The Pie At Night: In Search of the North at Play

Stuart Maconie

Sep 2015 · Random House

About this ebook

Factory, mine and mill. Industry, toil and grime. Its manufacturing roots mean we still see the North of England as a hardworking place. But, more than possibly anywhere else, the North has always known how to get dressed up, take itself out on the town and have a good time. After all, working and playing hard is its specialty, and Stuart Maconie is in search of what, exactly, this entails what it tells us about the North today.

Following tip offs and rumour, Stuart takes trip to forgotten corners and locals’ haunts. From the tapas bars of Halifax to the caravan parks of Berwick Upon Tweed, from a Westhoughton bowling green to Manchester’s curry mile, via dog tracks and art galleries, dance floors and high fells, Stuart compares the new and old North, with some surprising results.

The Pie at Night could be seen as a companion to the bestselling Pies and Prejudice, but it is not a sequel. After all, this is a new decade and the North is changing faster than ever. This is a revealing and digressive journey and a State of the North address, delivered from barstool, terrace, dress circle and hillside.

Ratings and reviews

2.5 Stars It's not all flat caps and whippets - unless you're in Yorkshire where they still don't have electric light or fitted carpets (sorry Lancastrian, so not sorry) - and this is what Stuart Maconie is hoping to prove here. At least, that's what I think he's trying to prove. It is very hard to tell between his frequent forays in to locations that are decidedly NOT the North (Sorry but Birmingham, Wolverhampton et al are in a Metropolitan County called the West Midlands - the clue is in the name for goodness sake!) and his constant references to Socialist and Sociology texts. It all managed to make it rather tedious reading and just as you are thinking things are getting better he meanders off again. I had a love/hate relationship with this book and found it very hard going. It didn't help that in many ways this was a North that I genuinely didn't recognise and I have lived in Lancashire all my life. Yes, he does manage to point out that we have a wide and varied cultural heritage up here and we know how to celebrate it BUT (yes it's a big one) somehow the whole tone felt kind of patronising. Yes, he's from up here but it felt as thought he was a Professional Northerner rather than a Real Northener. We didn't get off to the best of starts when talking about Crown Green Bowling - I am semi-affiliated with this peculiar phenomenon because my 26 year old son plays for two league teams. League teams that compromise a wide age range but are mainly under fifty and I was waiting for this to be acknowledged but it still seemed to be the preserve of old men. Then we get on to Football and Rugby League (always League round here, not of that Southern Softies garbage for us where they cuddle on the pitch - sorry have a scrum) and at least he gets the atmosphere at a game right. What I couldn't agree with was his stance on entrance fees - ticket prices are simply ridiculous and are pricing the game out of many people's purview. The thing about the North isn't what we do for play so much as how we try and make work play. I see it daily in our office and have done in my past 20+ years of work. There is a camaraderie and a sense we are all in it together - even with that annoying apprentice in Finance or the slightly weird guy that nobody knows what he does but he turns up every day so we tolerate him. He does at least attempt to recreate some of the bizarre conversations that people round here have - trust me the things you hear on Blackpool Prom are pure comedic bliss. I've been told that Pies And Prejudice is a much better book but after reading this I'm not entirely sure I want to dip my toe in to those waters.

Love the North , and books about it.This one int arf bad !

Just love his northern wit.

About the author

Stuart Maconie is a writer, broadcaster and journalist familiar to millions from his work in print, on radio and on TV. His previous bestsellers have included Cider with Roadies, Pies and Prejudice and Adventures on the High Teas, and he currently hosts the afternoon show on BBC 6music with Mark Radcliffe as well as weekly show The Freak Zone. Based in the cities of Birmingham and Manchester, he can also often be spotted on top of a mountain in the Lake District with a Thermos flask and individual pork pie.