreshments we came upon the old Hollywood cinema, now the “Plough & Furrow” and boasting a “vast selection of bottled & draft beers” - we found it to have no real ale. Another pub too failed to provide this elusive commodity. Finally we came upon the King’s Head Hotelwhere we sampled Black Panther from the new Panther brewery that has risen from the ashes of the former Reepham Brewery. Refreshed, we headed east out of town passing the Victorian railway station complete with its water tower and water engine. On reaching Neatherd High School, we took the footpath north to Neatherd Moor. We headed west back to the cars, passing the duck pond. The Canapés were J Sainsbury’s Spicy red lentil dip and their Onion and garlic dip with Oatcakes. The “Holly Lane” mince pies were the second course – a bargain from Aldi at 29p for a pack of six! The Führer provided the Shortbreads, but these were not to the high standards of the Walk Master.

Fig Rolls at Trunch

2011-01-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

No pies for the Munchers this week: Friday evening, the Walk Master and Weather Wizard called a walk on Saturday, in order to miss the forecast bad weather on the Sunday. We headed to Trunch, parking at the Village Hall, with its fine chimney. From here we walked west passing St. Botolph’s church on our right. After passing through the village we headed north by footpath before heading further west, passing Howard’s Close. We then made our way north to Gimingham, passing sheep being rounded up, before getting on the Paston Way. On reaching Heath Lane we then followed it east to central Gimingham, and turned south to eat our sandwiches in the porch of All Saints church with its single scratch dial, previously recorded. Post lunch, we continued south a little way before heading west to Hall Farm, to complete the first loop of the figure of 8 walk. Now it was a zigzag route in a southeasterly direction to Trunch church. Having visited several times before, and recording its scratch dial, we just walked through the grounds to the Crown. Here we enjoyed pints of Batemans G.H.A. – a very good brew. We left the warmth of the pub to walk the short distance to the cars for a cup of tea. We had only a few spots of light rain, but it had been very bracing! The Pie Master did not have time to get a pie and we didn’t pass any butchers, so we had to make do with Fig rolls. We ended with the customary Shortbread.

Bystanders post Christmas Lunch

2011-01-09T14:00:00.000-08:00

The second Sunday of January was the Bystanders post Christmas Lunch that had been organised by King Canape. But disaster struck on the day – Charles was too unwell to attend and had to be rushed to Accident and Emergency. The Pie Master had to take on the role of Master of Ceremonies in his absence. Thankfully things had been organised well and it all ran like clockwork! Costessey Park Golf Club did an exceptional job of catering for over 70 of us. Following the meal various entertainment was provided by some of the theatrical Bystanders attending the Meal. Charles was kept in hospital and fitted with a pacemaker, being discharged on Thursday the 13^th. His ordeal was made worse by Kilverstone ward having the norovirus bug, so he could not have visitors. I am pleased to report that Charles is recovering well and has now paid for our meal!

All photographs from Jilly Hudson

Pork Pie is a luxury artisan foodstuff

2011-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

The Independent newspaper, today reports that the once humble pork pie is now reborn – as a luxury artisan foodstuff. Click here to read the article.

Arthur Binley of Barnsley

2011-01-01T16:13:00.001-08:00

The Pie Munchers were keen to make an early start to the new year - not waiting until the traditional Sunday chomp, we set off for Cromer to sample a Arthur Binley’s pork pie from Barnsley, kindly supplied by Staci, on Saturday the 1st. We started a little later than usual, as the plan was to take in the fireworks on Cromer pier at 17:00. Parking on Howard’s Hill, we headed west over Roundabout Hill before heading south, down Green’s Lane. We passed through Cromer Cemetery, seeing some tacky gravestones before entering into Felbrigg Great Wood. Here the Walk Master magically navigated, unaided, through this woodland to bring us to Felbrigg Hall, where we had our lunch on the picnic tables by the walled garden. Following lunch, we then picked up Weaver’s Way, heading north, back to Cromer, passing Cromer Zoo and Cromer Hall. No Canapés this week, so straight into the pie: It had a rather uninspiring external appearance. The pie was sliced into six, as there were only five of us, and released little in the way of aroma, but hinting of Pork Cheese. The bright pink filling with little jelly was tasty but nothing special. The pie had been purchased some time ago, so we discounted the fact that the bland crust was not as crisp as it might have been. Our first pie of the year was judged to have a score of 6.4 and the standard deviation was 1.18322. The pie master had also brought “Holly Lane” deep filled mice pies from Aldi. These found favour with the munchers – some having a second pie.

Roll mouse over picture to see uncut pie

We then made our way to the sea front to enjoy a very good firework display on the pier, and from rafts on the sea. Perhaps not as large as the London fireworks, but very good and at a far more civilised hour!

Hand held exposures using the pie camera

Pork Pie Year 2010 Review

2010-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

2010 started with more new pies to sample and it looked as though we were going to beat the bumper year of 2008. However, events and very bad weather towards the end of the year, resulted in a rather poor score of only 29 different pies being sampled, but of this number, 17 were sampled for the very first time. Now we have all the scores in, I can announce our top 5 pies of 2010:

Jarold's Deli, sampled on 5^th September
Waitrose Large Melton Mowbray, sampled on 2^nd May
Pickerings Medium pies, sampled on 24^th October
“Butlers Choice” R.A. Cawdron & Son, Stalham, sampled on 1^st August
Laurels Farm Butchers, Eye, sampled on 4^th July

Our all time top 5 pies are:

Mrs. King’s Melton Mowbray pie sampled on 26^th November 2006
M & M Rutland sampled on 29^th April 2007
Gloucester Old Spot from Picnic Fare Deli sampled on 11^th May 2008
Clarkes Quality Meats, huge pork pie sampled on 26^th July 2009
Jarold's Deli, sampled on 5^th September

R.A. Cawdron and Pickering swapping places from last year and Jarolds Deli pie makes it onto our all time top 5, displacing Graves of Briston, sampled on 9^th March 2008. That concludes 2010's pie munching.

Pie Master

Pat Gorman

2010-12-12T15:28:00.000-08:00

This week we returned to Horsey to see the seals and to sample a new pie: A Pat Gorman “Unique award winning hand made pork pie” purchased from Aldi. It was our intention to repeat the walk we did earlier in the year, on the 24^th January, however on reaching Horsey Corner, we found that the footpath from Brograve drainage mill to Horsey Mere was closed, so we retraced our path a little and then headed south to All Saints church. We had a look inside and a good look around the exterior, finding no scratch dials to add to our collection. We set off south east along a track, and then by a road passing the pub we turned south into a field. We did this part of the walk in the opposite direction last time, at the field corner we then turned left onto a boggy field towards Horsey drainage mill. Here we had our sandwiches, with an olive entrée, kindly provided by Manola. Now it was full steam ahead to the “Nelson’s Head” by road and permissive path. After being shepparded by the landlady, we enjoyed pints of Woodforde’s Wherry and Nelson’s Revenge in excellent condition. Refreshed, we headed for the coast to see the seals with their pups. There were no Seal Wardens about when we arrived, and the 355 seal pups had taken liberties in the absence of authority - plonking themselves well over the blue polypropylene rope boundary!

We returned to the cars parked at Horsey Gap to sample this weeks delicacies: Manola did us proud with Scottish Lochmuir™ Smoked Salmon mini terrine slices, that were very yummy and M&S Spicy Red Houmous and Olive crackers. To refresh the pallet a cheese course: lightly smoked Polish cheese made from mountain ewes’ milk with Scottish oatcakes. Now the pie: The good-looking glossy pie was low on aroma when cut, but revealed a promising dark pink filling, nicely jellied. The munching revealed the crust to be good and the filling to be flavoursome. This pie tasted far better without the addition of any mustard. The pie munchers were impressed and it came in with a spot on score of 8 despite some one giving it a 6, hence a rather high standard deviation of 1.18322. Just in case we had not replaced the calories burnt off on our 5 mile walk, the Walk Master produced Highland Shortbreads!

Pork Pie Virgin Cured!

2010-12-05T16:14:00.000-08:00

We sampled pies this week, but only just! The weather was poor – cold and more snow forecast. The munchers were joined this week by pork pie enthusiast, Manola, for a rather shorter than usual, 4½ mile, local walk. The Walk Master had incorporated a pub lunch, which he booked for 1:00 pm, rather than eat sandwiches in the snow. We parked at Eaton Park and headed west to the University of East Anglia and walked around the north edge of the lake. Here we debated the aesthetic of the accommodation, I personally like it. We continued past the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and crossed the River Yare. We then continued south, walking along by the river on our left, and then crossing it again by the start of the UEA lake. On our journey we met many lovely dogs, including a young, mad black Labrador who had broken his lead and enthusiastically greeted us, as we approached a wooded area. Much of the footpath was on boarded walkways now as we headed further south, following the river. Our path took us under the A11 and passing the old mill house on the opposite bank, I noticed a dinosaur skeleton in the garden! Then onto the old road bridge with a plaque showing the flood level on the 28th August 1912, 5 or 6 feet above today's level. We now turned north and walked down the road to arrive at the Cellar House, spot on one O'clock. Josie ordered Cod and hand cut chips, while the rest of us had the roast. The food was tasty, with the vegetables nicely cooked. Unfortunately we only had one plate of vegetables to share amongst five of us, and service was somewhat lacking.After the meal we were joined by a dapper Don, who had walked from the city centre in his new chinos, to join us in the pub. We walked back to the cars first along Bluebell Road and then on footpaths to Eaton Park. We walked through the park, passing by the model boat lake with a little dog walking on the 2” thick ice. On reaching the cars, the Walk Master invited us back to his, for a cup of drink. Here we were joined by Jeff - a self-confessed pork pie virgin, that we cured of his affliction! We were not originally going to have pies, as we'd only just had a meal a short while ago and we had cakes. But Manola said: "a walk is not a walk without a pork pie". We had pies: an 8oz and two 4oz pies from G. Morris & Sons that had been purchased earlier in the week, to be consumed after the NIAS AGM, but never made it there. The pies were not scored, but the consensus was that the 8oz pie was superior to the 4oz. Josie then presented cakes that she had brought to celebrate her birthday last month. So definitely more calories consumed than burnt off this week!

Snow Pies, Walk or BBQ!

2010-11-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

Snow stops play: Don and King Canape were not walking this week, the Führer was worried about the slippery conditions and the Walk Master had just taken delivery of a new car! The consensus of opinion was that we should stay in the warm, rather than venture out to do local walk. Don had indicated that it was his intention to light fires on Mousehold Heath and have a BBQ with his BTCV group today – only Don turned up. I guess we were saved an inferno!

Icarus Hines

2010-11-21T15:55:00.000-08:00

The pork pies return this week with small pies from Icarus Hines' shop in Cromer. To munch these, eight of us set off through heavy rain towards Rockland St. Mary. Here we parked by the broad, where we waited about five minutes on the Weather Wizard's instruction. This was sound advice, as we then only encountered a few bouts of light showers all day. Our pre pie walk took us south to St. Andrew's church, Claxton. We had previously visited this church in April 2008 and found it to be without a dial. Our route along a muddy track and footpaths took us south east to Carleton St. Peter. It's church; St. Peter's, serves a parish of just fifteen dwellings and a pub. Here we had our lunch in the porch and then looked for scratch dials, finding none. We then made our way north through Claxton and on to the dog-friendly Beauchamp Arms where we met "Rufus" a Red Setter, before sampling pints of Tribute from the St. Austell Brewery. We then made our way west, back to the cars following the south bank of the river Yare - part of the Wherryman's Way. This afforded great views of the Cantley sugar beet factory in full steam, but not of the starling clouds that the Walk Master had hoped for. Returning to the cars, the pies were the first course, as King Canape was down the smoke. Cutting the pies released little aroma. The filling was good and tasty and mustard could not improve the flavour. The pies were let down a little by the slightly soft piecrust base. The pies scored 7.5625 with a high standard deviation of 1.14759 compared with a score of 7.22222 and standard deviation of 1.06393 back in May. The traditional Scottish Shortbread fingers then concluded the munching. Icarus Hines improves his rating with a normalised 7.5 on this outing.

Fulmodeston

2010-11-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

Just six pie munchers braved the elements for a walk from Fulmodeston, for the second outing in November, to sample Paul’s canapés. The Pie Master was not in their number, and the only report to come back was “Very good country with paths through woodland and a very long sheep meadow.” The churches visited were: St. Mary, Barney, St. Edmund, Swanton Novers and Christ Church, Fulmodeston - none having scratch dials.

Banningham banquet (sans pies)

2010-11-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

A pleasant perambulation around Banningham and Tuttington, for 7 pie-less munchers, partly due to the unexpected appearance of dogs at the Pie Master's, prohibiting a pie procurement expedition. King Canape and José were again absent us this week, so the Pie Master plumped for last minute canapés. Showers were forecast, however our Weather Wizard devised a walk that would keep us in the dry. We tried parking in the village hall overflow car park at Banningham, but were asked to leave due to a children’s party being held there in the afternoon. We found alternate parking by the green. We headed east towards the two water towers of North Walsham, but could only see one - the smaller being hidden by the larger tower. Walking by a caravan park, we passed a suspension bridge over Suffield Beck. Then, following quiet roads south, we crossed the Weaver’s Way before taking a footpath to Tuttington. Here we had lunch in the round towered church of St. St. Peter & St. Paul. This rather minimalist church had been previously visited and found to be dial-less. We headed back to Banningham with a little road walking, stopping to buy bags of cooking apples. Shortly before arriving back at Banningham, we admired the Village Sign, before pressing on to St. Botolph church with our cars parked opposite. Dumping our rucksacks, and some changing their shoes, we made a beeline to the Crown Inn for pints of Fuller's London Pride. We did not visit the church this time, as it had been previously visited and found to be without a scratch dial. We returned to the cars for Canapés: Lemon & Coriander Houmous and Spicy red lentil dip with multigrain crackers. Peanut cookies and Shortbread completed the munching.

