Our aim is that wherever you are in Lancashire you should never be more than 30 minutes from a LPPAS recommended pie shop. To help you find your nearest shop we are proud to announce our interactive Pork Pie Finder. The Pork Pie Finder lists all our recommended shops and will provide directions from your current location. Just click the link below to find your nearest shop. Happy Eating!
Updated April 16, 2018
One of the aims of the LPPAS is to celebrate the best pork pies that Lancashire has to offer. Over the coming year we aim to identify and celebrate as many pie makers as the county has to offer. We are sure that there are many pie shops around the county that we are so far unaware of and can’t wait to discover these. In the meantime though, we do have our favourites. Below is our current Pork Pie Directory listing 24 shops around the county, that in our opinion at least, sell excellent pork pies. We wholeheartedly recommend that you try these shops for yourselves and let us know if you agree. If your favourite shop isn’t included please let us know.
Town Name Post Code Website
1 Barrowford Beechs BB9 6EW http://www.beechs.co.uk
2 Blackburn Market Dales BB1 5AF http://www.dalesbutchers.co.uk
3 Bolton Fraser’s BL3 2EH http://www.frasersfoods.co.uk
4 Burnley Heys BB10 4DE http://heysfamilybutchers.co.uk
5 Bury Seddond Farm Butchers BL8 2JR https://en-gb.facebook.com/seddensfarmbutchers/
6 Chatburn Roy Porter Butchers BB7 4AW http://www.royporterbutchers.com
7 Clayton-le-Moors Hodders Butchers BB5 5PG https://en-gb.facebook.com/hodderbutchers/
8 Cleveleys Grimes Butchers FY5 1 AG https://www.facebook.com/grimesbutchers/
9 Colne Ingham & Son BB8 7PQ https://inghamsbutchers.co.uk
10 Earby Pitts BB18
11 Grange Higginsons LA11 6AB http://www.higginsonsofgrange.co.uk
12 Haslingden DT Law BB4 5BQ https://www.lancashirebutchers.com
13 Higham Roaming Roosters BB12 9ER https://www.roamingroosters.co.uk/farm-shop
14 Horwich Greeleys Winter Hey Lane https://en-gb.facebook.com/J-Greeley-High-Class-Butchers-500573603334518/
15 Poulton Le Fylde The Pork Shop FY6 7AP https://www.facebook.com/theporkshoppoulton/
16 Rawtenstall M Harrisons BB4 7QN http://www.mharrisonbutcher.co.uk
17 Nelson Nicholson’s Butchers BB9 9BQ http://www.nicholsons-butchers.co.uk
18 Norden Wildbloods OL12 7SL http://wildbloods.co.uk
19 Ramsbottom Walmsleys BL0 9AD http://walmsleysbutchers.co.uk
20 St Annes Giglis Pies FY8 1UZ http://www.giglis.co.uk
21 St Annes Kevin Barry FY8 5E http://www.quality-pies.co.uk
22 Urmston Howarths M41 5DP http://www.pjhowarthbutcher.com
23 Walshaw Trotters BL8 1 NX https://www.facebook.com/pg/TrotterButchersBury/about/
24 Warrington A Ward & Son WA4 6SG
For directions to any of these shops use our:
In contrast to the well known Fraser’s, the second pie sampled in April was a relative newcomer to the scene. Seddon’s Farm Butchers of Bury kindly donated a dozen pies for sampling.
The pies were very distinctive and have a good local reputation. The main difference from standard pork pies is the pastry which is deliberately softer than the more normal crispy pastry. Secondly, the jelly was runny. While this isn’t to everyone’s taste it is a personal preference of this reviewer, and for the big majority on the night the jelly scored very highly. There was less acceptance of the soft pastry. To a degree, this is no doubt due to novelty of such pastry, and there were a fair proportion of tasters that liked the pastry that way. The butcher, Mark, tells us that the pies are especially popular when still warm from the oven – and it would be good to taste them that way also.
As a newcomer Seddon’s pies faced stiff competition on the night up against Fraser’s famous pies. If you are in and around Bury it is definitely worth trying a pie from Seddon’s. If you do call in, we’d love to have your feedback.
