Jarrold’s deli

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

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"

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!

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

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

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

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.