Norfolk's Dartmoor

2010-10-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

This week, King Canape had decided that he'd give walking a miss this week, so the Pie Master was going to pick up some canapés. But on his way to the Norwich Beer Festival, he received a call from Paul, who offered to bring canapés... After the beer festival, there was not time to procure pies. The seven hardcore walkers set off for one of the Walk Master's extreme walks. We parked at the Marsham Heath car park and set off south over Buxton Heath where the going was hampered by various obstacles: fences to climb, styles to cross and a rickety log bridge. We came upon a sign telling us that there were 10 Dartmoor ponies on the Heath, and then we spotted 4 of them. They must've felt at home, as the Heath resembled the bogs of Dartmoor. We came upon Church Lane and followed it a little way east before heading back north up a track, over a road and up Long Dick's Lane! Passing White House Farm, we were joined by a couple of very tame sheep as we walled towards Marsham parish church. They left us when we climbed a style to finish our journey over a ploughed field. Spotting the previously recorded scratch dial on the corner of All Saints church, we found the porch locked. As it was raining slightly, we walked on to the shelter by the Marsham village sign to consume our sandwiches. A short stroll up the A140 brought us to the Plough Inn for pints of Adnams. We then set off west along Fengate and Crane’s Lane eventually finding our way onto Marsham Heath and back to the cars. Here Paul presented Spicy lentil dip and Moroccan humous with crudities and Multigrain Ryvita.

Pickerings medium pies

2010-10-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

Pies returned this week: medium pies from Pickerings, Norwich market stall (pitch 102 & 103) an old favourite, last sampled on Valentines Day. We were joined for our pre-pie perambulation, by Luna and her mum, Grace. We also had Bert & Harris accompanying us on what was to be an eventful walk from East Tuddenham Village Hall. We crossed the Norwich Road to take the footpath north that passes by All Saints church. Our next challenge was to cross the busy A47. Achieving this we continued north, the dogs enjoying being able to run free. Luna never straying far from mum, but Bert and Harris taking the opportunity to get through a hole in a fence and explore a wood at their leisure... When they eventually came back they were lead-bound for the remainder of the walk! Footpaths marked on maps failed to materialise, but after a couple of failed attempts, we found a route west. King Canape then had a bit of a funny turn – a slight dizzy spell, so had a sit down while it passed. After no time at all, the Canape King was on his feet and we continued west past noisy kennels, our three dogs not reacting. On reaching Heath Road, Charles, accompanied by the Pie Master & Liz, took the slightly shorter and easier going route to the pub via the road, while the rest of the party continued west by footpath and then south to Hockering parish church. On route, the threatening skies then unleashed a good dose of hail. The party taking the road made for the shelter of a conifer, but on reaching it, the intensity of the hailstorm increased to such an extent, most of the hail simply passed straight through our shelter. When the hail eased and we had Charles seated in the pub, we joined the remaining walkers at St. Michael’s church. Here we ate our sandwiches “on the hoof” - as the church was being renovated and surrounded by fencing. The remains of one scratch dial was visible, to add to our collection. We then made our way to join King Canape in the Victoria Inn. Here we consumed various beverages and Grace and Luna took advantage of the open fire. Suitably refreshed and warmed, it was time to head outside, Charles sensibly accepted the offer of being picked up and stayed in the pub. We made our way back to East Tuddenham, modifying the original route to utilise more quiet metalled roads, as the going was so wet. Don in his Wellingtons, made the most of the conditions; splashing his way through the puddles. We had seen numerous fungi on our walk, but as we neared the cars, Paul and I thought we’d struck lucky; spotting some fine looking mushrooms. On closer inspection they proved to be Yellow Stainers! The feasting began once Charles had been retrieved from the pub and started with his canapés of King prawns with Rosemarie sauce. Cutting the good looking pies released little aroma and revealed a nicely textured pink filling with a little jelly. The pies tasted good with a peppery after taste, scoring a spot on 8.5 with a standard deviation of 0.55902, slightly better than their last sampling.
But the munching was not over - for Grace had baked a huge carrot cake especially for us. The cake tasted good too, with several munchers giving it a score of 10 and suggesting we should have cake instead of pork pies!

Canapés on Swardeston Common

2010-10-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

King Canape was globe trotting, so the Pie Master, rather pressed for time, purchased canapés locally this week. The Walk Master had devised a walk around East Carleton. We parked by Swardeston Common to start our anti-clockwise circular walk. First we took a mix of road and paths west, to Lower East Carleton, and then we followed a mile-long footpath to East Carleton. Here we examined the church of St. Mary for scratch dials, finding none. We could not go inside as the door was locked. Beside this church are the ruins of St. Peter – little remains as building materials were scavenged from the old church. We left the churches and headed further west a little way, passing the East Carleton village sign as we followed a section of Kett's Country walk for just under a mile, before heading east to Mulbarton. Here we ate our sandwiches on the common before examining the church of St. Mary Magdalen and finding two new scratch dials. We then made our way to the “Worlds End” where we sampled beers from the new range produced by Adnams. These were enjoyed in the beer garden, sitting on the substantial garden furniture. We returned to the church to follow the footpath east that runs beside it. Then we took the first footpath on our left, to head north to Swardeston. We made our way to the previously visited church of St. Mary with its splendid single scratch dial on its south east corner. The church was open and inside we were reminded that Edith Cavell came from Swardeston – her father being the vicar. Preparations were being made for Harvest Festival to which we were invited – but we had canapés and tea waiting... We returned to the common where Ana and Josie first played on the swings & tittermatorter. With our cups of tea we had a selection of canapés: slices spiced Spanish sausage, Belgian Duck & Port pâté and lemon & coriander Houmous with Scottish oatcakes. Highland shortbread fingers completed this weeks munching.

Cookie's at last!

2010-10-10T16:20:00.000-07:00

At last we made it to Cookie's! Arriving at Salthouse green, someone thought it a good idea to book a table for 16:30 - in the past we always booked by phone when we were a couple of miles or so away. The Führer and Staci went and caught the "Coast Hopper" while the remaining six of us moved off in an eastwardly direction, then south through the churchyard of St. Nicholas. We had explored this large church many times previously, so just passed it by and continued up Bard Hill. We continued west over Gallows Hill along Pinfold Lane to go over Silverland Hill and Warborough Hill, coming into Kelling, by the school. Here we saw a smart wooden sculpture, depicting Kelling Beach – part of the Salthouse Sculpture Trail, before our final accent of Muckleburgh Hill. So much for Norfolk being flat! Here we had lunch among the grazing cows - Norfolk Highland Cattle? We would have been at an altitude of over 200 feet above sea level! After lunch we descended the hill, passing through woods and eventually emerging on to the shingle bank, that we walked along, back to Salthouse. Reaching the cars at 15:10, we had no tea to go with Don's dips; that were to be this week's canapés, so we went to the Dun Cow for pints of Wherry. Don made enquiries at Cookie’s and established that they could accommodate us sooner than booked. But the Führer and Staci both had their mobile phones switched off! So a search party was sent out and located them in Cley next the Sea, at a bus stop. A variety of fishy food was ordered, the Royal Salads being popular. The Pie Master & mawther plumped for the Crab and Salmon Royals.

Fungus Foray 2010

2010-10-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

The first Sunday in October was our annual Fungus Foray, a little earlier than normal. Just nine mycologists, eight having just dined at the Plough Inn, went in search of fungus on Marsham Heath... This was a 200% increase in numbers from the previous year! And thankfully, King Canape, turned Mushroom Master, led us to a much-improved haul of fungus this year, including Stinkhorns that we have not found for several years. A huge boletus was also found, but not collected, as it was old and soggy. We found a few edible boletus, masses of Amethyst Deceivers and rather less Chanterelles. Our haul was taken back to the Trafford Arms where some of our finest specimens were displayed.
Debbie then cooked up a fabulous fungus feast with our edible haul for foragers and friends, all washed down with the superb range of beers on tap. Anyone interested in fungi should visit this site: www.abfg.org

Pen drawings © David Atkinson

Woodton

2010-09-26T16:25:00.000-07:00

This week was to be our visit to Cookie's, but at the last minute, the Walk Master advised that due to the dreadful weather, we would not be going. We headed instead to Woodton to start our 6 mile walk without the prize of a pie at the end. First we visited Woodton All Saints church, with a fine specimen of a parasol in the foreground. Finding no scratch dial we went round the rear of the church and through a field of inquisitive bullocks - waving sticks about we kept them at bay until we had crossed over the electric fence. Our path then took us through a field of cows that had made the field a mud bath! This proved to be quite a challenge for Ana who was wearing her "MBT" shoes, as did the muddy lane that followed. Here we came across a clump of huge horse mushrooms, each about a foot across. Now heading south down Nobb’s Lane, with blackberry bushes laden with fruit that we sampled to excess. Continuing south along Mill Road, we eventually came to St. Margaret’s church, Topcroft, previously visited after the stormy walk last November. Here we had lunch in the porch. The walk Master then told us we would not have to wade through mud on the second half of the walk - he didn't mention the very high and slippery styles, the overgrown footpaths and having to climb a ladder! A bonus was that thus far we had evaded the rain. As we approached our third, round towered church with an octagonal top, light rain started. We explored St. Andrew’s church in Bedingham finding no scratch dial. We made our way to the King's Head, just under a mile away for pints of Old Speckled Hen, St. Edmunds and Battle of Britain. When we left the pub, it was raining; the Führer dictated that we should forgo tea as we walked the short distance to the cars. This proved to be a good call, as the heavens opened up on our journey home!

Salhouse

2010-09-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

No pies this week as the Walk Master had suggested a visit to Cookie's. In the event, the Walk Master did not walk this week, so the Führer led us on a 5½ mile or so walk around Salhouse, rather than Salthouse, as poor weather was predicted. Parking at the Railway Station, we walked down the road to the footpath that leads to Salhouse, emerging by Bell Pond. We then walked through the village admiring the attractive houses, stopping to browse the bric-a-brac for sale in the garden of one. We then headed north opposite Thieves Lane. Quite a few parasol mushrooms were about, as were masses of tasty blackberries that we sampled on route. King Canape found a fine specimen of Agaricus augustus that he collected. We deviated from the original route to have our lunch at All Saints church, previously visited and found to be without a scratch dial. A further deviation from the walk was to head down Bell Lane to the Bell Public house with a good selection of beers; January 8^th from the Ole Slewfoot brewery in Hainford and Wherry from Woodforde’s a mile down the road, were the beers of choice. Here we met Bystanders Frances & Bob, about to leave, after having their post bike ride lunch – we had bumped into them in similar circumstances in Thompson back in 2008. Since we had deviated from the planned route, we had to return to the cars via the footpath we used initially. José found what he believed to be a “Charcoal Burner” Mushroom, an edible fungi – we’ll see if he turns up at next weeks walk! King Canape produced King Prawns with Marie Rose Sauce, Oaties then completed this week’s grazing.

Frank Spurgon

2010-09-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

Following last week's quality pies, it was going to be a hard act to follow so I thought we'd sample pies from Frank Spurgon, last munched back in May last year, when they returned a respectable score of 7.5. The Walk Master had devised a 6 mile appetising walk from Cromer to East Runton via Incleborough Hill. Parking in a side street we made our way south west, taking in some of the Norfolk Coast Path and many blackberries! The walk now became a fungus foray, first collecting Parasol mushrooms, then a crop of Shaggy Parasols. A little later we came to a solitary Shaggy Ink Cap before collecting several chanteralls, our collection was completed with a Brown Birch Boletus. We then ascended Incleborough Hill for lunch at 259 feet above sea level! No wonder King Canape was a little breathless. We made our way down into East Runton to the Fishing Boat for reasonably priced pints of Sundew and Wherry, which we consumed in the garden. We made our way to West Runton Gap to walk along the beach, the tide being out. Coming up the cliff at Cromer, we returned to the cars for tea and Waitrose Guacamole with spicy crackers, followed by Panadas – spicy beef pies from Sardinia that Ana brought back. Then the lovely pies from Frank Spurgeon, these had a very crisp crust and a dark filling with jelly. Nicely textured and spiced the eight participating munchers all enjoyed the pies giving them a score of 8.3125 with a standard deviation of 0.37201 – slightly up on last week’s pie. So Frank Surgeon gets a rounded up, normalised score of 8.5. Shortbread was the final fourth course this week.

Jarrold’s deli

2010-09-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

With the terrible pies of last week, the Pie Master went to a known good supplier of quality pies: the Deli in Jarrold’s, last sampled at Holkham on February 10^th 2008, where they scored 8.5. To sample these, 9 munchers and two dogs headed to Foulsham. Parking in the street we walked east, past the church that had a “Savage” manhole cover, to Batesmoor. From here we headed back west along Mill Lane a little way before heading north over what was the old airfield, passing the site of the former 60,000 gallon, Foulsham water tower. The field edge provided us with blackberries that we consumed as we walked along. We were afforded a lengthy view of deer before we stopped at 3½ miles for lunch in a field corner. Here we watched a couple of raptors overhead as we ate. We headed back south to Foulsham via a permissive path along side Wood Norton Road, taking in views of Stanfield and Bintree water towers at the same time. Then along Sneck Lane, calling in at the Queen’s Head for pints of Adnams. We returned to the cars and took our tea to the Holy Innocents church we walked past at the start. We looked around this dial-less church before having tea in the churchyard. Straight into the good looking pies that released an appetising aroma when sliced, revealing a nicely textured pink filling surrounded by jelly. This was a really good pie, very tasty and the pastry good too, though it wasn’t as crisp as some. All agreed and it romped in with a score of 9.05556 and a low standard deviation of 0.30046, so a normalised score of 9 – the highest this year, for Jarrold’s Deli. Canapés followed: stuffed baby peppers – these were quite hot, so a wise decision to have these after the pies, followed by the Shortbread finale.

