A very special national day is being celebrated for the first time ever today.
Today is the launch of National Cheese Toastie day, as the mighty comfort food takes the crown as the UK’s tastiest lunch option with over a third of Brits picking it as their top spot.
It seems that the UK is a cheese toastie-loving nation as almost half of the country (47%) have admitted to eating toasties weekly, and 20% eating them more than once a week. In total, it’s been revealed – thanks to newly-conducted research by The Yorkshire Creamery – that the British public eat an average of 4.3 billion cheese toasties per year, with 3.3 million people eating a toastie every day, and 31.3 million eating at least one toastie a week.
That’s a lot of cheese.
When it comes to the cheese of choice for the toastie, the undeniable champion was found to be the mighty Cheddar – with two thirds of people choosing it over all other options – and Red Leicester was next on the list, with 13.7% of the vote.
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Cheese and ham is the most popular flavour combination, with 30% of the vote, a classic cheese toastie on its own comes second (23%), and cheese and tomato takes third place (22%).
All in all, 37% of Brits say that a cheese toastie is the tastiest lunch option, and while the jacket potato (21%) and beans on toast (14%) took second and third place respectively, one in five people agreed that there is no better comfort food quite like a cheese toastie.
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What about us Mancunians though?
43% of Mancunians eat a cheese toastie at least once a week.
62% agree that cheddar is the best cheese for a cheese toastie.
40% say the cheese toastie is tastiest lunch option around with – jacket potato 19%, and beans on toast 14% taking second and third spot.
The favourite flavour combos are Ham and cheese 30%, Cheese and Tomato 22%, and Cheese and Onion 20%.
Flickr
Each year on 27th October, the nation is invited to celebrate its love for the mighty cheese toastie on its own national day, so today you’re encouraged dust off your toastie machine, dig out your grill pan, or whip out your toastie bags and get ready to cook up the ultimate British comfort food.
Although, from looking at these new statistics, it seems like every day is cheese toastie day according to some three million Brits.
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What’s the best way to make a cheese toastie though?
Top tips include 39% of people saying you should always use a toastie maker for the perfect cheese toastie, but 18% preferring the grill pan for their cheese toastie fix, and a third of people stating that buttering the outside of the bread is crucial.
One in five people also championed the need to toast the bread first.
Sandra Bell at The Yorkshire Creamery – who founded National Cheese Toastie Day – commented: “Since we launched our range of award-winning cheeses made with milk from local farms and using traditional techniques, we’ve been inviting the nation to toastie together with us and have been overwhelmed by the nation’s love for the mighty cheese toastie.
“The research just backs up what we already thought – that we’re a nation of cheese toastie lovers.
“On the back of this, we’ve decided to etch toasties into our history with a dedicated day to recognise this delicious cheesy delicacy every year. We want to celebrate one of the nation’s favourite comfort foods and bring people together to share recipes, inspiration and new insight on toastie trends.”
Well, we know what we’re having for lunch.
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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.”
Sir Patrick Stewart’s farewell performance will be in Avengers: Doomsday, which is being released in UK cinemas on 18 December 2026
Featured Image – Gage Skidmore (via Flickr)
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Classic FM will be back playing calming music for anxious pets this Bonfire Night
Emily Sergeant
Classic FM will be back playing calming music for anxious pets during this year’s fireworks season.
Bonfire Night may be loved by us humans for the spectacular firework displays and all the festive-themed activities that come along with it… but sadly, the November holiday isn’t quite so fun for our four-legged friends.
Loud bangs, flashing lights, and unpleasant strong smell of spent explosives are just some of the reasons why fireworks are frightening to pets.
Not only that, but with multiple bangs occurring from numerous displays across this time of year, pets are rarely able to pinpoint when and where the booming explosions are coming from, therefore creating even more anxiety around this time of year.
Classic FM will play calming music for anxious pets during this year’s fireworks / Credit: DESIGNECOLOGIST (via Unsplash)
Which is why, for the ninth year running now, Classic FM is once again teaming up with the RSPCA for two Pet Classics programmes packed with ‘the most soothing and comforting classical music’.
The music has been handpicked to help calm and settle any anxious pets.
A survey by the RSPCA revealed that almost two-thirds (63%) of animal owners reported their pet was distressed during fireworks season, and that playing relaxing music was the most common way (36%) to help calm or prepare their animal.
Presenters Dan Walker, Aled Jones, and Dawn O’Porter will each host a night of the specially created programme to help keep the nation’s pets calm through the whizzes and bangs.
Dan will present the first programme on Bonfire Night itself (Thursday 5 November), and then as celebrations continue throughout the weekend, Aled will be on hand to bring some peace to Friday 6 November, and Dawn picks up the baton on Saturday 7 November.
Emily Sergeant -
27th October 2020 
