PIE lovers enjoyed the finest pastry, meat and jelly from the local area during the launch of the Lancashire Pork Pie Appreciation Society.

The group is now up and running at its headquarters in the Black Bull at Edgworth, where they meet to taste pies from across Lancashire and Greater Manchester. President Carl Abbott said the idea for the society came when regulars at the pub began talking about their favourite food.

He said: “We all get talking about food sometimes and we all have our favourite pie shops and it just grew from those discussions.

“The thing with pork pies is that you can bring them into the pub with you – they don’t need heating or anything.

“We started it as just a bit of fun but there is something more to it because there are local family businesses who make them.”

The group had its first meeting on Monday and gathered around the table to try out some of the local delicacies.

Each meeting they will give the featured pie a rating for pastry, pork and jelly then they calculate an overall score.

The group is currently 10-strong but Mr Abbott said he is looking for more members.

Our reporter Sarah Yates tries the pie 

He said: “The first meeting went really well and everyone enjoyed it. The pies were great. This isn’t really something you can take too seriously – it’s a simple pleasure.”

Mr Abbott, who lives in High Street, Chapeltown, said it would be difficult for anything to top his favourites from Frasers Butchers in Bolton, and reckoned there’s a a difference between pies from the north and south.

The 54-year-old, added: “For what it’s worth, pork pies in the north are far better than the ones in the south.

“But they are different as they use uncured pork whereas Lancashire and Yorkshire tend to use cured pork.

“The society is just something that will get people to appreciate what they can get in Lancashire.”

The group will be meeting every first and third Monday of the month at the Black Bull at around 9.30pm.

Anyone wanting more information can email lancsporkpies@gmail.com

Sarah's verdict 

THE newly-formed Lancashire Pork Pie Appreciation Society certainly know their crusts, and as I tucked in I could taste the difference, writes Sarah Yates.

They’re irresistible to some with a dollop of chutney, or branded heart-attack-inducing pieces of pork wrapped in jelly and pastry by others.

But, according to the men of the pie society, some of the best pork pies are created in Lancashire.

And this is not a supermarket pre-packed pie – it’s a pie that is packed with flavour and coated in a golden crust.

The taste test was passed with the first mouthful and that just left me wanting more.

Its combination of pork belly and tender shoulder gives the filling a contrasting coarse and soft texture, all encased in a crisp and wonderfully glazed pastry exterior.

A generously packed pie, from Nicholsons Butchers, in Nelson, it is certainly rated highly by the society’s tasters for its moist and tender meat – and I would have to agree, it seriously hit the spot.