Pie & Mash & Eels

At Manze’s Tower Bridge Rd, London’s oldest Pie & Mash Shop, which opened in 1897

In days like these, we all need steaming-hot pie & mash & eels to fortify us, as we face the vicissitudes of life and the weather. It gave photographer Stuart Freedman the excuse to visit some favourite culinary destinations and serve up these tasty pictures for us, accompanied by this brief historical introduction as an appetiser.

Eels have long been a staple part of London food and were once synonymous with the city and its people. Lear’s Fool in his ramblings to the King, witters – “Cry to it, nuncle, as the Cockney did to the eels when she put ‘em i’ the paste alive, she knapped ‘em o’ the coxcombs with a stick, and cried ‘Down, wantons, down!’”

In a city bisected by the Thames, the eel’s popularity was that it was plentiful, cheap and, when most meat or fish had to be preserved in salt, eels could be kept alive in puddles of water. Reverend David Badham reports in his ‘Prose Halieutics Or Ancient & Modern Fish Tattle’ in 1854 – “London steams and teems with eels alive and stewed. For one halfpenny, a man of the million may fill his stomach with six or seven long pieces and wash them down with a sip of the glutinous liquid they are stewed in.”

Such was the demand that eels were brought over from The Netherlands in great quantities by Dutch eel schuyts, commended for helping feed London during the Great Fire. Although they were seen as inferior to domestic eels, the British government rewarded the Dutch for their charity by Act of Parliament in 1699, granting them exclusive rights to sell eels from their barges on the Thames.

When the Thames became increasingly polluted and could no longer sustain a significant eel populationduring the nineteenth century, the Dutch ships had to stop further upstream to prevent their cargo being spoiled and the rise of the Pie & Mash Shops was a direct result of the adulteration of eels and pies sold on the streets.

A delivery of live eels at F. Cooke in Hoxton

Joe Cooke kills and guts the eels freshly at the rear of his shop in Hoxton Market

A dish of jellied eels served up in Hoxton

Paddy makes the pie lids at F. Cooke in Broadway Market

Tasty pies awaiting their destiny in Broadway Market

Joe strains the golden potatoes in Hoxton

Joe fills a bucket of creamy mash behind the counter in Hoxton

Kelly dishes up pies & mash with liquor at Manze’s in Tower Bridge Rd

Tucking in at Manze’s in Tower Bridge Rd

Manze’s, Walthamstow

Manze’s, Tower Bridge Rd

Sawdust at Manze’s in Walthamstow

Victorian tiling at Manze’s in Tower Bridge Rd

Original 1897 interior at Manze’s in Tower Bridge Rd

Lisa at Manze’s in Walthamstow

Miss Emily McKay enjoying pie & mash as an eighty-eighth birthday treat in Broadway Market

Clock of 1911 at F. Cooke in Broadway Market

Interior of F. Cooke in Broadway Market

F.Cooke – “trading from this premises since 1900″

Enjoying eels in Hoxton Market

Interior of Manze’s in Walthamstow

Art Nouveau tiles in Walthamstow

Vinegar, salt & pepper on marble tables at F.Cooke in Hoxton Market

Wolfing it down at Manze’s in Tower Bridge Rd

Glass teacups at Manze’s in Walthamstow

Wooden benches and tables of marble and wrought iron at Manze’s in Tower Bridge Rd