Seddon’s Farm Butchers
74 Mile Lane
Bury
BL8 2JR
Bolton’s famed Fraser’s pork pies once again provided the highlight of the April meeting of LPPAS. It isn’t breaking news to pie aficionados when we report that Fraser’s pies are of the highest standard. The pies are beautifully crafted and provide a near perfect balance of meat and pastry with any gaps crammed full with jelly. Here are the ratings from the 25 judges on the night.
The fact that all four categories score over 80 is a testament to the skill and craft that goes in to producing the pies. Comments on the night include ‘Just a wonderful pie, jelly superb.’; ‘well balance, full of flavour. nice pie!; ‘pastry nice and crisp’. If there was one point where some tasters raised a query it was with the seasoning of the pork. Seasoning is always a question of personal preference of course but there was a proportion of tasters that would have preferred a little more seasoning. This comment summarises the issue: ‘Excellent pie, only criticism is that it needed a little more seasoning.’
If you haven’t already sampled Fraser’s pork pies we highly recommend that make the journey. You won’t be disappointed.
Fraser’s
272 Rishton Lane
Bolton
BL32EH
No sooner have the awards for 2017 been completed than the search for the best pork pie of 2018 has begun. As usual the net has been cast far and wide across the county. Five pies in total have been tested so far and from these two have stood out and lead the table for 2018:
Greeley’s (85%)
27 Winter Hey Lane, Horwich, BL6 7AD
This is our top rated pie so far. Greeley’s beautiful pies scored very highly in each category. Although it’s hard to compare with last year’s scores due to a modified scoring system the overall score of 85% sets a standard that will be hard to beat.
Greeley’s pies were sampled by a total of 25 hungry testers. The scores of 85, 84, 83 & 82% across the four categories point to a perfectly balanced score and this pie will take some beating this year. Comments for our tasters on this pie included ‘delightful pie’, ‘a perfect combination of well-seasoned pork, crispy pastry and juicy jelly’
Roaming Roosters (81%)
Barrowford Road, Higham, BB12 9ER
Roaming Roosters is located in the village of Higham, north of Burnley. These pies are the second stand out pie of the year so far. The score of 87% for the pastry is the highest category total this year. The pork achieved an excellent 85% also, the mixed scores for the jelly was the factor that just pulled the overall score down. Here the quality of the jelly wasn’t in question, but in some pies the quantity was, as the jelly failed to reach all of the gaps. Nevertheless this is an excellent pie the comment of one of our tasters provides the perfect summary ‘A very tasty pie, with well seasoned pork and crisp pastry. The jelly tasted good but not enough of it!’
Many thanks to everyone involved in making last night’s awards a great success.
Firstly thanks to the 5 top class butchers who happily donated their LPPAS Gold Rated pies:
D.T Law Butcher
Heys Family Butchers
Grimes food hall Of Cleveleys
Higginsons – Butchers & Pie Makers
Walmsleys Butchers
Secondly, thanks to to all attendees, our hosts & staff at the Black Bull, our sponsor – Cardwells Estate Agent, and everyone that took part in the raffle and auction. Collectively we raised over £600 last night for Macmillan Cancer Support, taking our total for the year above £1600!
The most frequently heard comment on the pies was that all 5 were superb. There has to be a winner though, and on the night DT Laws of Haslingden were the clear winners and become our inaugural Supreme Champion 👏👏👏
The inaugural LPPAS Awards night will be the culmination of our year-long search to find the best pork pies in Lancashire. Our 5 top-rated pie-makers of 2017 will be presented with certificates in recognition of their outstanding produce. They will also go head to head in a public tasting to determine our overall champion. Due to limited capacity, entry will be by ticket only. Tickets are £10 with all proceeds going to Macmillan Cancer Support. On the night you will be able to sample all of the pies and help us to find the champion. We guarantee that top class pies will be on offer. Musical entertainment will be provided by Andy Stones once the champion has been crowned.
Top Rated Pies 2017
Over the last 12 months LPPAS Members have sampled over 30 different pork pies from all corners of the county. The quality of these pies provides a great testament to the skill and dedication of the many top class butchers that we are lucky enough to have in Lancashire. It has been a privilege to visit these butchers, seeing at first hand the pride that they have in making the best pies possible. We have rated each pie against four criteria: Overall Quality; Pastry; Pork and Jelly. The quality was such that there is only a hair’s breadth between the top rated in each category. We have therefore listed the top 10 in each category and guarantee that once you’ve sampled any of these pies you won’t buy a mass produced supermarket pie again. We believe that they are the best pork pies not just in the county, but in the country. Here are our Top 10s:
Best Overall Pie
Many congratulations go to Grime’s of Cleveleys for what is our top rated pie. The pie itself is distinctive and reflects the character of the super enthusiastic proprietor Carl Caldwell. A very worthy winner in this category. The remainder of the Top 5 are all within just 2 points of the winner reflecting the quality that is available around the county, coming as they do from Ramsbottom, Grange, Burnley and Haslingden. A superb range of first class butchers. Read our review of Grimes here.
