Our out-of-town pie-regrinations continued as a magnificent seven made their way to Miller's at Upper Belvedere, a small quirk of fate providing a back reference to the previous meeting in Hertfordshire. The airbrushed fantasy pantechnicon pictured above is sadly not the Pie and Mash Club Tour Bus.

Chequered tiles were the theme as we made our way to the counter of a bustling shop under full lunchtime steam.

For Tom Leader, Miller's is a mere omnibus ride away from his domicile at Shooter's Hill.

Stewed-eels-from-fresh were available — ours to do with as we pleased. Goldwater bounced back from his sickbed with invigorating dollops of Dunn's River.

There's a bond of trust betwen Ray Goldstone and the top of that vinegar bottle.

Over there your trusty recorder 'St@' gurns gamely. I can report a slightly overdone, but authentically delicate and tastebud-pleasing starter course.

There was a bit of standing around while we waited for a fresh consignment of pies. When they came Nick Everton captured the moment with probably the best camera in the club. A weighty 33-point tally hoisted him into fourth place and rising at the end of lunchtime. It was great to see the big guy enjoying another basinful far from his West London stamping ground.

Three and one in fabulous macro. At this range the steam alone is enough to stimulate your pie-n-eel gland.

Once inside the golden casings much meaty savour was to be had, producing a collective hush and long moments of quiet reflection.

Goldwater executes the back flip.

The absence of a dessert course prompted a few of us to add an extra pie to our orders. Judith Deschamps described these as 'middling-to-good', which is praise indeed. I thought they were more than a cut above the average, with taste and presentation putting me in mind of Scott's of Orpington.

Here are Bill and Sylvia, who have been using Miller's for a few years now. They describe the pie and mash as the 'best in the area', taking into account recently-opened competition at Flo's of Crayford, along with the Pie Shops at Welling and Bexleyheath — all less than 5 miles distant.

Our pie hostesses counterside were Lucy and Sydney [near right] while Lara [far right] performed table duties and even carried two dinner plates to the shop next door.

Dynamic Dan was our athletically-attired and eager-to-pose pieman.

There's no pose about Edward Mosse as he chugs on a strawberry milkshake through gritted teeth. As a dessert it counts as nil points. The lad made up for it with a bag of Chocolate Buttons on the train home.

The top of the town.

He could rightfully be called 'Sponge Bob'.

I believe Miller's exceeded the expectations of the adventurers and explorers assembled for this group photograph. If you are in the North-West Kent area, you'd be mad not to drop into this cultural oasis.

Conveniently placed diagonally opposite was 'The Fox-England' for our continued pint-ifications.

St@