Bob Cooke, fourth generation piemaker, at F.Cooke in Broadway Market

Directory of Traditional Pie and Mash Shops
AL'S, 100 High St, Hornchurch, RM12 4UH	01708 455360
ARMENT'S, 7–9 Westmoreland Road, Walworth SE17 2AX	020 7703 4974
B J's, 330 Barking Road, Plaistow E13 8HL	020 7474 3389
BATTERSEA PIE STATION, 28 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden Market, London WC2E 8RA	020 7240 9566
BROOK Pie & Mash, 833 Dagenham Rd, Dagenham, RM10 7UP	020 8593 5039
BROWNIES Pie & Mash, 26 Queen St, Haverhill, Suffolk, CB9 9EF	01440 712 020
BRUV'S PIE AND MASH, 401 Bath Road, Slough SL1 5QL	01628 663608
BYRNES Pie & Eel House, 5 Ross Parade, Wallington, Surrey SM6 8QG	07939 035074
CASTLE'S, 229 Royal College Street, Camden NW1 9LT	020 7485 2196
COCKNEY'S, 314 Portobello Road, Ladbroke Grove W10 5RU	020 8960 9409
COCKNEY GRUB HOUSE, 823 High Road, Goodmayes, Essex IG3 8TD	020 8597 8545
COCKNEY'S OF CROYDON, 51 Frith Road, Croydon CR0 1TB	020 8680 4512
COCKNEY'S, 73 High Street, Ramsgate, Kent CT11 9RJ	07498 559850
COOKE'S (F), 150 Hoxton Street, Hoxton N1 6SH	020 7729 7718
COOKE'S (F), 9 Broadway Market, London Fields E8 4PH	020 7254 6458
COOKE'S (F), 67A Farnham Road, Town Centre, Romford RM3 8ED	01708 340 400
DANDY'S Pie & Mash, 28 Clacton Road, Saint Osyth, Essex CO16 8PA	01255 822223
DANNY'S, 100 High St, Barkingside, Ilford, IG6 2DR	020 8220 0510
EASTENDERS PIE ‘N’ MASH [aka 'TRADITIONAL'], 171 East India Dock Road, Poplar E14 0EA	020 7515 4553
EEL & PIE HOUSE, 24A Rosemary Rd, Clacton-on-Sea, CO15 1NZ	01255 420142
FARROW (LOU), 279 Southwark Park Road, Bermondsey SE16 3TP	020 7237 3774
FOYLES, 3 East Beach Street, Hastings East Sussex TN34 3AR	01424 428811
FRANK'S PIE AND MASH, 68 Furtherwick Road, Canvey Island, SS8 7AJ
FRASIER'S, 72 Central Parade, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 5JQ	07864 293155
GODDARD, A J, 203 Deptford High Street SE8 3NT	020 8692 3601
GODDARDS AT GREENWICH, 22 King William Walk Greenwich SE10 9HU	020 8305 9612
GOLDEN PIE, 188 Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TQ	020 7924 6333
GUVNOR'S Pie & Mash Shop, 196 Burrs Road, Clacton-On-Sea, Essex, CO15 4LN	01255 429142
HARRINGTON'S, 3 Selkirk Road, Tooting SW17 0ER	020 8672 1877
HEATH Pie Shop, 696 Becontree Avenue, Dagenham, RM8 3HD	020 8592 1091
JD's PIE AND MASH. 17, Pallister Rd, Clacton-On-Sea, Essex CO15 1PQ	01255 222082
KELLY'S (G), 414 Bethnal Green Road, E2 0DJ	020 7739 3603
KELLY'S (G. F.), 526 Roman Road, Bow E3 5ES	020 8980 3165
KELLY'S (S&R), 284 Bethnal Green Road, Globe Town E2 0AG	020 7739 8676
KELLY'S Pie and Mash, 82 The Broadway, Debden IG10 3ST	020 8508 7113
KONCH'S KAFE – PIE & MASH, 5 Moores Place, Brentwood CM14 4AG	01277 200155
LB’s Pie and Mash, 16 Wellington Parade, Blackfen Road, Sidcup, Kent DA15 9NB	07919 408206
LUSTY'S PIE EMPORIUM, Jolliffes, 11 Shooters Hill, Cowes, Isle Of Wight PO31 7BE	07886 835 048
MACK'S, 29b High Street, Stevenage Old Town, Hertfordshire SG1 3AU	01438 317721