Sainsbury’s Basics mini pies

2010-08-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Sainsbury's Basics mini pork pies were to be sampled today, a first for the pie munchers. Josie & King Canape suffering from colds decided not to join us, but would sample the pies at home. Eight of us headed to Harleston for what was going to be a wet walk. We left the town and headed west before heading north to Starston, Don electing to walk through a field of sugar beet, rather than follow the path at the edge of the field. We passed the posh Rectory built in 1871, before arriving at the Starston church of St. Margaret where we were given a guided tour by a chap, part of a group getting the church ready for a wedding. We left the church and passed the wind pump that appears on the village sign. In the same field we found a good-sized puffball and a field mushroom, both were harvested and made good eating after the walk. We then headed south and experienced the first of the rain, and sheltered in the lee of a hedgerow until it eased a bit. We continued south finding an amber flashing light that had been discarded, before going through Yewtree Farm. A little more rain followed and we sheltered for a short time under a tree. Just after 3½ miles, after walking down a quiet lane, we were about to join a footpath towards Needham, when the heavens opened up. We huddled beneath a tree as the road transformed into a river. The rain and hail eased, and as we continued on our way, the sun came out. We crossed the busy A143 and then made our way through the stinging nettles to St. Peter's church. This was locked, but the porch was open for us to have lunch in. The church also provided another good example of a scratch dial for the collection. Now we set course north east towards Harleston, passing an old gypsy caravan before crossing the A143 again. The weather decided to rain on us again, but had stopped by the time we reached Harleston via the recreation ground. We headed for the Swan for pints of Rusty Bucket from the Brandon brewery. After our beverage, the Pie Master did a very short guided tour of Harleston, pointing out the location of a chapel of ease and cage for felons, The Magpie Inn that used to be info Mendham, back when the road was the Suffolk border and the weighbridge with its mechanism in the undertaker’s office, the Corn Exchange and Harleston's oldest building. No Canapés and straight into the pies… Well, what can I say, the soft tasteless pastry when cut released no aroma and showed that there was no jelly within. The filling was tasteless; you wonder why they bother making them. Thankfully shortbreads followed to complete the munching before heading home. A pie and half a puffball were delivered to King Canape, who then scored the pie. When all the scores were counted, the mini pies came in at 4.35 with a high standard deviation of 1.17969, giving Sainsbury’s Basics an enhanced normalised score of 4.5.

"Man flu"

2010-08-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Pie Master had not procured pies this week, due to suffering from "Man Flu". Now, Josie was suffering, and as the Pie Master still wasn't feeling too sharp, decided not to join the pieless munchers on their expedition to Holkham. No report or photographs from this trip have been received, so I present this public information film as an interlude:

No pies!

2010-08-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

With the Pie Master visiting Whitwell railway station with N.I.A.S., then going to a "Red Wine Lips" bar-be-que in North Walsham, before joining the walk, he thought pies may not survive the bike ride - so no pies were purchased. Although King Canape was away, he kindly found us a walk around Swanton Abbott. The Walk Master, just back from France, was able to lead the ten pieless munchers on this 5.9-mile walk. It was an anti-clockwise walk that started from the common and headed north west, then south where we spotted a Roe deer in an open field, before it bounded back into woodland. We continued south before heading west to the Church of St. Michael with its scratch dial previously photographed for the collection. Here we had our sandwiches before retracing our footsteps a little way, passed the school, to a footpath heading south. At the end of this we were greeted by a very friendly Springer Spaniel. Continuing south by road, where some purchased local produce by the roadside, we came to the Jolly Butchers public house. We were most disappointed to find that this good pub had gone the way of so many and was closed. We continued by road, now heading east before taking a track north, seeing many pheasants. We exited the track and followed the road west, back to the common. Here, by a Buddleia bush full of butterflies, Josie provided tea and had also provided a spiced nut selection and fig rolls to go with it. Ana eventually joined us, after eating the wild plums from a bush on the common. The Scottish shortbreads returned this week with the Walk Master to round off proceedings. We then called in at the Recruiting Sergeant for pints of "The Queen's Shilling" on our way home.

G. Morris & Sons

2010-08-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

This week with the Führer and the Walk Master away in France, José stepped into the breach to lead the ten pie munchers on a 6½ mile walk from Shropham to Great Hockham and back, before sampling medium pies from G. Morris & Sons. Parking by the parish church of Shropham, we followed Low Road a short distance before heading south by footpath, to complete one side of this rectangular walk. While walking on quiet roads, we passed by a house where Maisie, a rather skinny Pointer, came out to greet us. We then returned to footpaths to continue the journey west passing horses and woods. A quiet road then led us north to the village of Great Hockham. We left the village centre to visit the locked church of the Holy Trinity, with no scratch dial. Here we had our sandwiches at 4.2 miles and afterwards returned to the village and the Eagle public house. We were refreshed with pints of Old Speckled Hen and Adnams. After a good rest, we roused our leader and headed east back to Shropham, initially by road, purchasing herbs and Chilli products, and then finally via footpaths. Towards the end of the walk, José pretended he was lost - but he didn't fool us! We were soon out of the dead-end that he had taken us to and back on the devised route. A short walk north along Church Road reunited us with the cars. We then explored the church of St. Peter, again locked, finding a scratch dial on a buttress - a new one for the collection. After the girls had rested, tea was taken in the churchyard along with prawns and chilli sauce purchased on route. The two medium pies were sliced releasing very little aroma. The pies lacked jelly and while enjoyable, nothing special. Mustard did enhance them and they achieved a respectable score of 6.95 with a standard deviation of 0.59861. Oaties replaced the traditional Shortbreads to conclude proceedings. G. Morris & Sons scoring a normalised score of 7 this time, compared with their previous score of 6.5 on their last outing on September the 6^th 2009.

R. A. Cawdron & Son

2010-08-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

To sample R. A. Cawdron's pies in their native environment, we headed to East Ruston - just two miles from the shop in Stalham. The eleven regular munchers were joined by the Walk Master's son Mark and Grandson Teodore - “Man of the Walk” back on the 4^th April this year. We also had the company of Bert & Harris, who were very lively on this outing. We started by following the Weavers Way, along the old railway line west, towards Brigate, passing under the wonderful Victorian road bridge. We headed north up Corner Common Road and then by footpath to the isolated Horning church of St. Peter & St. Paul. Here we had our lunch and failed to find a scratch dial. We then walked into the village and crossed the common on our way to East Ruston. Here local fruit was purchased prior to our visit to the Butchers Arms. Adnams was the beer of choice for most and this was enjoyed in the garden at the rear. A christening party were then vacating the pub and suggested to the bar staff that we should have the remaining nibbles. These were an appreciated accompaniment to the beer. Just a mile back to the cars and when we crossed Burnells Farm, we were greeted by a friendly and gorgeous Border collie that would normally have been photographed, but getting Bert and Harris over a style, I missed the opportunity. A short walk along Chapel Road reunited us with the cars. The Pies were then sliced, releasing little aroma, they were lacking jelly this outing but found favour with the munchers coming in at 8.45833 with a standard deviation of 0.81068. King Canape’s stuffed peppers were then consumed, post pie. The outing was completed with Scottish Shortbreads. So R. A. Cawdron scoring a normalised 8.5 as they did at Great Ryburgh on the 4^th April last year.

Van Pelt of King's Lynn

2010-07-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

After a hiatus of two weeks, quality pies for the munchers return. Van Pelt of King’s Lynn “Quality Pork Butchers Established 1935” once holders of a Royal warrant, were this weeks suppliers. To ensure that our palates were in prime pie tasting condition for this new pie for the munchers, the Walk Master had devised a route to take in a beer festival. We parked at Reedham railway station and caught the train to Berney Arms. From here we walked to the river and followed the Wherryman's Way towards Reedham. We took lunch at about three miles on the raised path where Don donned a plastic bag for a hat, why - no one knows, but he had a vague likeness of Father Christmas. Bellies filled, we resumed our trek to Reedham via the Wherryman's Way. Just before Reedham, we headed to the Humpty Dumpy brewery to purchase fine ales from the brewery shop. Heading back to the river and the Lord Nelson, only to find that the beer festival was being held in the village hall! Never mind, the Lord Nelson had an excellent range of beers for us to consume. However, their dispensing skills didn't match the excellent beer range. Eventually we had our much-anticipated beverages that we consumed by the river. The ladies were treated to a viewing of a group of men posing in their mankinis, standing on the top of their boat, as they passed by. We wandered off back to the cars, some following the Walk Master's route, utilising footpaths, while the breakaway group took a shorter route along the road. Back at the railway station, the first offering was carrot sticks and Waitrose supreme houmous. Then the irregular shaped pies with their domed tops and filling. Cutting was an effort as the crust was quite hard. Not a great deal of aroma but a very good looking filling with jelly. I thought this was a very good pie, though it was let down by having a quite salt aftertaste. The pie munchers judged this pie at 7.57692 out of ten - a good score as two returned a score of just 5! So a high standard deviation of 1.38212 was recorded. Ginger & Lemon Cookies supplemented the traditional shortbreads. After grazing, the pie munchers just stood around mardling for ages. Eventually we got into cars and raced back to the Pie Master's where cars and passengers were swapped about. So Van Pelt ends up with a normalised score of 7.5.

Canapés and Shortbreads

2010-07-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

With King Canape and José Luis away, Don was believed to be still in Londinium, the Pie Master thought our numbers would be small. He took the easy option and purchased some canapés. In the event, Don was here, as was Manola and we were joined by Charles II. The Walk Master had devised a walk around Cantley and we set off in two cars for the village hall. From here we took the footpath south to the church of St. Margaret, our first visit, but found no scratch dials. We continued south, crossing the railway line to the river, where we walked along the bank a little way before heading inland past fields of bullocks. We crossed the railway line again and walked through the village. From here we set off north west, and then north, over Swill's Meadow following a long straight path through a field of wheat. Quiet roads then took us to Hassingham church of St. Mary for lunch at 4 miles. We had previously visited this church and found no scratch dials. Now a mile and a quarter along Church Lane and permissive footpaths, took us to the Cantley Cock - the scene of the "Prussic acid" Christmas cake incident in 2005! Here we had pints of Wadworth’s Henry's Original IPA, that was on special offer. While consuming our beverages, we were joined by Cath, who then walked the last mile back to the cars. We stopped to purchase various local fruit & veg before returning to the cars. Thankfully, Paul had realised there would be no canapés, so had brought some French bread and Parma ham. This supplemented the single pack of smoked salmon crescents brought by the Pie Master. Scottish Shortbreads completed the post walk munching.

Too hot for Pork Pies!

2010-07-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

The hot weather not finding Favour with the Pie Master, he had failed to procure pork pies earlier in the week! Josie had decided it was too hot to walk, so the Pie Master thought it prudent to stay at home too. Other pie munchers too called off due to the heat. Four intrepid pie munchers, sans pies, headed for Sheringham. Parking by the approach road to Sheringham, they made their way through Upper Sheringham and through Sheringham Park seeing many butterflies. Crossing the North Norfolk Railway line to the beach, they headed east where they took refreshment in "The Lobster" public house. Here they observed a chap playing with his model railway set up, complete with a locomotive and carriages with "Say No Tesco" livery. Leaving the town, they headed towards Beeston Regis, following the beck to Back Common. Then back into Sheringham woods where they got a little lost! They made it back to the car for tea with Spanish omelette.

Photographs by José Luis

José Luis also alerted the Pork Pie News to this wooly pie by Kate Jenkins:

Mickey

2010-07-09T14:45:00.000-07:00

Mickey in the church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Mautby, on 31st August 2008

Today, the Pork Pie News learnt that Mickey was put to sleep last week. Mickey occasionally joined us on our pie munching expeditions with his “girl friend” Giada. Mickey had lived a long healthy life and deteriorated quickly at the end. I know all pie munchers will be saddened by this news and our sympathy goes to Wendy and Tim.

Laurels Farm Butchers

2010-07-04T17:16:00.000-07:00

More Suffolk pies this week, two medium pies from Laurels Farm Butchers in Eye. We were sampling them in their home county: the pie munchers headed down to Reydon to walk by the coast. Parking in the shade, in the car park of St. Margaret’s church, we had a little quiet road walking, as we made our way east. as we made our way east. We passed several interesting buildings, including the twin turrets at the entrance to a rest home for the aged in Covert Road. We then took footpaths to the coast at Southwold, emerging through the barren landscape, just north of the pier. Lunch again this week was taken above the very choppy waves, on the pier, after visiting the “Under the Pier show”. Continuing our walk south, along the sea front, we paused by Gunn Hill while José and José Luis went swimming and the Walk Master had a paddle. We followed the coast along The Denes to the river, where we headed inland by the River Blyth to the Harbour Inn for pints of excellent Adnams. We then headed north over Busscreek Marshes and then up Shepherd’s Lane, passing St. Felix school. Crossing the Halesworth Road, we continued north by a footpath to return to St. Margaret’s church, where we examined it unsuccessfully for scratch dials. Then the raison d’etre for this Sunday’s outing: King Prawns with a marie rose sauce were today’s canapé, preceding the pork pies from Laurels Farm Butchers. The Pie Master, eager to sample these good-looking pies, did the pie photography without Svinjski Sudal! King Canape realising this oversight alerted the Pie Master who then re-photographed the, now sliced, pies with our mascot. These excellent pies delivered on all counts: nice aroma, well jellied, crisp tasty pastry with a flavoursome meaty filling, further enhanced with a dab of mustard. Not surprisingly, these pies found favour with all eleven pie munchers, resulting in a score of 8.45455 with a standard deviation of 0.87905. The traditional shortbread returned this week, completing the munching. So Laurels Farm Butchers score a normalised 8.5 on their first outing with the pie munchers.

Roll mouse over picture to see uncut pie

Wm. Morrison (star shaped) hand raised pies

2010-06-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

“Star shaped” hand raised pies from the in-store bakery of Wm. Morrison, were the pies of choice for the final munching of flaming June. As it was so hot, we headed to Overstrand for a walk near the coast. Parking by the cricket ground we walked west along the main road to the church of St. Martin, but not visiting it, before we headed up Newman’s Hill. Descending by Suffield Park to join the Paston Way, we passed Cromer lighthouse that featured prominently in the classic 1960’s film “The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter”. We headed towards and walked through Cromer, to the zigzag slope on the west of the town, that goes down to the prom. Now walking east, we made our way to the pier to consume our sandwiches above the sea. The Walk Master then led us up a steep ascent of the cliffs to the Red Lion with it's good selection of beers, of which we sampled “Stripey Jack” from Bees brewery, Woodforde’s “Sundew” & Wolf’s " Straw Dog". We made our way back to Overstrand on the firm sand, thanks to the low tide. Heading back to the town centre via The Londs, we passed the impressive clock tower at The Pleasaunce - designed by Edwin Lutyens and dating from 1897-9. We took our tea and pies to Overstrand cricket ground to utilise the seating. Only Six munchers this week, no King Canape, so straight into the pies: cutting revealed a bright pink interior with no jelly and no aroma. Munching proved the crust to be both crisp and tasty, the filling less so, tasting faintly of unsmoked ham. Mustard didn't really enhance the flavour. The pies were judged to have an acceptable score of 7.25 – marginally higher than when we last sampled these on the 31^st May, last year. The standard deviation was also slightly lower at 0.68920 and with one less muncher! While consuming the post pie Shortbreads, José noticed the cricket club's fixture list and that Overstrand were playing the Bystanders Cricket club on 12^th June and ^14th August. Wm Morrison’s star shaped pies get a normalised score of 7.5 on this outing.