Best Pastry
Placed joint fourth in the overall category, Heys of Burnley take the prize for the best pastry. Located just a stone’s throw away from Turf Moor, Heys butchers was an unexpected delight. Like many top butchers it is a family firm that have been trading for over 30 years. In Danny Heys, a real pie enthusiast, they are in very safe hands.
Read our Review of Heys Butchers here.
Best Pork
The best pork category is shared by Higginson’s of Grange and best pastry winner Hey’s of Burnley. Everything about Higginson’s reflects the high quality of their produce. Higginson’s, another family business, have been established in Grange now for over thirty years and have steadily grown in reputation culminating in being voted Britain’s Best Butchers.
Read our review of Higginsons here.
Best Jelly
Our most clear-cut winner comes in the Best Jelly category. This was always our most controversial category with preferences varying between members. The jelly from Jamie Pitt’s of Earby took its place at the top of the charts at the beginning of the year and stayed there almost unchallenged until our overall top rated Grime’s came close towards the end of the year. If there was a value for money prize Pitt’s would have won that too – as at the time we sampled them they were on sale for just 90p. Read our review of Pitts of Earby here.
Special mention should also go to Walmsley’s of Ramsbottom and DT Laws of Haslingden (Review to follow) which feature in the Top 5 in a number of categories without quite topping the tables – two more outstanding pies. Finally, all of the pies featuring in the Top 10s above are excellent. We encourage everyone to support their local butchers and give them a try. To find your way to any one of these or to find the nearest to you please use our pie finder or pie directory.
The pies have now been ordered for the next meeting of the LPPAS will commence at 9:30PM on Monday 6th November at The Black Bull. This time the pies will be from Atherton and East Lancashire with promise of a third mystery pie. The last meeting saw a new leader and Monday promises to be another excellent night for pie lovers.
A resident of Cleveleys had tipped us off about the quality of Grimes’ pies. We are proud that the pies we have sampled cover every corner of the county and given the glowing report we had received our North Lancs representative made the journey to collect the usual dozen pies. It was well worth the journey to a butchers that take great pride in everything that they do!
The pies where quite distinctive. Instead of the usual hole (or holes) for jelly these pies had two lines scored in their lids for the purpose. With just two more months to go in our search for the best pork pies in Lancashire, the pies finished the night top of the pile in what is a very close run thing at the top of the table. The overall mark of 84% marks these out as outstanding pies and they will surely be in our finals night to decide the overall champion. As for any score in the 80s they are comfortably awarded the much coveted ‘LPPAS Highly Recommended’ status. Here are the scores of the tasters from the night.
Pies are always a matter of taste. Some prefer more seasoning for the meat, others less. Some prefer runny jelly, others prefer none. Some prefer thin pastry, others like it crispy. So even the highest rated pie will have its detractors. In this case it was noticeable that there were almost no negative comments. For overall quality the pie scored an outstanding 84: The comments a great insight into why. ‘One of the nicest pork pies that I have ever tasted’; ‘the perfect pie’; ‘beautifully produced, stacked with jelly’, ‘the best yet’ and ‘brilliant’ perhaps captures the mood on the night.
The marks for the pastry were 81 which puts the pie joint second in that category. Most appreciated the pastry was crisp. ‘Excellent flavour and nicely crisp’ was one comment supported by the similar remark ‘good, crisp and flavourful.’ ‘Near perfect’ was a third comment and for those that look hard for imperfections one judge commented’very nice – possibly a touch too dry on the extremities of the crust’ while another was of the view that the pie was ‘perhaps a bit soggy on top.’ A feature that is no doubt due to the overflowing jelly on the surface of the pie. A feature that this reviewer particularly likes.
