The heat was on as the club descended on the seaside town of Folkestone, for our annual away-day beano. Five long years have passed since we last visited the county of Kent, better known as the garden of England.

As soon as we left the station, some of us were keen to have a feel of the place.

With an hour to spare before lunchtime, we took a meander around town. The area is a curious mix of narrow cobbled streets, garishly coloured buildings and a large number of independent shops.

Down at the water’s edge, we found a harbour largely depleted of fishing boats, a sad reminder of a once flourishing local industry, now consigned to history.

In recent years the town has been regenerated through its burgeoning art scene, which was initiated by the Creative Folkestone scheme. We discovered an array of intriguing art pieces such as ‘Art Buff’ by Banksy, ‘Rug People’ by Cornelia Parker and ‘The Mobile Gull Appreciation Unit’ by Mark Dion (see cover image).

This branch of Flo’s has been open since January last year, following the closure of Betty’s. When news of the sale was announced, Nick and Emma Jacobs put in an offer to buy the shop, in order to maintain a pie & mash presence in the town.

The shop’s interior styling was reminiscent of their other branch in Crayford, which the club visited back in March 2018. High-backed benches and wooden table-tops give it a rather traditionalist touch.

After a three-month drought of eels for the club, which seemed more like a millennium; at Flo’s, eels were abundant in supply, so several of us eagerly ordered up bowls of this fishy delicacy that often divides opinion.

Nick Evans lacked his trusty bottle of chilli sauce on this occasion, he doused his portion of jellies with lashings of chilli vinegar instead.

Jellied or Stewed, which would you choose?

A seasoned veteran of the club for four years now, Andy Saunders is often tempted to belt out a p&m themed musical number, mainly from the stage show ‘Pies and Dolls’.

He was joined by his fellow associate and former CCCU alumnus Tim Greenfield, making his debut in the league. As a practising vegetarian, he was keen to operate on the shop’s vegan pies.

The club’s webmaster, Terry Moore hoisted his sails, and prepared to plunder his usual 2&2 portion.

Meanwhile, Edward Mosse took a more modest single serving, in order to maintain his appetite for a tour around the town’s finest public houses later that afternoon.

A pie-eyed view of the meal below. The pies were substantial and decently well filled with flavoursome mince, although the internal gravy was a bit on the thin side. The star of the show was the liquor which was well-seasoned and appetising, which ultimately helped elevate the quality of the dish.

Long-term club associate Daniel Bouquet made a surprise appearance. He last dined with us when we visited Frasier’s in Herne Bay back in April 2015, coincidentally our first visit to Kent. Now a resident of Herne, his journey was far from easy with heavy weekend traffic clogging Kent’s highways. After such strenuous activity on the roads, a double helping of pie & mash was the ideal restorative.

Bouquet has known his former colleague Evans for a quarter of a century, since they worked together at Continuum Books. Nowadays, the man formerly known as St@ prefers to take the ‘healthier’ mash free option.

Your scribe was adorned like a deck-chair in nautical blue. After my previous stodgy dining experience at Flo’s in Crayford, I had to tread carefully - these pies were as densely packed as a fully armed sea mine.

A noble decanter of Chilli Vinegar, festooned with the shop’s iconic logo, was appropriately situated on the starboard side for much needed assistance.

The conversation level gradually dipped as the mariners sought to successfully complete their perilous voyage around the pies.

Some of us employed ingenious means to cut through the scran. Greenfield took the advantage of the complementary bread on offer, by making a southern version of the Wigan Kebab. Could this intriguing variation on the classic dish catch on?

With the Olympics only a few weeks away, Mosse decided to don the club’s now faded athletic apparel. The t-shirt which was designed twelve years ago for the London Olympics sported the famous five rings above the title. Sadly, the printer balked at the possibility of a copyright infringement.

With our appetites beginning to wane, a couple of brave souls went for afters. Saunders nimbly upped his point tally by five points with an additional single pie with liquor. Whilst, Moore went for the sweeter option by going for a portion of home-made bread pudding with custard - isn’t life sweet?

Situated above the entrance are two recent portraits of the owners’ children Alfie and Florence, dressed up as a Pearly King and Queen rather appropriately.

Check out the photo gallery, that shows the shop in various stages of construction.

The pies are prepared by Nick each morning at the Crayford branch, then shipped down to Folkestone prior to opening time. Managing the activities around the shop were Jen, Ruby and Rebecca (l-r).

Some useful peptalk from an inspirational poster, valuable for those who are unfamiliar with pie & mash.

The End of the Pier Crew

After the gastronomic hijinks, we were in search of a suitable place of libation. We eventually found it at the British Lion, a quiet back-street boozer purported to be the oldest pub in town and dating from the 15th century. In jubilant mood, we quaffed a few tipples in the pub garden, and toasted to the best of British.

We then took a promenade down the seafront, walking along the tracks of the former railway line towards Folkestone Harbour Station, that once carried boat trains on towards France. With the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994, services gradually dwindled and the station closed in 2009.

Sail away, on the seven seas of pie.

MG