Pork Farms Vintage Melton Mowbray

2010-06-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

A new pie for the pie munchers this week: Pork Farms Vintage Melton Mowbray mini pork pies. After being let down on pork pies in the west of the county, the Pie Master was unable to source quality local pork pies from that part of the county on Friday. Finding these “Vintage” pies in a supermarket, he thought they should be sampled – CAMRA’s “Beer” magazine (Autumn 2009, p42) had rated them above their original pies. The munching was well attended, three cars heading to Wiveton and parked on the green. We didn’t explore the church of St. Mary, as we’d visited it several times in the past. We made our way east over Wiveton Bridge, over the River Glandford, and then north to the church of St. Margaret, Cley. Here we admired the naughty carvings in the roof and porch. Continuing north and using the facilities of the village hall, we passed the “Picnic Fayre” and its wonderful delicacies before heading out onto the marches, with great views of Cley windmill. During this exceedingly bracing portion of the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast path, we spotted a Kestrel hunting over the marches and a yellow, search and rescue, Sea King helicopter. Lunch was taken in the lee of the bank, by the duck pond at Blakeney. Here a clever Tern managed to stand on the wire fence – not easy for a bird with webbed feet! Next the pie munchers Beer kitty took a serious denting with a visit to the Kings Arms. Horrendously expensive pints of warm, lifeless Wherry and awful Adnams (exchanged for Wherry) were purchased. After our not so refreshing, refreshments, we ascended the B1156 and then a bridle way, to the Wiveton Downs. As we descended from here, a Marsh Harrier was spotted being harassed by a sea gull. Later, we came upon a toad in the road, which we relocated to the safety on the grass bank. Juan Luis, thinking there was a chance that this was a princess, had to be restrained from kissing it. We completed our decent at the cars. Our first course were ricotta-stuffed cherry peppers, quite hot, possibly affecting the pie munchers palates. One pie was sliced open, revealing the grey filling with a soupçon of jelly. The pie had no aroma and a soft crust, the filling was exceptionally bland and desperately in need of mustard. The pie scored an unbelievably high, spot on 6.5 with a high standard deviation of 1.19659.

Samphire pies

2010-06-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

Award winning Samphire pork pies, last sampled by the pie munchers way back on the 11^th March 2007, were this week's porky delight, purchased from their Wymondham Shop. Potter Heigham was the chosen location for this week’s sampling. We parked by the parish church of St. Nicholas , and then started by searching for a scratch dial, finding a faint example by the priest’s door. The church was locked so we were unable to explore the interior. We headed north towards Hickling broad and then walked east, spotting several hairy caterpillars, believed to be that of the garden tiger moth. The Walk Master, coming to a notice regarding flood defence work, had to make a quick revision to the proposed route. Our passage south, along the River Thurne, was blocked, so instead we headed south down Middle Wall. Lunch was taken on the seating provided by the old bridge at Potter Heigham. We then walked down the west bank of the River Thurne, behind the assorted holiday accommodation, including the “Dutch Tutch” formed from a cut-down Helter skelter. We then turned right, down Horsefen Bank and then made our way to the welcome Falgate Inn. The day had warmed up and it was very humid, we were all starting to flag. Pints of Adnams Broadside rejuvenated us for the last mile back to the cars and pies. The Führer being on holiday, tea duties fell on Josie. King Canape was back this week with healthy carrot sticks with Lemon & coriander and Moroccan style Humous, to sample before the pies. The good-looking small pies had obviously been baked in foil cups and appeared to have Parmesan cheese on the top. Cutting the pies released a little but good porky aroma. No jelly was visible but the filling looked meaty. Munching confirmed this, a tasty crust enclosing a good textured filling, nicely spiced with herbs. This pie held its head up high without the application of mustard, and its addition distracted from the flavour. The pie munchers rated this pie 8.22222 with a standard deviation of 0.79495. Slightly better timed than last week, the Walk Master’s Scottish Shortbreads were consumed just before the rain came. These were good pies from Samphire scoring a normalised 8.

Challis Family Butchers

2010-06-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

Pies from over the border again this week: from Challis Family Butchers on Sizewell Road, Leiston, Established 1895. Before we could sample these new pies, we had 4 churches and a pub to visit. Our starting point and pie munching location, was the Village hall of Buxton. We crossed the road to the church of St. Andrew, examining the exterior for scratch dials, of which we found none. Then a quick look inside before heading north, over the Bure Valley Railway line to Oxnead. Passing over a stream we had a game of Poohsticks, the Walk Master and Josie being joint winners - the Pie Master coming last. Passing large gates to our left, to Oxnead Hall, we then admired the front of the hall before visiting Oxnead church, tucked away behind the hall, dedicated to St. Michael, also without a scratch dial. After a little confusion, we continued north, our walk all the more interesting when the footpath passed through a rapeseed field – the plants engulfing us. Arriving at All Saints church, Skeyton, we spotted a prominent scratch dial on the porch. Here we had lunch, we then left the locked church and headed south down a lane to the Skeyton Goat, for pints of Timothy Taylor's "Landlord". Visiting our fourth church: St. Andrew's, Lamas, with a single scratch dial on a buttress. This church was locked, so we took the opportunity to sit on the seat by the river, and while taking in the view, a swan visited. A barn owl was spotted hunting in the distance then a brace of ducks flew by. We then had a very picturesque walk back to the car, passing by Buxton mill. No King Canape today, so no canapés and straight into the pork pies. Cutting them released no aroma. The interior was dark pink and had good texture; there was a very small amount of jelly tucked around the edge. The crust was crisp and tasty but the filling somewhat of a disappointment, lacking flavour. Perhaps they were served too cold, as I had a slice of pie the previous day in Leiston and I was impressed with the flavour then. Well on this occasion they scored 7.16666 with a standard deviation of 0.81650. Just as we were to tuck into our Scottish Shortbreads, the rain came. We hastily packed up and took our cups of tea to the shelter under the veranda of the pavilion, and had our shortbreads there. So Challis butchers have a normalised score of 7.

Hutsons Butchers of Southwold

2010-05-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

More foreign southern delights this week – a large pie from over the border: Hutsons Butcher in Southwold, our first sampling of a pie from them. They have been in the business for over 300 years, making it the oldest shop in town. First we needed to get ourselves ready for pie consumption: Parking at Hardingham War Memorial Hall, we headed a little way north by road before turning down Policemans Loke, passing a picturesque wisteria draped cottage. We were heading towards St. George’s Mount but before that we came to Old Hall Farm, Hardingham, where they were weighing sheep. There was a beautiful, crazy, brown sheep dog with surplus energy in a pen beside the sheep. On reaching the mount and Hardingham church, the Walk Master decided the slight detour to the church was not necessary as it had been visited recently and we had its faint scratch dial photographed. We headed west along Church Road before picking up footpaths south to Hingham. Now the wind got up, crossing open fields spotting many hares. Arriving at Hingham, we had lunch in the lee of St. Andrew’s church after first purveying the shop windows of Harrods. After lunch we noted a large scratch dial high on a buttress and very high up on another, what looked like a later sundial base carved into the masonry. We then went to the "White Hart", visited seven weeks ago, for pints of a beer masquerading as Woodefords Wherry, we begged to differ, and Green King St. Edmunds. Unfortunately Boris and Charlie were not in residence this time, so we retired to the salubrious lounge where we watched a heavy shower come and go as we took our refreshments – what a Weather Wizard we have in our Walk Master! Extricating ourselves from the comfy chairs, we had two miles to go to the pie, heading north beside the pub we noted several interesting houses before we zigzagged our way back to the cars by footpath. Our first course was large prawns with lemon juice and Tabasco sauce. The large neat looking pie looked good and when cut released a small amount of aroma similar to pork brawn. The dark pink filling had jelly round the base. Munching was a very pleasant experience with crisp tasty pastry and a good tasty, meaty filling enhanced with the application of a little mustard. The pie came in with a score of 8.1875, helped by a score of 7 from the Führer. We all agreed this was a good pie, the standard deviation was surprisingly high a 0.84251 . Next the traditional Scottish Shortbreads and then a bag of "Munchers", purchased to appease the pie munchers when the Pie Master had procured a potentially poor pork pie three weeks ago, but then failed to bring them. Another good walk, a good pie with a normalised score of 8 for Hutsons Butchers, and we avoided the rain – not bad for a bank holiday weekend.

Roll mouse over picture to see uncut pie

Spanish Delights

2010-05-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

A dozen pie munchers set off to Tivetshall St. Margaret on an extremely hot day, to sample Spanish delicacies brought back by José Luis. It was a pre-arranged no pie day, much to the Fuhrer’s delight! But first we needed to work up an appetite. So, leaving the cars parked at the community centre we headed north, and then west to the church of St. Margaret, visited on previous walks. The church was undergoing remedial work and covered in scaffolding. Continuing east and enjoying the numerous gliders circling overhead and also a buzzard. We were to have crossed the railway line by footpath, but finding it so overgrown as to be impassable, we had to detour by road. On reaching Gissing Common, we headed south, spotting several dozen broken egg shells along the path. Passing by Gissing Manor we eventually reached the welcome shade afforded by St. Mary’s church, Gissing. Here we ate our sandwiches before enjoying its marvellous hammerbeam roof. Outside we found a fine example of a scratch dial to add to our collection. I also liked the cast iron “grave stone” in the churchyard. Having eaten and viewed the church, we made our way over the road to the Crown for pints of various styles of beer from Adnams, in excellent condition. Refreshed and after pausing to view a vintage Fordson tractor, parked in a local’s front garden, we set off on a revised route back to the cars. Having our way over the railway line blocked earlier, the Walk Master thought it prudent to make a change to the planned walk. The footpath chosen took us passed a field with horses that watched as we tried to find the route across a clearing with a ditch running through it. Eventually we found our path and after walking through woods, we ended up is someone’s back garden! The lady of the house said we’d been following deer tracks. She kindly took us back to the horses and directed us on to the footpath. Now about a mile slog east, in ever-increasing heat, drinking the remains of our now, hot water, we made it back to the cars for tea. José Luis laid out a fine spread on the picnic tables provided and we consumed these wonderful tastes of Spain in Spanish weather along with Rosemary bread, baked by Margaret. Having given the feast eleven out of ten, we then had our traditional Scottish Shortbreads after which we made our way home, with the car indicating an outside temperature of 27º C.

Icarus Hines, small pork pies

2010-05-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

Small pies from Icarus Hines, purchased from his shop in Cromer were the focus of our munching this week. We have sampled his small pies once before on June 1^st 2008, when they were purchased from his shop in Sheringham. We headed to Blickling, so that we could enjoy the bluebells in the woods. We parked in the car park by Buck’s Common and then walked with Bert and Harris, through Bunker’s Hill plantation seeing swathes of English bluebell, including a few albino examples. We then followed the path by the Great Wood and into Blickling Park, where we walked around the lake spotting a reed warbler and a grebe diving for food in the lake. As we headed back to the hall, we noted the water tower to our left. We then followed the ha ha around the hall’s gardens with the rhododendrons in bloom, and passed the splendid front of the hall to the picnic to the west. Here we consumed our sandwiches before the short stroll to the Buckinghamshire Arms, where we passed up the Adnams to sample Lupus Lupus – the seasonal beer from the Wolf brewery. After enjoying this fine pint, we headed back past the hall and to St. Andrew’s church. The church was open today, so we were able to see the fine brasses – on previous visits, the church had been locked. From here we headed south along Silvergate Lane before we headed west on the last leg of the walk, passing through Long Plantation and passed the Tower - the second Earl of Buckinghamshire's race stand. Finally a short walk through Buck’s Common concluded our appetiser. Prawns with tartare sauce provide by King Canape was the first course, then followed the pies and a tortilla cooked by José Luis. First the pies,

good looking and when sliced revealed a pink filling with a very little jelly and low on aroma. The pastry was crumbly and too thick for some – perhaps because of the high crust to filling ratio that is inevitable with small pies. The filling was a disappointment to me, not bad, but below expectations, others found it to their liking, resulting in a score of 7.22222 with a high standard deviation of 1.06393. The tortilla was very tasty and I think we all agreed on that. Finally, just to ensure we didn’t go hungry, the Walk Master provided Scottish Shortbreads. So a normalised score of 7 for Icarus Hines compared to a score of 8 on their last outing.

Norfolk pork pies win national award

2010-05-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

Samphire pork pies, last sampled by the pie munchers back on the 11^th March 2007, have won an award for their pork pies. The report carried by the Norwich Evening News may be viewed by clicking here. I think it's time we sampled them again... Well done Jeff and Karen Nethercott.

Crestwood "Crispy Bake" Pork Pies

2010-05-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

This week the Pie Master had forgotten to purchase pork pies! Late Saturday afternoon, Josie realised we had no pies to munch, so the Pie Master hopped on his bike and hossed down to the Local Aldi in the rain. We had sampled their Crestwood “crispy bake” pies back in 2006, on the 16^th July, when they scored a mere 5 out of ten, hopefully they’d improved. We headed over the border into the wilds of Suffolk for this week's sampling, passing a procession of Bubble cars coming in the opposite direction, along Herringfleet Road. Parking at Somerleyton railway station, we headed back up Station Road to then walk through Wadding Wood and then by footpath to Blundeston Road and the picturesque parish church of St. Mary, Somerleyton. Finding no scratch dials, we continued along Blundeston Road, accompanied at one point by a low flying Douglas DC-3 'Dakota', before we returned to footpaths. Then walking along a short stretch of road we passed a 1652 barn. Lunch was taken at 3¼ miles, in the church porch of St. Margaret, the parish church of Herringfleet, in front of it's Norman doorway. We found no scratch dials on this church, any having been covered by nasty rendering. Continuing along Herringfleet Road we came upon a pretty White flower, identified by Josie as “Star of Bethlehem” – the Führer thought it might have been Edelweiss – she would! Leaving the road we took a footpath towards the marshes finding two types of fungi, one unidentified and the other “Sulphur tufts”. Turning towards Herringfleet drainage mill, with Raveningham water tower in the distance, the Walk Master thought he spotted a lion running across the marshes, but it turned out to be a large dog! Arriving at the mill, we were just in time to see volunteers get the mill working. After pausing and having a mardle, we set off east. Walking along the bank, meeting lovely dogs, we arrived at the Duke's head for pints of Adnams and Wherry all in good condition. The short walk back to the railway station, through a boatyard, was made a little longer due to some deliberate misinformation from one of the boat owners. Returning to the cars, we first sampled “Healthy Selection” Houmous and Spicy red pepper Houmous with Black olive crackers. Then on to the pies... When they were sliced, they released virtually no aroma, but the filling looked good despite no jelly. Unfortunately these ‘Crispy Bake’ pies had a soft crust, though it was tasty, which is more than can be said for the filling. This was bland and had no texture, certainly needing the application of mustard. The pies did marginally better this outing scoring 5.375 with a standard deviation of 0.41726. Thankfully the Walk Master’s Scottish Shortbreads were up to their usual high standard. So a normalised 5.5 for Crestwood’s so called “crispy bake” pies.