Next to the pork. Here the meat was distinctive and again at a score of 82 the pie is joint second in that category. Some pork pies have smooth, uniform textured meat. This pie is more characterful. ‘Chunky meat with a great texture’ summarises it well as does the glowing report of ‘very, very nice indeed. Well seasoned, great texture.’ The fact that 10 of the 20 scores on the night for the pork were 90 or above speaks volumes for the quality here.
Finally the jelly. With another score of 82 the pie goes to a clear second in this category too. To have such high score in each category marks the pie out as one taster remarked ‘a great all rounder’. The rough edges to the meat meant that there was usually room for plenty jelly and that room was fully filled, with a little bit extra for the top. As always, jelly seems to produce the biggest disparity in the scores awarded on the night, but here there were very few low scores. ‘Full of flavour and well distributed’ summarises it well as does the remark ‘beautiful & lots of it!’ The one negative comment from a reviewer was ‘limited…’, but even that was followed by the qualifier that ‘… but what there was was very tasty!’.
Overall then, the Grimes’pie is, at the time of writing, top in our overall rankingand second in every individual category. The butcher there is justifiably proud of his produce and the pies in particular. If you fancy a day out at the seaside then a visit to Grimes will provide the perfect snack for on the beach. Try them – you won’t be disappointed.
Grime’s of Cleveleys
60 Victoria Road West
Thornton-Cleveleys FY5 1AG
Or use our Pie Finder for directions!
A late change of supplier meant that the first pie tasted on Monday 4th September was that of Heys Family Butchers of Burnley. Hey’s very kindly donated the pies to us as part of our money raising efforts for Macmillan Cancer Support. Once again all present were very appreciative of this gesture – more so when they realised the quality of the pies!
The standard dozen pies were provided for the LPPAS tasters. The pies came in their foil pastry cases and proved to be excellent in every category. With three more months to go in our search for the best pork pies in Lancashire, the pies missed top spot by the narrowest of margins. The overall mark of 82% shows these are outstanding pies and they will almost certainly be in our finals night to decide the overall champion. In doing so they are comfortably awarded the much coveted ‘LPPAS Highly Recommended’ status. Here are the scores of the tasters from the night.
Let’s consider the characteristics that make this such a highly rated pie. Firstly the overall quality with the excellent score of 82: The comments provide high praise indeed. ‘Mmmmm!!’ perhaps provides the simplest summary. Other, more discursive comments included ‘excellent combination’; ‘very good pie – best yet!’; ‘very well balanced’ and ‘a perfect combination’.
The marks for the pastry were 82 which puts the pie at the top of that category. Most appreciated the pastry was crisp. ‘Perfect’ commented one judge. It seemed that there was unanimous agreement, with no single negative comment form the 15 tasters. ‘Delicious’; ‘crisp, tasty, just the right thickness’ and ‘beautiful colour’ are the combination of factors that take this pie to the top of the tree for the pastry lovers.
Next to the pork. Here again the scores were superb. The score of 83 in this category sees the pie move to joint top of this category. The comments here were almost, but not quite, unanimous. ‘Great texture and flavour’; ‘great taste and seasoning’; and ‘well packed’ summarises the overwhelming positive comments. Two tasters would have preferred a little more pepper. This just goes to show that pies are always a matter of personal taste. What is perfectly seasoned to some can seem bland to others. The fact that the Heys’ pie achieved top score in this category shows that the butcher here must be getting the balance just right.
Finally on to the jelly. One of the features of the pies was how well filled with meat they were. Nevertheless, what room there was between the meat and the pastry was expertly filled with jelly. As always, it seems jelly is the most disputed category. Here a score of 76 was obtained taking the pie up to 4th place in this category. ‘Flavoursome jelly – good proportion in relation to meat’ was a comment echoed by many tasters. The slightly lower score here (although still high) is probably due to the fact the pies were crammed so full of pork. Although the big majority of tasters remarked that the jelly was ‘plentiful’ others would have still preferred more, with two of our tasters claiming that there was ‘not enough’ jelly.
Overall, the Heys Family Butcher’s pie is, at the time of writing, one point below top in our overall ranking, top for pastry and joint top for pork. So, if you want to taste a top class pie, we strongly recommend you make the journey to Burnley to sample them for yourselves. If you are a football fan, the shop is a stones throw from Turf Moor, so why not pop in when you’re at the match?
Heys Family Butchers
70a Lyndhurst Road
Burnley, Lancashire
BB10 4DE
United Kingdom
Or use our Pie Finder for directions!
