Pierate's Wigan Pie Week

This week we are dedicating Pierate Pie Reviews to Wigan, and their pies!!!

Wigan – dated back to at least the 7th century and now home to almost 100,000 people in the town itself – has one noticeable characteristic. Not it’s once thriving porcelain manufacture or clock making, nor its milling and coal mining. These things may have built Wigan into the town it is today, but it is PIES that have sustained it! Said to have been linked to the 1926 General Strike, when Wigan coal miners were starved back to work before their local counterparts, and thus eating “humble pie”, the people of Wigan are affectionately known as the “pie-eaters”.

Information about pies in the Museum of Wigan Life

In fact, while the British Pie Awards are held in Melton Mowbray (home of the pork pie), it is Wigan that plays host to the annual World Pie Eating Championships! They really do love their pies in Wigan, so you may not be surprised to hear that a “Wigan Kebab” is actually several pies on a skewer, rather than the more traditional doner meat.

The Wigan Kebab - aka pies!!!

So central to the pie world is Wigan that the Pierateers have longed to sample the pies Wigan has to offer! The only downside being that we Pierateers predominantly in the South – and of course Wigan is tup North.

But alas, Pierateer RAS finally made his way up to Wigan on a trip to attend the book launch of “Life of Pies” – written by Martin Tarbuck, a fellow pie lover and pie reviewer. It’s a book we have, of course, now reviewed on the 7 Cs of pie rating and it got a fabulous rating of 5.61/7 (that’s Pierate Recommended!) We even rated some very nice Bowen’s pies at the book launch – though it must be clarified that Bowen’s are actually based in nearby Adlington!

Museum of Wigan Life Pie Gifts available (we definitely recommend a visit!)

But what you may have noticed is that we actually visited Wigan in October 2014… and yet it is now June 2015! What went wrong?! Well, as piefessional as we try to be, unfortunately having eaten several pies in the square in Wigan Town Centre on Saturday 25th October 2014 and written the reviews up on the train home, Pierateer RAS unfortunately saved his Wigan reviews on his laptop in such an obscure folder that he has only just found it! But hey, late reviews are better than no reviews and the good thing is all these pies were rated and scored back in October – so while they are slightly out of date and the price may have changed slightly, they are the true opinions I had in October 2014, not something I have made up 9 months later!

Of course in one Saturday afternoon in Wigan there was certainly not enough time to try the full range of pies that Wigan has to offer. The Pierateers are therefore looking to return to Wigan at some point in the future, particularly to rate the pies at the DW Stadium, home of Wigan Athletic, and add them to our PIEremiership table! But enough about the future… let’s get onto our Wigan pie reviews!

Monday’s pie review is from Greenhalgh’s and is a classic “Meat and Potato Pie”

Tuesday’s pie review is from Galloways and is again the classic “Meat and Potato Pie”

Wednesday’s pie review is also from Galloways, but this time their “Chunky Steak Pie”

Thursday’s pie review only cost an astonishingly low 50p, as we visited Pound Bakery and rated their “Meat and Potato Pie”

Friday’s pie review is from Gents (Pepper Lane Pie Shop) in the Standish area of North Wigan, rating their “Steak Pie”

Note that we actually tried a number of meat and potato pies while in Wigan – both due to this being the pie of choice in these parts (Martin told us so!) and to aid in comparison between stores.


And whether you agree or disagree with our Wigan pie ratings, we want to hear from you! Are you a “pie-eater” from Wigan? Do you have a pie to suggest for our next trip to Wigan? Let us know below or on twitter and follow the #WiganPieWeek hashtag from @pierateers!