The eagle has landed on a new season. Just after 1pm, a group of hungry chappies congregated around the pavement outside M. Manze, brimming with energy and excitement after a long Summer recess.

We immediately went headlong into a crowd of people queuing by the door. Sunday was formerly a quiet trading day for the shop, but in recent months these tables have literally turned.

The shop was close to capacity and bursting at the seams as the staff tried to cope with the deluge of customers, while processing through a multitude of orders in rapid succession.

At one point we were concerned whether we’d able to secure a table at all in the midst of this hubbub.

Due to the intense trading conditions, we had a long wait for our eels. When they finally arrived, we eagerly snapped up a few portions. Both, Ray Goldstone and Douglas Benford are fans of this member of Anguilla family. They deftly doused their servings with lashings of chilli-vinegar, which helped cut through the buttery flavours coming from the eels.

Whether jellied or stewed, eel portions here are relatively paltry. As the prices continue to climb the greasy pole, these fishy morsels are increasingly becoming a premium.

Yuri Nemkoff touched down after a 15-month absence. His jaded appetite restricted him to just a singular portion of jellied eels. Let’s hope he shores up the points next time, otherwise the wooden liquor spoon will come knocking on his door.

His table companion Nick Evans was raring to go. He brought along a vial of volcanic Ghost Chilli hot sauce which tasted liked rocket fuel and pummelled his tastebuds as he cut through his grub.

Paul Chrysanthou hit the ground running with a sizeable serving of three pies, two mash and one eels. He dubbed his meal ‘Ted Rogers’ named after the presenter of the legendary quiz show 3-2-1. Could this be a potential eating challenge in the making?

Meanwhile, Keith Allwright consumed his usual 2&2 portion. Sticking to game show theme, perhaps Double Your Money would suffice?

Seasoned explorer Colin Price has had an eventful Summer travelling around the home counties in search of pie & mash; from visiting cafés in the eastern fringes of London to dropping by coastal p&m outposts dotted around Southend. If he keeps up this pace, soon he’ll be able to log his ventures into a book entitled ‘Around the World in 80 Pies’.

This shop is near to the former R. Cooke’s on the Cut, where the club held their earliest meetings. Richard Lucas was keen to point out that before officially starting the league, he and a few colleagues visited the shop for a few dry runs in early 1994.

Pie the beholder: at Manze's they pack their pies with raw mince and gravy browning prior to cooking. Although this is a brilliant time-saving method when dishing out hundreds of pies, this approach is somewhat contentious for some as it tends to make the filling somewhat oily and a tad underdone at times.

Alan Smith was keen to stock up some local delicacies before flocking back to New Zealand to his Winter roosting grounds.

At a work reunion event a few months back, he was reunited with former colleague Sandra Margolies, who attended a few club meetings nearly a decade ago. It was great to see her back in the fold after 8 years.

Ian Burr took the gravy boat out with his meal. As a dyed-in-the-wool Yorkshireman, he finds gravy a preferable accompaniment over liquor.

Benford was shoring up the energy cells for a double roster of musical performances later than evening.

The club at full steam.

Since our last visit, Manze’s has cashed in on its growing popularity with the Tik-Tok and Instagram crowd by providing an assortment of dessert options to cater those with a sweet tooth.

Desserts here come in all shapes and sizes from oblongs, circles to isosceles triangles. This came in handy for Chrystanthou and Allwright, when it came to comparing the mathematical contours of their respective bread puddings.

Your recorder was perplexed by the appearance of his fare, which resembled a stealth bomber set against a sea of custard. While, Margolies’ portion of spotted dick look more like a hockey puck than your typical dome-like structure.

The Tower Bridge Pie Raiders

Some much needed post-meal libation was sought after at the club’s favourite watering hole, The Royal Oak, which has been under the ownership of Lewes based brewers Harvey’s for 28 years as of this month.

Yours Historically

MG