It’s true that no one loves a pie quite like us Northerners, but it seems there’s a Southerner giving us a run for our money.
Reckon you’ve got an appetite for pies?
Well, whatever you think about the size of your stomach when it comes to pastry chomping, the likelihood is that it isn’t as large as that of Max Stanford.
Amateur competitive eater Max – who is known as Max vs Food online and is currently ranked number two in the British Eating League – recently took on a pie and mash challenge and scoffed down 18 pies, as well as seven large helpings of mash and liquor, all in less than 45 minutes.
Yes, as mad as it sounds, he managed to defeat this 8,000 calorie beast in under an hour.
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Max Stanford
The London-native completed the challenge at well-known traditional pie and mash eatery Manzes in Peckham and successfully consumed a five kilogram plate that was said to be “the size of a toddler” in just three quarters of an hour.
Speaking to LADbible about tackling the challenge, Max said: “I ate 18 traditional beef pies and seven portions of mash and liquor weighting a total of 5kg/11lb from Manze’s Pie and Mash shop in Peckham, which I finished in 43 minutes.
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“It was definitely one of the hardest and biggest food challenges I have ever done.”
He’s managed to complete a wide range of challenges in the past, but nothing compares to this one.
He continued: “I could think of nothing better than pie, mash and liquor. I’ve always gone to the Manzes pie and mash shop throughout my childhood with my Dad.”
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Taking to social media to congratulate “incredibly nice guy” Max on successfully completing the challenge, Manzes Pie and Mash said: “We welcomed Max into our Peckham shop. [He] has grown up eating pie and mash and he wanted to challenge himself – well boy did he do that,
“18 pies, [seven] mash and a load of liquor in under 45 minutes – he awaits a challenger.”
They also wished him “good luck” with the competitive eating and admitted that he is “smashing it”.
You can watch Max conquer the 8,000 calories on YouTube here:
We’re full from just watching that.
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After successfully managing to pull off this monster of a challenge, we think Max deserves an honorary Northerner title for this one, right? He could relocate to Wigan anytime.
Nice one, mate.
You can keep up to date with Max Stanford’s latest eating challenges on Instagram and YouTube.
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The cheapest Christmas Markets in the world for mulled wine have been revealed
Daisy Jackson
The most affordable Christmas Markets for drinking mulled wine have been revealed – and Manchester is nowhere in sight.
With Christmas markets across Europe preparing to welcome millions of visitors, festive fans looking to enjoy a warming cup of glühwein without breaking the bank might want to take note of the latest findings.
Festive experts at Christmas Tree World have analysed mulled wine prices at Christmas markets around the world to discover where visitors can enjoy the seasonal favourite for less.
Topping the rankings is Brussels’ Winter Wonders, where mulled wine is available for as little as £2.14 – about a third of the price of a mulled wine at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
Cologne Cathedral Christmas Markets and Strasbourg’s Christkindelsmärik share second place, with starting prices of just £2.56.
Other European favourites also feature prominently in the rankings. Budapest’s Christmas Market at the Basilica takes fourth place, with mulled wine costing £3.19, while Prague’s Old Town Square Christmas Market comes in sixth at £3.55.
Germany makes another strong appearance, with Dresden’s Striezelmarkt and Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt (which handily just launched new direct flights from Manchester) both offering mulled wine for £3.85.
Meanwhile, Vienna’s Christmas World rounds off the European entries in ninth place, with prices starting at £4.28.
For those planning a festive adventure further afield, Tokyo’s Christmas Market also makes the top five, with mulled wine costing £3.22.
However, not every destination offers such a bargain. Across the Atlantic, New York City’s Winter Village takes the title of the most expensive market in the study, with mulled wine costing a rather less festive £11.74. Chicago’s Christkindlmarket isn’t far behind, charging £8.80.
Manchester Christmas Markets start on Friday 6 November – we’ll see how our prices stack up then.
Sir Ian McKellen pays emotional tribute to long-time friend and fellow northern actor Sir Patrick Stewart
Emily Sergeant
Sir Ian McKellen has paid an emotional tribute to his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, following his death.
Sir Patrick Stewart – who was born and bred in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and is best-known for his theatre work alongside an illustrious 60-year screen career, taking on prominent roles in franchises such as Star Trek and X-Men – sadly passed away at the age of 86, with his death being announced publicly yesterday evening (29 October).
And now, his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Ian McKellen, has paid tribute.
Sir Patrick and Sir Ian shared the stage together countless times over their decades-long careers, but also famously starred alongside each other in the X-Men franchise, and subsequent Marvel movies, as Charles Xavier/Professor X and Magneto.
The tribute, shared across Sir Ian’s social media platforms, reads: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions.
“My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”
“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did, for not just his devoted Trekkies, but film and theatre audiences who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin.
“But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”
Emily Sergeant -
24th September 2020 