MANZE'S, 74 Chapel Market, Angel N1 9ER	020 7837 5270
MANZE'S (AA), 204 Deptford High Street SE8 3PR	020 8692 2375
MANZE'S (L), 76 Walthamstow High Street E17 7LD	020 8520 2855
MANZE'S (L), 9 Fawkon Walk Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire EN11 8FG	01992 446 962
MANZE'S (M), 87 Tower Bridge Road, Borough SE1 4TW	020 7407 2985
MANZE'S (M), 105 Peckham High Street SE15 5RS	020 7277 6181
MANZE'S (M), 226 High St, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1NT	020 8286 8787
MALDON PIE AND EEL HOUSE, 136 High Street, Maldon, Essex CM9 5BX	01621 842859
MAUREEN'S, 6 Market Way, Chrisp Street Market, Poplar E14 6AQ	07956 381216
McDOWELL PIE SHOP, 30 High St, Romford, RM1 1HR	01708 722749
MILLERS PIE & MASH, 8 Albert Rd, Belvedere, Kent DA17 5LJ	07979 050392
MOTTIE'S, 34 Swanley Centre, Swanley, Kent BR8 7TL	01322 667 333
NATHAN'S, 51 Barking Road, Upton Park E6 1PY	020 8472 3910
NOTED EEL & PIE SHOP, 481a Leytonstone High Road E11 4JU	020 8539 2499
PAUL'S, 40-42 Leysdown Rd, Leysdown-on-Sea, Sheerness, ME12 4RE	01795 510783
PIE HOUSE, THE, 181 Tuckton Road, Tuckton, Christchurch, BH6 3LA	01202 419856
PIE SHOP, THE, (KENROY'S) 149 Broadway, Bexleyheath, Kent DA6 7EZ	020 8304 8287
PIE & MASH SHOP, 32 Upper Wickham Lane, Welling, Kent DA16 3HF	020 8303 5122
PIER PIE & MASH, Clacton Pier [Tim Kelly, proprietor]	07971 171378
RAYMOND'S Pie & Mash Shop, 10 Passey Place, Eltham SE9 5DQ	020 8850 9062
ROB'S TRADITIONAL PIE AND MASH, 108 Turners Hill, Cheshunt EN8 9BN	01992 620328
ROBINS, 14 High Street, Wanstead E11 2AJ	020 8989 1988
ROBINS, 65-67 Market Square, Basildon, Essex SS14 1DE	01268 271 713
ROBINS Original Pie & Mash, 9-11 Quadrant Arcade, Romford, RM1 3ED	01708 752552
ROBINS, 15 Clarence Street, Southend, Essex SS1 1BH	01702 436396
SAINSY'S, Level 3 The Foodcourt Lakeside Shopping Centre Essex RM20 2ZP	01708 861918
SALLY JANE'S Traditional Pie 'n' Mash, 2 Beach Station Rd, Felixstowe, Suffolk IP11 2DR	01394 654444
SCOTT'S Pie & Mash, 51 The Walnuts Orpington, BR6 0TW	01689 876744
SCOTT'S KITCHEN Pie & Mash, 117 Cotmandene Crescent, St Mary Cray BR5 2RB	0208 325 3634
SEASIDE PIE AND MASH, 22 Seaside Road, Eastbourne BN21 3PA	07514 088477
SHELLEY'S Pie and Mash Shop, 9 Garden Street, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9HN	01263 515304
SIE'S Pie & Mash, 1 Kempthorne St, St. Georges Centre, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 0TA	07468 600031
SKIPTON PIE & MASH SHOP, Waterside Court, 5 Coach Street, Skipton BD23 1LH	01756 790829
SMIFFY'S PIE & MASH, 12 Tudor Parade, Well Hall Road, Eltham SE9 6SX	020 8850 2212
STACEY'S PIE AND MASH SHOP, 221 Timberlog Lane, Basildon, SS14 1PB	01268 555 857
STARGAZY, 1838 East Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
STOKEMOORES PIE & MASH, 194, Elm Park Avenue, Elm Park, Essex, RM12 4SD	01708 440 480
TONY'S PIE-N-MASH, 7 Market Square Waltham Abbey EN9 1DP	01992 652798