Waitrose Large Melton Mowbray pie

2010-05-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

Eight pie munchers, plus Bert and Harris, headed for Aldborough to sample a large Melton Mowbray pie from Waitrose, last sampled on the 3^rd February 2008. From the green, we headed off westwards and then through a rapeseed field. The pre pie walk then headed south after about a mile and a half, mostly following footpaths along field boundaries. A stretch of quiet road walking followed by a short footpath brought us to St. Andrew’s church, Wickmere for lunch in the porch, at 3.75 miles. The single, upside down scratch dial on a buttress had been previously photographed an added to the collection last month. Leaving this church we headed eastwards back to Aldborough, stopping at its parish church of St. Mary the Virgin. Here we found one scratch dial on the west of the porch, but failed to find the second, to the east of the chancel door, we subsequently gleaned from the church guide. Leaving the church, and having a good look in the window of an antique shop, we returned to the green and decided to sample beer at the Black Boys, where we consumed pints of Adnams. Returning to the cars we sampled Spicy red lentil dip and Jalapeño Houmous with Celery Oval Alberts! The “comfortably reposed pie” was sliced releasing a pleasant aroma. The interior revealed a chunky pink filling and a little jelly. Portions of pie were then consumed after a slug of tea to restore the palate. This was an excellent pie finding favour with all munchers, coming in with a high average score of 8.5625 and a low standard deviation of 0.41726. Scottish Shortbreads completed today’s grazing. So Waitrose improved upon their previous score of 7.5 with a normalised score of 8.5.

Roll mouse over picture to see uncut pie

G. Morris & Sons small pies

2010-04-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

Nine pie munchers mustered in rather overcast conditions, then headed south west to Ashill to sample a trio of small pies from G. Morris & Sons. The weather turned decidedly wet during the journey. However, as we arrived at the community centre at twelve O'clock, the rain stopped as predicted on the weather forecast! After ascertaining that we would not get locked in, we set off westwards, on a non-crossing figure-of-eight walk. Our first stop was at the church of St. Mary, Houghton-on-the-hill, by a field of black cows and calves. Finding no scratch dial, we continued on to South Pickenham, taking in a short stretch of the Peddar’s Way and the Norfolk Coast Path, then crossing the clear waters of the River Wissey on the way. Here we took lunch at the church of All Saints, with it's north facing porch and no scratch dial. Four gents took up residence on the seat in the shade, looking like a scene from "Last of the Summer Wine",while the rest of us perched on the church wall in the sun. We left the church for a half mile walk along a quiet road, passing Pickenham Hall, where we no doubt became movie stars on the closed circuit surveillance system! From here we made our way back to Ashill, our route taking us past a field of young rapeseed plants whose leaves had collected large water droplets from the earlier rain. Three and a half scratch dials were found at St. Nicholas church, Ashill - well three definite dials and one possible. We had hoped to have a pint at the "White Hart" but it was undergoing refurbishment, so we pressed on back to the cars, pausing by the pond to see the ducklings. In fact there were ducks in many of the gardens too. Today's feast: peppers stuffed with goats cheese, again were the first course, but the peppers were much hotter than last week. The pies, baked in foil cups, were sliced, no aroma or jelly being present. The pies had a crisp crust with a smooth meat filling, the latter not having a great deal of flavour. The pie munchers had widely differing views on these pies, from a lowly score of 4 to high scores of 9's - resulting in the average score of 6.77778 with a very high standard deviation of 1.58333. Organic Scottish Shortbreads then followed. Finally, chocolate "Munchers" were provided for the pie munchers.
It was then decided that we should head on to the “White Hart” at Hingham for refreshment, with a stop at Saham Toney to check out the church. The church of St. George failed to yield further scratch dials, so we headed for Hingham. At the “White Hart” we enjoyed pints of Tolly Phoenix and Morland Original Bitter where we took over the salubrious lounge, after making friends with Boris and Charlie, two springer spaniels, in the bar.

Meet Svinjski Sudal

2010-04-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

Following our walk, Don presented the Pie Munchers with a mascot: A porcelain pig - Svinjski Sudal, to see fair play. It is intended that all future pork pie images on the web site will include Svinjski Sudal, to reduce the risk of pork pie picture piracy.

Wm. Morrison “New” Melton Mowbray pork pies

2010-04-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

The Pie Master had spotted “New” Melton Mowbray pork pies in the deli in Wm. Morrison - their fluted Melton Mowbray pies were surprisingly good when sampled on the 22^nd February, last year. So these were this week’s delicacy - they certainly looked the part. Eight pie munchers set out on an undulating walk near to Edgefield, from where we headed north west along tracks and bridleways. Many horses & riders passed us on a 10-mile sponsored ride. Wildlife spotted on the first half of the walk included a hare and a pair of Brimstone butterflies. On our journey north west, we passed a field of happy looking pielets before crossing a former M&GN railway line, then we then headed south west for just under a mile. We crossed the railway again, following a track that took us past a delightful garden as we crossed a beck. A short walk along road took us by a field with lambs and the church of St. Lawrence, Hunworth. The walk master was unable to provide his usual informative update regarding the church, as he had brought the wrong Pevsner volume! Finding no scratch dial, we headed for the “Hunny Bell”, passing the rear of Hunworth hall with its fine topiaries. The pub was serving pints of Wolf's "Hero" - a tasty pint coming in at 4%. A final mile and a half, in which we spotted a buzzard and another hare completed this very enjoyable, picturesque walk - Don awarding the Walk Master eleven out of ten! The appearance of the pies got the munchers excited, King Canape declaring them to be a fine pair of erect pies! But first, we had his peppers stuffed with goats cheese that were eagerly consumed. The pies were sliced, their contents looked good despite no jelly. The lack of aroma was the first sign that these pies were not up to the mark. Munching the pies, with their crisp but lardy crust, revealed that flavour was sadly lacking. Mustard did help this pie out a little and the texture was O.K., but it only scored 5.8125 with a very high standard deviation of 1.62431. Organic Scottish Shortbreads completed an excellent outing. A normalised score of 6, then for Wm. Morrison’s new Melton Mowbray pies, their “old” fluted ones had scored 8.5!

E.E. Pratt & Co.

2010-04-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

This week we were sampling a large pie from E.E. Pratt & Co. of Drayton, last sampled on the 27^th April, 2008. Eight pie munchers set off for Wickhampton to sample the pie, seeing new lambs by the Acle straight on our journey. Starting at church of St. Andrew's with its three scratch dials. We then headed east out across the marshes with Raveningham water tower in the distance, to our right, and the large Caister water tower ahead and to our left. We then came to a section of Weavers’ Way and followed it north west. A stiff breeze coming from the east was whipping across the marshes was making it rather chilly, though it did enable a pair of swans to quickly take to the air in a very short distance, as we were passing by Mutton's drainage mill. We then headed towards Halvergate by road and on to the locked church of St. Peter & St. Paul for sandwiches. Finding no dials, we headed back to the Red Lion for very nice pints of Redhead from Tipples brewery. Walking south, back to Wickhampton church, we passed Halvergate Hall, then a cricket match in progress. Our elevated path provided panoramic views of where we had walked and also increased our exposure to the wind, to such an extent that the Pie Master put on a sweatshirt! Following a very relaxed and very enjoyable walk, Tomato & Basil King Prawns started our post walk fayre. Then the flat-topped pie, baked in a round foil cup was cut, releasing a wonderful aroma that filled the air. Inside was a firm bright pink meaty filling with a small amount of jelly. The texture of the meat filling was spot on and very tasty, if a little salt. It was surprisingly further enhanced with the application of a little English mustard. The pie came in with a score of 7.875 – the score reflecting a couple of 6’s due to the saltiness resulting in a high standard deviation of 1.32961. So E.E. Pratt & Co. gets a normalised score of 8, down from their previous 9.

Roll mouse over picture to see uncut pie

No Pies or Canapés this week...

2010-04-04T16:00:00.001-07:00

The Pie Master had intended to step into King Canape’s shoes this week - while he was down The Smoke. However, on the day, Josie was knackered, and decided to rest rather than walk, so the Pie Master, having tired of the attention seeking shinanigins of a recent recruit, elected to go for a bike ride instead... Meanwhile the munchers went for a six-mile walk around the Lophams, visiting the churches of St. Andrew, South Lopham, St. Nicholas, North Lopham and St. Andrew, Fersfield – finding no scratch dials at all. Beer was taken at the King’s Head in North Lopham. Toedore was named “Man of the Walk” doing an estimated eight miles to everyone else’s six miles. At the end of the walk he then ensured that the graze was fairly distributed.

Photographs courtesy of José Luis Lopez Almarza

J. & D. Papworth Farms

2010-03-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

This week, the clocks went forward, but it didn’t deter the pie munchers from jumping out of their beds an hour early to munch pies. Walsingham was the chosen location to sample pies from J. & D. Papworth Farms, last sampled on the 16^th November, 2008. We parked in the large car park of the Chapel of Reconciliation, next to Slipper chapel at Walsingham, where mass was being celebrated outside – it being Palm Sunday. As we walked along the road, we spotted a drove of hares; about a dozen in number, not boxing but leaping about full of March madness. We then headed east, passing the enlarged water treatment works. Lunch was taken at the church of St. Mary the virgin, Great Snoring. No scratch dials were found, so we set off on the two-mile hike to the pub, mostly by road, the grass banks being adorned with white violets. At the end of Water Lane, the stream under the bridge provided the facilities for a game of Pooh sticks. The Pie Master won the challenge by a large margin - as Josie's stick had sunk! A short walk past East Barsham Hall brought us to the White Horse for pints of Adnams in good condition. Passing “Toad Hall”, we made our way up the hill to the parish church of East Barsham of All Saints, a much-mutilated church with a north entrance and no scratch dial. It’s font however reminded the Pie Master of a traditional water tower, with service shaft and supporting legs. On to the church of North Barsham, All Saints with black chickens in the grounds. Returning to the cars for Tortillas with sour cream and chive dip and Moroccan style houmous. A selection of small and large pies from J. & D. Papworth Farms’ North Walsham shop, were supplied by Josie – Josie hadn’t realised it was early closing on Wednesday, when she was working there and these were all that were left. The good looking pies released a little “roast pork” aroma and revealed a nicely textured dark pink filling, with no jelly. These pies were very tasty, the pastry too. However, many thought the crust was too thick. The pies scored a 7.68182 with a standard deviation of 0.56003. Ricky’s Shortbread was then consumed. So a normalised score of 7.5 for J. & D. Papworth Farms.

Carvery

2010-03-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

On the third Sunday of March, Josie having been poorly, decided a 6-mile walk would not contribute to her convalescence, so elected to stay close to home. Josie and the Pie Master undertook a short walk to the Cottage to sample their carvery & a couple of pints. Meanwhile the remaining Pie Munchers hossed off to Bungay for a walk without scratch dials, Canapés or Pork Pies!

R. J. Bray

2010-03-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

Mothering Sunday brought further new pies for the munchers: from R. J. Bray, Earlham, after being brought to the Pie Master’s attention by the Walk Master. We headed into deepest Norfolk to sample these pies, out along the Fakenham road to the church of St. Mary, East Bilney. Finding no scratch dial, we headed off on our figure of eight, pre-pie yomp. Our destination was the church of St. Mary Magdalene, Beetly. Our route took us on some picturesque paths and over fields with masses of flint on the surface. With Stanfield water tower as our reference, north east of us, and the new East Dereham water tower in the distance, south east. Loads of snowdrops were in bloom as we walked the 3¾ miles to the lunch stop, seeing rabbits, a skylark and two deer on our way. Arriving at the church, whose porch boasted a scratch dial either side, we stopped for lunch. The church was locked but the porch was open, though without seats, for some of us to shelter from the shower that had just started. It was a short walk back to the cars, spotting a barn owl on route and finding a footbridge by the ford, over Black Water, as we followed Folly Lane back to the church. King Prawns with a Marie Rose sauce preceded the pies. These good looking, hand-raised pies revealed a dark pink filling with a little jelly and little in the way of aroma when sliced. The pies had a good crisp crust and the filling was pleasantly seasoned, resulting in an average score of 7.57143 with a high standard deviation of 1.39728 (one of the munchers only gave it a 5). Following the pies we were joined by Ben - an elderly Red Setter who had no problem in detecting the pie aroma! Shortbreads were consumed with the last of the tea, before we headed to the Brisley Bell for pints of Flanker's Tackle from Green King. So a normalised score of 7.5 for R. J. Bray’s pies.

