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Denby Dale, the Pie Village, rallies round its Pie Hall

News imageIan S/Geograph Denby Dale, the Pie Village signIan S/Geograph
A council sign proudly proclaims the Pie Village

A venue with a centuries-old, unusual, tradition of baking large ceremonial pies for national events has seen a revival of its fortunes.

The Denby Dale Pie Hall, in West Yorkshire, contains memorabilia, ephemera and photographs recording its 230-year baking history.

The village of Denby Dale has seen 11 ceremonial pies baked since 1788.

A local councillor said: "The community has really rallied behind the venue."

There had been worries the meeting venue could close after a drop in bar takings.

News imageAlamy 1964 Denby Dale pieAlamy
The large pies are baked at infrequent intervals but 1964's pie served 30,000 people

The venue opened in 1972 on the main road through the village between Huddersfield and Barnsley.

There are no set rules for when, or indeed over what, the villagers might bake one of its large, celebrated pies.

News imageGoogle Denby Dale Pie HallGoogle
Volunteers have helped renovate the Pie Hall

Will Simpson, a local councillor, said: "With more takings going over the bar, things have improved quite a lot.

"It's great when communities rally round as in this case", he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Pie Hall was "still not out of the woods", he cautioned.

"It would be nice to do another pie in the future, maybe as a celebration of getting the Pie Hall back on track."

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Denby Dale - a history in pies

News imageAlamy Denby Dale pie dishAlamy
A proud crowd packed in to a very large pie dish
  • There have been just 11 pies since 1788, the first created for the recovery of "mad" King George III
  • In 1887 a pie intended for Queen Victoria's jubilee was baked, found to be inedible and buried in a nearby field. A week later the replacement Resurrection Pie was a great success
  • In 1940, its large pie dish was melted down and used for munitions
  • In 1964, to celebrate four royal births, 30,000 portions of pie were served up
  • The 2000 Millennium Pie contained 2.5 tons of beef and potatoes, 3.5 tons of pastry and 36 gallons of beer in a 40ft-long dish
  • A pie was last baked in 2012.

Source BBC and Denby Dale Pie Hall

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