TRADITIONAL EAST END PIE SHOP, 538a Barking Road, Plaistow E13 8QE	020 8471 9745
WHITES Pie & Mash, 95 High St, Walton on the Naze, CO14 8AA	01255 675612
WINNIE'S, 50 Station Rd, Chingford, London E4 7BE	020 8524 1824
2. Mobile Pie and Mash
A AND A MOBILE CAFE [East London/Essex area]	07741 285 739
COCKNEY'S MOBILE PIE & MASH [affiliated with Cockney's of Croydon]	07985 199207
LANEY'S PIE & MASH [Sussex/Kent area]	07841 113063
LONDON PIE AND MASH COMPANY [www.londonpieandmashcompany.co.uk]	07912 613869
MACA & DJ's Pie & Mash Stall, St. Peter's Street, St Albans, Herts [Weds & Sats]	07539 391843
UNCLE'S PIE AND MASH [unclespieandmash.com]	07543 286 675
3. Cafes serving Pie and Mash
ANDREWS FISH BAR, 18 Amwell End, Ware, SG12 9HW	01920 421031
BUNTERS CAFE, 63, Hounslow Road, Hanworth, Middlesex, TW13 6QA [Friday only]	020 8893 9183
CAFE PIE-N-MASH 139 Hastings Road, Bromley BR2 8NQ	020 7998 9397
CAFE,THE, 14 Nightingale Road, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 5FE	01403 242229
CEBO CAFE, 145a South Coast Road, Peacehaven BN10 8NN	01273 586060
CHERRY TREE CAFE, 133 New Rd, Rainham RM13 8ES	01708 555208
CLARENCE RESTAURANT, 13 Clarence Street, Southend, Essex SS1 1BH	01702 339283
COSY CAFE, 57 Southernhay, Basildon, SS14 1EU	01268 288 776
CUJO'S, 253 Chingford Mount Road E4 8LP [Pies made on the premises]	0208 529 0089
EEL PIE ISLAND, 70-72 High St, Gillingham, ME7 1AY	01634 581 645
FAMILY CAFÉ Pie & Mash, 5 Weston St Southend SS1 1AS	01702 435 333
THE FULL ENGLISH CAFÉ, 296 Durrants Rd, Ponders End EN3 7AZ	020 8804 5553
GEORGE'S CAFE & PIE AND MASH, 18 Station Lane, Basildon SS13 3BG	01268 559955
GRAYS Cafe & Pie & Mash, 19 Orsett Rd, Grays, RM17 5DS	01375 398455
HARD WORK CAFE, 47 Burnt Oak Broadway, Edgware, London HA8 5JZ	020 8200 8077
HOLE IN THE WALL CAFE, 87 Great North Road, Barnet EN5 1AY	020 8449 0387
HOT POTATO, 28 High Street, Dymchurch, Kent TN29 0NU
KEANE'S CAFE, 292 Lower High Street, Watford WD17 2JE	01923 221962
LITTLE CAFE, THE, 201a Moulsham St, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 0LG	01245 359797
NESS CAFE, 71 Ness Road, Shoeburyness, Essex SS3 9DB	01702 831 830
RAMSGATE CAFE, 332 Margate Rd, Ramsgate CT12 6SQ	01843 855 173
SOMETHING FISHY (inc 'Blighty's), 117-119 Lewisham High Street SE13 6AT	020 8318 9577
SOMETHING FISHY, 406 Downham Way, Downham BR1 5HR	020 8461 5114
SPUD'S ON THE GO, 10 Denmark Road, Lowestoft NR32 4BB	07859 811045
TIME AND PLAICE/DARTFORD PIE AND MASH, 4 Spital St, Dartford, DA1 2DL	01322 290999
WILLESBOROUGH Cafe & Pie Shop, 131 Church Road, Willesborough, Kent TN24 0AB	07769 340 920
4. No longer in business . . . Pie and Mash shops closed since 1994
ALBERT'S, 174 Copenhagen Street, King's Cross N1
ARMENT'S, 5 Green Dragon Court, Borough Market, London Bridge SE1 9AW	closed 27.09.2015
ATKINS (B J), 54 Fife Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 1SU
B C's, 30 Abbotsbury Road, Morden, Surrey SM4 5LQ