J. S. Coxford

2010-03-07T15:44:00.001-08:00

The Walk master led this weeks 6 miler, in glorious sunshine, before we tucked into pies from J. S. Coxford, of Aylsham - a first tasting for the munchers. Starting at Brooke village hall, we headed north, past Laurel Farm, with its thatched garage, and pony. After walking along the footpaths and across a muddy field, we came to Alpington Hall, with its noisy guard-dog. Into another muddy field, we passed a “mawkin”. Paul and José retrieved some of its reflective adornments, which had obviously blown off in the wind. Lunch-stop was at St. Mary's church in Yelverton. Inside the porch were two lovely stained glass windows - one representing water, the other one, fire. The church had no scratch dial. On leaving the church, we bumped into the son of an old Bystander, with his dog Ruby. She was very friendly and playful, and seemed to enjoy being photographed! At the 4 mile point, we reached “The Dove” public house. Adnams, Broadside and Woodfordes Wherry were all found to be in good condition - and the roast lunches being served looked very good too! Along the next footpath across to the next field, we passed a fish farm and a set of pig shelters. Not the normal corrugated iron huts you normally see - these were much larger and had fabric sides. We then came to the second church of the day - St. Mary the virgin, Howe - a lovely round-tower church with Saxon windows. Don procured a log of laurel wood, from a gentleman cutting the trees back in the churchyard. Back at the village hall in Brooke, tea was served by Josie: stand-in tea lady and pie mistress! Feta-stuffed peppers to start, supplied by King Canape, followed by the pies. These pies had a very crisp, crunchy pastry and a well-seasoned, very flavoursome filling. Top marks to J.S. Coxford butchers, scoring 8.2777, with a standard deviation of only 0.44096. We then had shortcake to finish. . So a normalised score of 8.5. (filed by Josie)

Cannell's Family Butcher

2010-02-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

On a rainy day, with 2” of rain and gale-force winds forecast, three pie munchers “called in sick”. The Walk Master too was unable to walk, but kindly devised a walk around Reepham and Whitwell to take in the beer festival at Whitwell station, and had delivered it to the Führer. The two cars of munchers, managed to successfully navigate to the car park north of Reepham, unlike last month... Six munchers set off, the Führer looking at the map, declared that the prescribed walk used paths that would be too slippery in the wet conditions, and that we would walk some of Marriott’s Way! Heading south down the road towards Reepham, we took the first footpath on the right. Following our Führer, along slippery footpaths, after a few minutes we ended back at the cars! We then headed north along the road, away from Reepham and took the first footpath on our left, traversing this, we looked for a footpath on our right that would get us onto Marriott’s Way – the old M&GN line. Eventually we found a rather wet field with footpath across it. We managed to circumnavigate the deepest water and get on to the old railway track. Finding a bridge over the track, we elected to use this shelter from the rain, to eat our sandwiches, as we would now not be visiting Reepham church as planned. After walking further west, we took a footpath south that brought us first onto quiet roads, and then back on to another part of Marriott’s Way. We followed this, east, to Whitwell station and the excellent beer festival. With 20 good beers on, and those we sampled, in excellent condition, along with the good food that was sampled by some. We headed back along Marriott’s Way a short distance, meeting two nervous horses that were spooked by the sight of a tent at the station, and came thundering back towards us! We had to leg it out of the way! Here we left the track and headed back to Reepham, along Back Lane, spotting 3 large deer in a field. From Reepham, we followed the road to the car park back to the cars. No canapés today, as King Canape was one of the munchers with a bad cold. Tea was accompanied by star shaped pies supplied by Jose Luis, from Cannell’s family butcher in Diss. These apparently originated from Cornwell. The pies had a good crisp crust the filling had no jelly and almost no aroma. Unfortunately the filling was also lacking in flavour and texture. The pies were rather cold and this perhaps contributed to the lack of flavour. The pies came in with a score of 5.91666 with a standard deviation of 1.15830. The customary Shortcake finale did not occur in Ricky’s absence – however there was chocolate to complete proceedings. So a normalised score of 6 for Cannell’s family butcher of Diss.

Pie Master's Birthday Card

2010-02-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

Chris Bartrum, knowing of my love of pork pies and also of water towers, sent me this wonderful Birthday card, that I just have to share with you:

Sainsbury’s mini Melton Mowbray pies

2010-02-21T15:54:00.000-08:00

Inclement weather prompted the Pie Master to take the easy option and purchase Sainsbury's mini Melton Mowbray pork pies - we hadn't tried them before & they were on offer! Seven pie munchers set off the following day, in even worse weather, from the fisherman's car park at Blickling Hall. Heading east, we made our way slowly along white fields towards Ingworth, befriending a horse in field on route. We continued east before approaching Aylsham from the north, passing Dunkirk and the old water mill. We eventually reached the shelter afforded by the large church of St. Michael & All Saints. Here we consumed our sandwiches and learnt who we could not marry. Taking note of this, we headed for the warmth of the Black Boys Inn. This establishment was packed with diners, but we managed to squeeze in and enjoy pints of Wherry or hot cups of drink. Thankfully the sleet had abated for our journey back to Blickling, passing the church we then headed west down Peterson’s Lane. We then followed a pleasant footpath that followed the B1354, Blickling Road, emerging opposite St. Andrew’s church, Blickling. We had previously examined this church and found it to be dial-less. Passing in front of the hall, we then headed north to walk around the west side of the frozen lake and back to the cars, spotting a barn owl on our way. Artichoke hearts were canapés this week, that preceded the pies. After providing rather too much in the way of porkie delights last week, I had rather under catered with only 6 mini Melton Mowbray pies to go round. The pies were not bad, but that is about as much that could be said for them. A crisp but lardy case enclosed a bland filling with no aroma. Mustard helped this pie out a little and it managed to score 6.28571 with a high standard deviation of 1.21988. Shortcake completed the grazing experience. So a normalized score of 6.5 for J Sainsbury’s mini Melton Mowbray pork pies.

Pickerings Large Pies

2010-02-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day saw us sampling one of last year’s top five pies, large pork pies from Pickerings, last sampled on the 1^st February. The Walk Master again being unavailable, the Führer dictated that we find a walk that did not cross ploughed fields. The weather forecast was not good and a 4.8 mile walk around St. Faiths was devised. Only five pie munchers set off, three munchers being unable to walk due to ailments, including the Fuhrer suffering from gout. Starting from Newton St. Faiths we headed south towards Horsham St. Faiths, down a track. We had followed orders, there were no ploughed fields, but something we hadn’t planned on was that the track at one point, was liquid mud, some 3” deep. As we headed south, we could see rain in the distance, but we were lucky - only getting a couple of spots, missing the heavy sleet that fell on Norwich. We successfully navigated our way to Horsham St. Faiths, and the interesting church of St. Mary & St. Andrew that boasted a large scratch dial on a buttress. Here we had lunch at 2.8 miles, before a third of a mile walk to the Black Swan and pints of Adnams, IPA and Guinness, all in good order. The walk back to the start point was pretty straightforward. We returned to the cars for tea, but no Canapés this week. The good looking, hand raised pies were releasing a wonderful aroma even before they were cut. Slicing the pies, the aroma intensified, revealing a marbled filling without jelly. This well spiced pie with its good tasting, crisp pastry found favour with the pie munchers, with the exception of one. Producing a score of 8.25 with a high standard deviation of 1.12916. We ended with the customary Shortcake. So Pickerings get a normalised score of 8.5, equalling their score of last year.

Bob Knights, Large Pies

2010-02-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

The Walk Master could not walk this week, however he had devised a 6-mile route around Whitlingham Country Park. All six of us managed to squeeze into the Pie Master’s car, along with Bert & Harris and good-looking pies from Bob Knights, of Beccles. Parking at the far car park and finding that it was no longer free, we paid our £4 from the kitty – good job we were all in one car. We started with a clockwise loop up the south bank of the broad, passing Lime Kilns (now home to bats) and traversing the workings, spotting the first Snowdrops of the year. We then did an anti-clockwise circuit of the large broad, passing the former Norwich Union Sailing Club on the far bank of the River Yare and dinghies searching for wind. There were also many bird watchers peering through telescopes all round the broad. On reaching the Outdoor Education Centre, we continued hoping to walk around the small broad, only to find that this is now a private road with no right of way, despite being marked as such, on one of the public maps. We headed back and passing between the two boards, picked our way through the birders, to Whitlingham Lane, which we followed into Trowse. Finding the church of St. Andrew locked and without a scratch dial, we occupied the nearby bus shelter to eat our sandwiches. Looking forward to getting warm and some liquid refreshment, we were disappointed to find that two pubs in Trowse, the White Horse Inn and Crown Point Tavern, would not allow dogs. So we marched up Kirby Road, and then around Whitlingham Hall, before heading back to the broad and along Whitlingham Lane a little way, back to the car. Here we started off with Moroccan style houmous and oatcakes with our hot tea. Then the large pies, obviously cooked in a foil dish, had an attractive glossy top. When cut the pie released a faint roast pork aroma and revealed a granular pale pink filling with no jelly. They looked so good that the Führer said “they look as if they contain real meat” – indeed they did, Blythburgh free-range pork. The lightly spiced pies were let down by a slightly soft crust, despite the fact we had taken them out of their plastic bags. The pies scored a very respectable 7.66666 with the Führer making a return to the tasting panel! The standard deviation was 0.81650, so that means that Bob Knights gets a normalized score of 7.5 for his large pies.

No Pies!

2010-01-31T03:30:00.000-08:00

An executive decision was taken on Saturday, by King Canape and the Pie Master, not to get pies this week as we were unsure if we were walking in such slippery conditions, and no idea of numbers if so. It was probably a wise decision, for although the conditions improved and we did walk, the pies would probably not have made it to the munching... The Walk Master had devised a 6-mile route for us around Reepham, but was unable to walk himself. He kindly delivered the map of the walk to the Führer, picking up King Canape on the way. The Pie Master had overslept and arrived rather late, without his vest of pockets. José had forgotten his walking boots and had to return home to get them. At last we set off, King Canape then realised he was without his lunch and Canapés – they were still in the Walk Master’s car! José then followed a green Toyota Landcruiser, believing it to be that of the Pie Master’s, but it wasn’t! Eventually we found each other in Reepham, parked and headed off. The Führer, leading the walk, then deemed that the prescribed route, down a heavily iced road, was too slippery and substituted a 3½ mile walk of her own. Passing through much very photogenic snow covered woods, no pictures were taken as the Pie Master’s camera was at home in his vest and José Luis had left his in his car. We took our sandwiches in the church of St. Mary, with it’s upside down, east facing scratch dial. We then retired to the comfort of the lounge in the Old Brewery House for pints of London Pride. The Pie Master had not brought the kitty, it too being in the vest. A new kitty was started but the Pie Master could not contribute as he had forgotten his wallet too! We made our way back to the cars where we had our tea, Shortbread and loads of other tasty offerings from José Luis, of which we only sampled the crisps.

Castle Grove

2010-01-24T15:56:00.000-08:00

Off to Horsey to see the seals this week, armed with Castle Grove pies. The butchers in North Walsham had shut up shop early, so venturing into Lidl; we found pies we hadn’t sampled before. First we had a 5½-mile walk to complete. Parking at the car park at Horsey Gap, we headed inland via Horsey Corner and onto Brograve drainage mill, on the far bank of the Waxham New Cut, built in 1771 by Sir Berney Brograve. We followed the east bank of the cut, spotting three large unfamiliar birds in flight, thought to be cranes, and then along by Horsey Mere to Horsey drainage mill. Here we had our sandwiches on the seating provided. Heading east, over boggy fields we then headed north to the Nelson’s Head. After assuring the landlady that the 8 of us would fit into her pub and that we could all sit round a long table, we enjoyed pints of Woodforde’s Wherry and Nelson’s Revenge. Now we headed for the coast to see the seals with their pups. We were provided with lots of interesting facts about the seals from a friendly Seal Warden, including the fact that they can reach 30mph on land over a short distance. A walk along the dunes reunited us with the cars where we consumed small peppers stuffed with soft cheese, before sampling the pies. The small pies were cut in two, revealing a pink filling with no jelly and low aroma. The pies had a crisp pastry crust, although the filling lacked flavour, helped a little with a dab of mustard. Not a good pie, but better than last week’s, in my opinion, but the munchers differed; awarding it a score of 6.66666 with a standard deviation of 0.51640. Finally shortbread completed the outing. So a respectable normalised score of 6.5 for Lidl’s Castle Grove pies.
We were then joined by Emma, a retriever cross, who had missed the feast, but could still smell food.

Wm. Morrison Lattice

2010-01-17T16:08:00.000-08:00

Pie munching finally got started in 2010 with a trip to Attleborough with a Wm. Morrison Large Lattice pie, a new pie for us. A Dozen munchers set off from the centre of town northwards. We soon decided this must have been the most can-polluted town in the county... Crossing the busy A11, already with a full carrier bag full of cans, we continued north, meeting another group of walkers and mardling about can collecting, before heading west where we passed a pair of abandoned skies! We headed North to Great Ellingham and the north porched church of St. James. After finding no scratch dial, we had a look inside the church and had sandwiches in the porch, along with a sample of Elena’s home made guacamole. We headed off, initially east, along a footpath that then became a bridleway describing an arc. We passed under the A11 along Ellingham road and followed it into town. The Bear free house dispensed pints of London Pride and provided comfortable accommodation in which to consume them, however we did have to suffer “EastEnders” on the telly. A short trip down the high street reunited us with our cars. We had collected two large carrier bags of cans – 6lb 3oz in total, 3lb 12oz of these were aluminium. Today we started off with char grilled Puglian artichoke hearts. The Large Lattice pork pie was sliced and released no aroma and revealed a bright pink smooth filling and a hint of jelly. The pie was rather lardy and lacked flavour but found favour with the munchers, having been pieless for so long. The pie was judged to score 7.25, with a high standard deviation of 1.23040, a significant improvement to the previous score of 6.0. We ended with the customary Shortcake, So Wm. Morrison scored a normalised 7.5 for their large lattice pork pie.

Roll mouse over picture to see uncut pie

Liquid Pies

2010-01-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

With much snow still around, no pies had been acquired for the first munching of the New Year. The Pie Master had done much walking the past week - it not being feasible to travel by bicycle. Come Sunday, he could not be bothered with de-icing the car and the subsequent need to wash the salt off the car. Three merry munchers could not stay at home - the Walk Master writes: "Three of us decided we needed some exercise, so the Führer, José and myself did a shorter walk (4.5 miles) from my place, battling through heavy wet snow, through Lakenham to Trowse. In fact you could almost call it a pub crawl, as we stopped at The White Horse in Trowse and The Rose at the top of City Road, before tea and shortbread back at my place."

50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

2010-01-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

Sunday 3^rd, January was the Bystanders Late Christmas Lunch and 50th Anniversary Celebration – the Society was created in February 1959. January 2010 is the last Month of its Half Century Celebrations... The meal was held at the Costessey Park Golf Club where 73 people attended. After a very enjoyable meal – the Pie Master sampling the very tasty Pheasant and Venison Game Pie, the history of the club was celebrated with a shortened Mahmoud service. A campaign to save the Green Mahmoud, a cast iron gentlemen’s pissoir erected in the 1860’s, near to Market Avenue, was one of the Bystanders first campaigns. Unfortunately unsuccessful, the loss of the Mahmoud cast by Walter MacFarlane & Co., Glasgow is mourned on the anniversary of its destruction. After the service and distribution of “the water”, a film recording the day of shame was then shown. The Bystanders 1963 classic film “West Of The Wensum” then followed.

Pork Pie Year 2009 Review

2009-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

2009 was another great pie year, though petering out in the final month, however we sampled 45 different pork pies (counting the two Christmas “novelty” pies)! Trailing the 49 of last year, though of the 43 bona fide pork pies, an incredible 29 were sampled for the very first time. Now we have all the scores in, I can announce our top 5 pies of 2009:

Clarkes Quality Meats, huge pork pie sampled on 26^th July
Bray's Cottage, "Naked Pie", sampled on 11^th October
“Butlers Choice” R.A. Cawdron & Son, Stalham, sampled on 5^th April
Pickerings large pies, sampled on 1^st February
G. Morris & Sons - Mega pie, sampled on 26^th April

Our all time top 5 pies are:

Mrs. King’s Melton Mowbray pie sampled on 26^th November 2006
M & M Rutland sampled on 29^th April 2007
Gloucester Old Spot from Picnic Fare Deli sampled on 11^th May 2008
Clarkes Quality Meats, huge pork pie sampled on 26^th July
Graves of Briston, sampled on 9^th March 2008

That’s it for 2009, an excellent pie year, with lots of good pie munching. All it leaves me to do, is wish you a good pie munching New Year. Don’t forget your new year’s resolution to regularly visit the Pork Pie News - we have welcomed 3,758 visitors from 58 nations!

Pie Master

Mince Pies 'n' Port

2009-12-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

The third outing of the month was looking in doubt and Mince Pies and Port were purchased in worsening weather conditions. In the event, with a lack of available munchers and a lot of snow, we decided to have a warm day at home. Readers can guess the fate of the pies ‘n’ port... Hic!

Pie and Paella

2009-12-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

Our second pie this month was a Festive Pork Pie with Cranberries, from Wm Morrison. However, the main attraction was to be Paella cooked by José Luis. Since we were to return to the Führer’s for the grazing, it was decided to head out to Tacolneston without pies or tea, as the weather was a bit dodgy. Parking at the village playing field and ignoring the sign that said “car park would be locked following the final game”, as it had been OK the previous time we used it. We made our way south, via footpaths, to Forncett End and then east towards Forncett St. Peter. A short stroll up Aslacton Road brought us to the church of Forncett St. Mary. The grounds had recently been cleared and there were plans to restore this church. We had our sandwiches here, and despite the church having a north-facing porch, we found a scratch dial – upside down and facing west! We headed back west, first along Chenney’s Lane and then by footpaths to return to Tacolneston. We thought we’d give the Pelican a miss in favour of the welcoming Woolands Club. After checking they were open, we retrieved our cars from the, still unlocked, car park and drove back to the club. Some of our number then returned to Norwich in search of paella rice, while the rest of us savoured pints of Polly's Folly from Buffy’s brewery - served by gravity. Suitably refreshed we returned to the Führer’s, where José Luis, aided by Manola & Juan Luis, were cooking the paella. While the paella cooked, we sampled the Festive Pork Pie with Cranberries. This again was a pleasant pork pie with a very good crust. The smooth, bright pink filling had little aroma but was tasty, with the cranberries providing a good accompaniment. Again this “fun pie” will not go on the year’s score card but it was scored in the usual way with a score of 7.625 with a low standard deviation of 0.44320 – so a normalised score of 7.5 for Morrison’s Festive Pie.Manola then took on the role of “Queen Canapé” producing Spicy red pepper Houmous and Orkney crab and prawn layered pâté to be consumed with oatcakes. Margaret & Co. had laid on a fine spread: We had a nicely laid table for the wonderful paella containing seafood, duck and venison with bread and additional mussels. Then for dessert, there were profiteroles with a hot chocolate dipping sauce and Margaret had cooked us a Delia Almond dessert, all followed by Mince pies!

Fredrick's Fine Foods

2009-12-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

For the first of festive pie munching in December, José Luis had sourced a Cheshire Belle Old Spot Pork, Apple & Stilton pie for us to sample, from Frederick’s Fine Foods of Diss. King Canape and the Walk Master were not present, but we welcomed the Führer back into our ranks, who led us on this week’s 6 mile march around Haveringland. To enable us to take in the pub at a suitable distance, we parked by the side of Swiffer’s Lane, at the east end. From here we set off north, up Mill Lane, before heading west along footpaths towards Swannington. Here we found beautiful, well cared for pie filling and sheep in fields. As we arrived at the farm buildings, we were greeted by two vocal, but friendly, Border Collies. Then turning south, we passed Swannington “Farm to Fork” Farm Butchery, which looked as if it would be a source of quality pork pies. We headed east along a footpath, meeting a local with his exceedingly friendly two-year old Cocker Spaniel. He advised us that the farm shop did not sell pork pies, despite requests. We continued east passing the cars, and then south towards Felthorpe. As there was no church on this walk, lunch was taken “on the hoof” as we passed through woods, before we reached the The Street. We then made for the Mariners Arms and enjoyed Adnams in good condition. We retraced our footsteps along The Street and up Hall Lane, before turning left to walk along pleasant footpaths that were rather wet, so large planks of timber provided a path across the boggy bits. These were rather slippery, as our leader found out – landing in one of the bogs! In an instant, José leapt to the rescue and extricated the Führer from a paparazzi scoop! Washing the mud from her glasses, wringing the water from her hair, and a quick wipe down with a couple of tissues, she was once again in command, leading us further north. José Luis, made an equine friend, before we marched up Shooter’s Hill. Crossing the bridge from Green Lane to School Road, we then headed south back to Haveringland and the stocks by the village sign, and walked along Abbey Lane back to the cars. No canapés today, so straight in to the Pork, Apple & Stilton pie. This huge flat pie had a high gloss lattice crust with a layered filling. This was quite different from any previous pies, the Stilton being quite prominent. A very tasty pie, though it could not be directly compared with our traditional pies. However, we did score this pie and it romped in with a score of 8.35714 with a standard deviation of 1.21499 – so a normalised score of 8.5 for this festive offering from Frederick’s Fine Foods. Oaties accompanied any remaining tea.

Martins Farm

2009-11-29T15:23:00.001-08:00

Not content with a “hat trick” of new pies to munch this month, the Pie Master produces yet another new pie: from Martins Farm in Hindolveston, purchased at Thorpe Farmers’ Market. Only five pie munchers turned up to sample this delicacy, with forecasts of more rain this Sunday. A four and a half mile walk around the south of North Walsham, incorporating some of the Weaver’s Way, would get us in peak pie munching state... Parking at the Weaver’s Way car park in Station Road, we set off south west, along the Weaver’s Way, and then south, along Drift Lane that then turned east. Passing woods with holly bushes in berry, we continued along footpaths with the 1933 & 1953 North Walsham water towers in the distance, on our left, and the site of the 1381 battle of the Peasant Revolt on our right. Crossing the B1150, Norwich Road, we came upon one of the three crosses erected by Bishop Henry Despencer after he had won the 1381 battle. We continued east, passing Piper’s Pit and crossing the railway line. We then started making our way north, with the Happisburg water tower clearly visible on our right. We re-joined the Weaver’s Way, after a short walk along Field Lane, taking us into North Walsham. Here we visited the huge church of St. Nicholas, and noted it’s scratch dial. Lunch was taken at the 16th century Market Cross. A post lunch pint of “Fat Cat” bitter was consumed in the cosy Kings Arms. A short walk through the town then reunited us with the car and pies... King Canape had produced some fine Smoked Salmon canapés before the pies. The small tin baked pies released a good roast pork aroma when cut and revealed a coarse, pale textured filling with no jelly. The pastry was crisp and tasty, the filling was good and very lightly seasoned, as described on the label. I think the pie was let down a bit by the lack of seasoning, but a quality pie nonetheless. It was very pleasant on its own or with a small addition of mustard and came in with a score of 7.7 with a standard deviation of 0.75829. So a normalised score of 7.5 for Martins Farm of Hindolveston.

"Norfolk" Pies

2009-11-22T15:11:00.000-08:00

The month’s third new pie - “Norfolk” pork pies from the “pie heaven” that is the Black Olive deli in Southwold, listed in the Independent’s “50 Best Delicatessens”. Eight pie munchers, without the Weather Wizard, set out on a 5-mile Boldero walk, extended to 5½ miles to take in a church for lunch. A short walk was thought a good idea as heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 50 mph were forecast. Parking on some hard standing by Alburgh Road, Hempnall, we set off west, in good weather, along a footpath that did not follow the course on the map. Soon we were heading south along Lower Lane where Shaggy Parasols were found and duly harvested. Further on, many Wood blewit” were found and added to the Mushroom Master's haul. Turning left as we passed Lundy Green, storm clouds were gathering in the south. On reaching Spring Lane there was a few spots of light rain. We turned north, up the lane a short distance and, much to José’s disappointment, then turned left along a footpath. José had wanted to continue on to the “Three Horseshoes”, but it was deemed prudent to press on along the Boldero walk before the weather worsened. Walking past a Nursery, the rain increased and it looked as if it would get worse - so those not in waterproofs, donned rain gear. Before we reached Rookery Lane a storm lashed us – gale force winds drove hale stones into us, standing upright was difficult and José Luis had his spectacles blown off his face and into a bush! The firm surface of Rookery Lane was very welcome, and we headed north up it, with the wind behind us gradually abating. We deviated from the Boldero walk to visit Topcroft parish church of St. Margaret, for lunch in the porch. The church was locked and yielded no scratch dials. Leaving the church we noticed a mound of fungus, but not edible. The weather was now bright sunshine and almost no wind – if only we had followed José’s recommendation and had gone to the pub, we would not be soggy and cold. We retraced our steps for quarter of a mile and then we were soon walking along footpaths and finding more Wood blewits. Then across a field of heavy clay and onto a quiet road for the last leg back to the car. Stormy weather again was imminent and canapés were skipped – hot tea and coffee were eagerly consumed, despite the fact we’d forgotten to bring any milk with us. Straight on to the pies, it was now raining again, with a fantastic complete double rainbow, so a case of cut, snap & munch. The good-looking, hand raised pies when cut reviled a dark interior with a very small amount of jelly. The piecrust crisp and the filling nicely seasoned, a hasty consideration of these pies turned in a score of 7.57143 with a standard deviation of 1.17006. With that, we dashed into the cars for shelter. A pie worth re-visiting when climatic conditions permit a more considered verdict.

Select Meats

2009-11-15T15:59:00.000-08:00

Another new pie for us this week, from Select Meats of Loddon – source of the Aberdeen Angus and Stilton pie last month. This week the Pie Master had to double up as Walk Master and tea boy. A Boldero walk from Wacton common to Great Moulton and Wacton was extended to six miles to take in the two parish churches. The Pie Master missing the details about parking by the common, elected to start by Wacton church.
All Saints church was locked and had no scratch dials, so we set off south towards the common, with views of Long Stratton water tower on our left. We crossed the common with cows grazing, then continued south towards Pulham Market water tower. At about the two-mile point, we turned west for about a mile and then turned north up Narrowgate Way. We reached Great Moulton and had lunch by the village sign, at just over four miles. A short walk to the lovely Fox and Hounds, where the Adnams was in exceptional condition. Now our troubles began, as we headed for the church and the group of 12 + Bert and Harris got spread out: The speed-walking girls and dogs at the front (with no map), the can collectors at the rear, and the rest of the group spread out in-between. The Pie Master’s very loud whistle came out several times! We reached St. Michael’s church finding it open and having one scratch dial. When it was time to move on, we were two people short – the can collectors had walked past the church and had decided to turn south! The group retraced its steps and the Pie Master gave blasts on his whistle – the can collectors made their way back to the group. Making our way north east back to the cars, we crossed meadows with horses and in a meadow without; Bert caught and killed a rabbit! Tea was taken in the churchyard, a bench seat acting as a table - we had parked by the road and on the huh. Moroccan style and a Lemon & Coriander Houmous, Scottish Smoked Mackerel and Scottish Crab Pâté with celery formed our first course. The pies when cut revealed a nicely jellied pink filling. The crust was tasty and crisp, being wrapped in paper bags rather than plastic. The filling was very smooth – almost Pâté like and flavoursome. Although I personally thought this was a very good pie, some however were disappointed, resulting in a mediocre score of 7.13636 with a high standard deviation of 1.26671. So a normalised score of 7 for Select Meats of Loddon. Shortbread followed the pies as the final course.

Butches Shop Swanton Morley

2009-11-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

A new pie for us this week, from The Butchers Shop, Swanton Morley. We had heard much praise of their pork pies, but it would be after 6-miles before we would know whether these pies were worthy of the praise. Parking at Barford village hall, the Walk Master marched us around the village, then off to the parish church of
St. Botolph. No scratch dials being found before, we headed north to Colton, passing the village sign and a barn opposite proclaiming “1666” in large numerals on its side. The church of St. Andrew’s, Colton was our lunch stop. We had visited this church two years ago and found it also had no scratch dials. Heading west to Bickerston, where we then turned southeast, the footpath passing through gardens, one being a “Remedial, Herbal and Holistic Therapy and Wellness Centre B&B”! We then had to mind flying balls as we crossed Barnham Broom Golf Course. Here Charles spotted Saffron milk caps “Lactarius deliciosus” - the first that he had found. These were gathered, as they are very good to eat. Returning to Barford, we headed for the Cock Inn. Here we were served Dave Winter’s recreation of the Blue Moon Brewery’s “Easy Life” and “Sea of Tranquillity” in top condition. A short walk to the cars where we would sample a Moroccan style and a caramelised onion Houmous with celery. Sobrassada was then produced to compliment our starter. Next, the small, hand-raised pies from Swanton Morley looked good with a glossy crust. Cutting the pie released little aroma, revealing a dark filling with a trace of jelly. Tasting was OK, a medium texture filling lacking much flavour. The pastry tasted pleasant but probably had suffered from the “plastic bag treatment” and was rather soft. So not living up to expectations, the pie scored 7.04545 with a standard deviation of 0.75679 – so a normalised score of 7 for The Butchers Shop, Swanton Morley. Shortbread followed as the final course.