BERT'S, 3 Peckham Park Road, Peckham SE15 6TR
BURROUGH'S, 426 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton SW9
CHARLES Pie & Mash Shop, 691a Green Lane, Dagenham RM8 1UU	closed 2011?
CHASE SIDE Pie & Mash [aka 'Micks Pie and Tash'] 183 Chase Side Enfield EN2 0PT	closed 2012
CLARK'S, 46 Exmouth Market, Finsbury EC1R 4QE	closed 23.03.2013
COOKE'S (A), 48 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush W12 8DH	closed 25.07.2015
COOKE'S (F), 41 Kingsland High Street, Dalston E8	closed Dec 1996
COOKE'S (R), 84 The Cut, Waterloo SE1
DUNCAN'S PIE, MASH & EELS, 365 Green St, Upton Park E13 9AR	closed 02.01.2012
DYE'S PIE AND MASH, 308 Munster Road, Fulham, London SW6 6BH	closed late 2014
EEL & PIE SHOP, 140 Wandsworth Bridge Road, Walham Green SW6
GEORGE'S, 78 Hermit Road, Canning Town E16
GEORGE'S, 21 Fore Street, St Marychurch, Torquay, Devon, TQ1 4NQ
GOODING (J), 257 Well Street, Hackney E9 6RG
HARRINGTON'S, 361 Wandsworth Road, Nine Elms SW8
HENRY OWEN’S, 23 Cheam Common Road, Worcester Park, Surrey, KT4 8TL	closed 23.09.2013
HOOK (R), 155 Whitecross Street, Moorgate EC1
HUMBLE PIE, 6 Long Drive, South Ruislip HA4 0HG
JEFF & CHELE'S, 5 Oliver Road, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK2 2SF
KELLY'S (G), 600 Roman Road, Bow E3 2RW
LAWSON'S Eel and Pie House, 5 Ladygate Centre, Wickford High St, Essex SS12 9AJ	closed late 2014
LEDIARD (P), 38 West Ham Lane, Stratford E15
LIL'S PIE AND MASH, Trackside, 3c The Maltings, Sawbridgeworth CM21 9JX
LONDON PIE AND MASH, 3 Market Street, Margate CT9 1EU	closed 2013?
MAC'S, 8-10 Blenheim Grove, Peckham Rye SE15
McDOWELLS, 57 Southernhay, Basildon, SS14 1EU	closed 2015?
MR DALY'S PIE AND MASH SHOP, 15 Brighton Square, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1HD	open/closed 2013
NOTED EEL & PIE SHOP, 15 Rathbone Market, Canning Town E16
NOTED EEL & PIE SHOP, 55 Wood Street, Walthamstow E17 3JX	closed 28.02.14
PEARLY'S, 140 High Street, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 7BU	closed 2013
PETER'S, 91 Watney Street, Shadwell E1 2QE	closed Feb 2011
PIE & MASH SHOP, 16 Terminus Street, Harlow, Essex
PIE AND MASH AND SEAFOOD, 20 Lisson Grove [next to Job Centre] London NW1 6TT	closed 2014
PIE MASH & LIQUOR, 15 East St, Newquay, TR7 1DN
PIE SHOP, THE, (Kenroy's) 5 Woolwich New Road, SE18 6EX	closed 26.03.2011
RAYMOND'S, 12 Broadway Market, Catford SE6
ROBINS, 150 Roman Road, Bethnal Green E2 0RY
ROBINS, 105 High Street North, East Ham E12
ROBINS, 17 Chapel Road, Ilford, Essex IG1 2AF	closed 03.11.2012
ROBINS [Pie & Mash Portacabin] Gallions Reach Retail Park, Beckton, London E6 7ER	closed 05.09.2015
ROY'S, 3 Station Parade/Heathway, Dagenham, RM9 5AW	closed 31.07.2014
ROY'S, 59 Queens Market, Upton Park E13
TAYLOR'S, 8 Red Lion Walk, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1DX
UPMINSTER PIE AND MASH, 177 St. Mary’s Lane, Upminster RM14

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