Fungus Foray 2009

2009-11-01T15:45:00.000-08:00

This week, King Canape took off his crown and donned the Harris Tweed jacket of the Mushroom Master... Three of us braved the inclement weather and headed to the Plough Inn, where the mushroom munchers were to muster. Here we sampled the Carvery while we waited for the rest to arrive. There were no takers, so just the three of us headed onto the Heath in search of edible fungus. The weather had improved but there was little for the mycologist. We did find a few examples, mainly inedible fungi growing on dead wood. None of the Chanterelles or Amethyst Deceivers – the staples of previous forays. We did find a couple of small Boletus that may have been edible.

The weekend was not completely pie-less – the Pie Master took a quality, lightly spiced pork pie from Martins Farm to Cambridge to sample as lunch, while attending the sparktacular Teslathon at the Museum of Technology. Unfortunately he did not have any Colman’s mustard to enhance the experience...

G. F. White

2009-10-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

Pies from G. F. Whites in Aylsham – “Butcher of the Year” in the Eastern Daily Press, Norfolk Food Awards 2008. We had tasted their pies on the 18^th February 2007, when they didn’t fair particularly well. After 6 miles of walking up an appetite around Worsted, we would find out if they had improved. Parking at the Weavers’ Way car park near Briggate Bridge, we headed east for about a mile, following the Weavers' Way along a former railway cutting, passing under the attractive iron bridge. Then going south, we crossed the disused lock on the Dilham canal. The “boys” Bert & Harris were walking with us and soon found a new friend: Max - a black Labrador who then decided to join us on our walk! After a little way, Max would not leave us and return home, so he was put on a lead and returned to the house from where he originated. We regrouped and the boys had now made another friend Bertie: a Border Terrier – thankfully this one was attached to his owner. Dilham church of St. Nicolas was visited at just over 2 miles – no scratch dials here as it was completely rebuilt in 1931. Now heading west, with Don trailing, attacking brambles with his secateurs, we sampled the last Blackberries of the season. Lunch was taken in the large porch of the church of St. Mary the Virgin in Worstead. This large church has two scratch dials, already in our collection, and after perusing the interior; we headed for the comfort of the New Inn. Here we where all made welcome and served pints of Adnams and Wherry. Even “Bisto” the pub dog came down to welcome us, but Bert and Harris were not that impressed. From Worsted, we headed north to once again join the Weavers’ Way path along the railway cutting that we followed east back to the cars. Prawns with mayonnaise were again the starter course, prior to the pies. The pies, unique in appearance with lose fitting tops, looked promising. Cutting revealed a pink filling with good texture. Aroma and jelly were both lacking, but the real disappointment was the munching. The crust was soft and bland and the filling not really tasting of anything. The pie did score 5.83333 with a standard deviation of 0.93095 so normalised to 6 – just below the 6.5 on the previous outing. Yummy Chocolate slab cake was slipped in before Shortbread that concluded our post walk munching.

Aberdeen Angus & Stilton pie!

2009-10-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

With the anticipated absence of the Walk Master, King Canape had dug out a Boldero walk and the Pie Master had plotted it on a map. No pie had been purchased due to lack of munchers. At the eleventh hour, the Walk Master declared his availability, so four pie munchers set off for Sisland – the forth being King Can. On arriving at the small car park and finding it full, it was decided to head into Loddon and park in the larger car park in front of the church. The Walk Master deemed that starting from here, it would be preferable to do the walk the reverse direction. Following his lead, we followed and not having gone 100 yards, we came to “Select Meats” - a butcher’s shop that was open. Don popped in to see if they had any pork pies – they had sold out, so one to try in the future. An Aberdeen Angus and Stilton pie was purchased and a jar of horseradish sauce. After returning the pie to the cool bag in the car, we continued our journey through Loddon and crossed the A146 to Stubbs Green, noting three abandoned footballs in as many locations.Heading south west we crossed Stubbs Green, continued down a short length of road and then by footpath towards Loddon Ingloss water tower in the distance. We spotted the first of many hares that we would see during this walk, as we approached Manor farm. We then met a group of walkers doing the same walk, anti-clockwise, having their sandwiches – they had taken the last space in the car park! Crossing Ingloss Lane, we went through an enclosure containing two friendly horses and then made our way north to Mundham, meeting another two groups doing the same walk. Then heading east, to the walk’s start point, the church of St. Mary the virgin, Sisland. Here we had our sandwiches. The church was too new to have a scratch dial, being rebuilt in 1761 after the original church was struck by lighting during a service! From here we headed back to Loddon following the route we had previously driven, with the exception of a footpath across the corner of a field. Returning to Loddon High Street, we ventured up Bridge Street to see what refreshment the Kings Head could offer. Beers from Timothy Taylor were on offer: Landlord and Golden Best - a golden mild. Refreshed we walked the short distance to the car. The Pie Master served the tea while King Canape dished up prawns with mayonnaise. The Aberdeen Angus and Stilton pie was next on the menu with an accompaniment of either horseradish sauce or English mustard. Not being proficient at scoring beef pies, we estimated that this very good pie, with tender beef chunks, would come in at about 8 out of 10. Sausage, bacon and cheese wraps, purchased as a substitute for pork pie, were next consumed before the Shortbread finale.

Don Warman then made a presentation of Bystanders Foundation Material to Charles – sand excavated from beneath the beer cellar at 5, Thorpe Road!

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"Naked" pork pie from Bray’s Cottage

2009-10-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

A new pie for us this week, from Bray’s Cottage, their “Naked pork pie”, first tasted in small format by the Pie Master at Norfolk Dog Day. The Walk Master had chosen Clippesby as the tasting location and had devised a 6-mile walk to work up an appetite. On arrival at the car park, the walk master spotted a concessionary footpath and a map detailing the route. In his masterly way, he produced a more interesting 6-mile walk in a couple of minutes! So the pie munchers set off south, down the concessionary path seeing both a Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel. The path then swung west and took us to the River Bure. Here we joined Weavers’ Way, walking north by river, we observed a couple of swans landing then, passing Upton Dyke, a pair of Cormorants flew west above us. We passed Wiseman’s Oby Drainage Mill in poor condition, and came by a field with a fine mix of beautiful bovine examples - especially a woolly white bullock. We headed further north and then northeast by Oby South Dyke, after getting great views of the river with the low sun reflecting on the water. We followed Weavers’ Way to Thurne Church of St. Edmund the King Martyr. Here we consumed our sandwiches and found a scratch dial. From here we headed to the Lion Inn and were supplied with Old Speckled Hen and Wherry. On the return leg, our route back along the river was diverted due to vegetation clearage. The diversion took us by a house with grotesques on the wall, and a concrete porker in the garden. We eventually returned to the waters edge before heading east back to the cars. Prawns with mayonnaise were this week’s starter course. The Naked pie, obviously baked in a foil container, looked good with a glossy top. Cutting the pie released a little aroma, not much, but boy did it smell good! The filling was pink and nicely textured though not much evidence of jelly. The taste was very good prompting the comments "Hit the spot" and "Best pie for a long while”. This pie was much better than the small naked previously tried. The recent small recipe amendment, helped this pie to romp home with a score of 8.875 with a standard deviation of 0.64087 – so a normalised score of 9 for Bray’s Cottage “Naked”. Shortbread returned as the final course this week.

P. B. George Quality Meats.

2009-10-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

Yet another new pie for the pie munchers to sample on the 51^st anniversary of ‘Smoot day’. First we had to negotiate 5,674 Smoots of Boldero walk, over the boarder in Suffolk, around Syleham and Wingfield. We had to do this without the skills of the Walk Master. Parking at Syleham village hall, a dozen of us, including new Sunday walkers Bert and Harris, headed east along a short length of road. Then heading north for almost a mile, along a footpath to Syleham House, we passed beautiful cattlebeautiful cattle. Another short length of road, east and a half-mile of footpath south east. Here Bert and Harris had great fun chasing anything that moved and rummaging under bushes. Now at two miles, or 1,891 Smoots, we again headed east along the road to a long footpath south to Wingfield. Here we had our lunch in the grounds of St. Andrew’s church. Finding no scratch dial we made our way across the road to the delightful De La Pole Arms. Here we were refreshed with good local beers as we enjoyed the good weather outside. A huge friendly dog came to greet our new walkers, but Bert and Harris were not interested in making a new friend and let her know very vocally! Our route then took us west through an equestrian centre, before we came to Syleham Road. We had to walk north along this very quiet road for about a mile, passing cows grazing on the green. From here we could see Woodlands water tower above the trees at Fressingfield. Further along the road we were greeted by an elderly Spaniel, Bert and Harris were quite happy to make friends this time. Before we turned left down Windmill Lane, we passed farm buildings and the squeals of indoor reared porkers - the like, we hoped, had not found their way into our pies. On reaching the stump of the former post mill, severely damaged in Great Storm of 1987, we headed north across a field back towards the cars. The sting in the tail (or the sting in the legs, in my case) was we could not initially find the final footpath, as it was the heavily overgrown with stinging nettles! Back at the cars we started with Spanish canapés – Tapas: Octopus Chunks, Squid Pieces and Anchovies with Manchego cheese. Then onto small pies from P. B. George Quality Meats of Norwich. The pies had no aroma when cut and only a hint of jelly as visible. The crust was good, sweet and crisp, the filling having a reasonable texture but lacking any punch. Scoring 7.2857 with a high standard deviation of 1.0746, normalising the score rounds it up to 7.5 for P. B. George. No Shortbread or even Hobnobs this week. On the way home, we stopped at Park Farm to purchase Jumbo free range eggs at just £1 for six - a bargain!

Wombat Pie

2009-09-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

Sixteen Privileged pie munchers were in for a treat this Sunday; there was the highly praised Wombat pork pie - specially baked for the pie munchers. But Wombat's hospitality did not end there... Together with Flounder, her other half, having obtained permissions from all relevant parties, they took us on a guided four mile tour of the private grounds of Gunton Park. We met at the Sawmill at 10:30 and walked clockwise through the beautiful grounds with sheep around Saw Mill Pond to the bridge that takes you over the stream coming from Great Water. Here we took in the views and saw that Canadian pondweed had established itself, and was causing a major problem. Passing the magnificent south wing of the hall, we then headed north to St. Andrew's church - all magnificently decked out for the Harvest Festival service. After inspecting the church and noting the Lead ties holding blocks of stone together, forming the entrance steps, we retraced our path south a short distance. Continuing east, passing friendly horses and a Melon House in the distance, then into a vast area with many deer. On the horizon was the splendid north gatehouse complete with lookout. Continuing east to Elderton Lodge where our hosts had ensured was stocked with real ale for our visit! Originally built as a shooting lodge, where Lillie Langtry was a regular guest, when the Prince of Wales - the future King Edward VII, stayed at the hall. Here, we were refreshed with pints of Wherry in good condition. Eventually we extricated ourselves from the pub and headed south, down a wooded track that then turned west after half a mile. Then we left the main path to go round a pond, through the woods to a metalled road through Suffield Wood and back into the park. We headed west with more stunning views complete with many deer, passing the south end of Saw Mill Pond,pausing by an old oak tree to admire a bright yellow caterpillar, believed to be that of the Pale Tussock moth. We returned to the Sawmill where we had our sandwiches and were given a short history of the Sawmill's restoration by Barré Funnel of NIAS. The Sawmill was celebrating it's 21^st Re-Birthday - the mill made its first cut after it's restoration on the 18th October 1988 and there was Re-Birthday cake for all visitors to the mill.After sampling the cake and viewing the mill in operation we gathered outside for the Main event: the sampling of the pie. Now in fairness, this wasn't a blind tasting - the large round pie had the Wombat insignia prominently crafted in pastry. Slicing the pie released a little aroma and revealed the crust was a bit crumbly. Although slightly let down by the crust, the contents were seen to be substantial and marvellously meaty with some jelly. Munching was a delight, the real meat filling finding favour with the munchers, resulting in a score of 8.28125 with a standard deviation of 0.81586 meaning the Wombat pie scores a high normalised 8.5. Chocolate & vanilla thins supplemented the Shortbread that followed.

The pie munchers and the Pork Pie News thank Wombat & Flounder for their hospitality and the owners of the park for granting permission for our visit.

Cumpstey’s large pies

2009-09-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

The Walk Master being poorly, the Führer and other regulars unable to walk, seven of us went to South Walsham to sample a pie previously sampled this year, from Cumpstey’s of Acle. Parking at the car park by South Walsham Broad, we followed Fleet Dike north until it met the River Bure, whose south bank we followed east, passing St. Benet’s Abbey drainage mill, then the remains of St. Benet’s Abbey on the other side of the river. Fortunately we had planned to turn south, to walk to Upton over the Marshes, as the footpath that continued along the riverbank was Closed. Just before we left the river, a Norfolk Trading Wherry, the Albion, sailed by. Following the concrete track across the marshes, we were afforded good views of three windmills and saw our second Harnser fly in. Half way along this track we came to free fruit – masses of Blackberries and Bullace growing together, begging to be harvested. We obliged, eating quite a lot and taking home even more. At the end of the track, we deviated onto another footpath where we reclined to take lunch at 3.85 miles. We then headed into Upton and to the White Horse. Arriving at this establishment with horses tethered out the front, we retired to the back garden with Sundew and Nelson’s Revenge from Woodforde’s brewery, just along the river. Rejuvenated, we headed south then west a short distance, along roads before following a pleasant footpath through Upton Fen Nature Reserve. Short stretches of alternating road then footpath reunited us with the car after 6.42 miles. After some changed footwear, the tea and feast were carried to our munching location by the broad. Here we first sampled Smoked Salmon Crescents, then Cumpstey’s large pie, last sampled on the 13^th February. The pie had a good appearance and when sliced revealed a well-jellied dark interior, low on aroma. The pastry was good and the filling flavoursome, attracting criticism from some, for lack of texture, resulting in the high standard deviation of 1.06849 and a score of 7.58333, so another normalised score of 7.5 for Cumpstey’s. Hobnobs once again replaced the usual Shortbread.