Bury Black Pudding is one of Greater Manchester’s most famous and excellent exports, creating a breakfast staple that puts the borough on the culinary map.
This familiar sight on a full English breakfast has been being made using a traditional time-honoured recipe for generations.
And while this delicious blood sausage might not be to everyone’s tastes, Bury Black Pudding is the king of them all.
It’s the leading brand in the UK, with a gold medal-winning recipe dating back more than 100 years, and has a whole variety of flavours including chilli, gluten free, vegetarian and white pudding varieties.
Recently, Bury Black Pudding revealed some of its secrets, allowing the BBC unprecedented access into its factory in Bury for an episode of Inside the Factory.
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The series, hosted by Paddy McGuinness and Cherry Healey, went beneath the surface of this heritage brand, from production all the way through to packaging.
Viewers have been stunned to learn what goes into Bury Black Pudding, and it really isn’t as much of a bloody mess as your imagination might’ve led you to believe.
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In fact, most of the ingredients are cereals – only 5% of it is blood.
And the blood in the blood sausage? It’s powdered.
Bury Black Pudding on BBC’s Inside the Factory. Credit: BBC
In the episode, production director Richard Morris (who has worked for Bury Black Pudding his whole life, following in his grandfather’s footsteps), said: “There’s no big tubs of blood.
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“To actually transport it, it needs to be dry. And there’s also no bacteria in it, so we can use this over a 12 month period.”
Inside every delicious slice you’ll also find oatmeal, pearl barley, rusk, onions and pork fat.
Another surprising thing is the sheer size and volume of the black puddings before they’re portioned and packaged for our homes.
A 600kg batch will make about 3,000 black puddings, with the mixture added to a vacuum filler before being pumped under high pressure into recyclable plastic casings.
Hundreds of these tubes are cooked into a steam oven for an hour and 20 minutes, then sliced into the black pudding we recognise in an ultrasonic slicer.
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3,000 sticks a day, five days a week, are sliced up for the shelves into around 120,000 slices.
Speaking of the opportunity to appear on Inside the Factory, brand and marketing manager Matthew McDermid said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the heritage and passion that goes into making our black pudding.
“We are incredibly proud of our history and our role in bringing this traditional product to consumers, we can’t wait for the nation to see how the UK’s leading brand of black pudding is made.”
Sarah Harding breast cancer study has helped save over 80 women
Thomas Melia
A life-saving study set in memory of Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding has seen her lasting legacy extend far beyond music, as now women across the country are getting cancer tests more frequentlythanks to the research.
Funded by The Christie, The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal began its first phase of the BCAN-RAY (Breast Cancer Risk Assessment in Younger Women) back in May 2023.
Led by Dr Sacha Howell, who was Harding’s consultant, the work explores risk factors and creates personalised early screening options for women as young as 30.
This is extremely important as currently women are only invited for routine breast screenings every three years from 50 onwards. Awareness and being proactive are just as important as research.
Sarah Harding, who passed away in 2021, has a dedicated mural in her hometown of Stockport.Credit: The Manc Group
The studies set up in Sarah‘s legacy are vital now more than ever as breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women aged 35-50 years in the UK.
These more frequent and routine checks from a younger age will be vital, especially since an estimated 10,000 women a year are diagnosed under 50.
The BCAN-RAY study has recruited 500 women aged between 30 and 39 years old, who have had their risk assessment appointments.
Out of this number – 404 patients have been given their risks – 316 as ‘average risk’ and 88 were found as ‘increased risk’.
88 were found as ‘increased risk’ with 58 of these receiving telephone calls to discuss further implications and discuss strategies to reduce this such as diet, exercise and medication.
So far 18 women have had their first mammogram, with no recalls or cancer identified. Following this, each woman is offered regular screening every year until their NHS breast screening starts at age 50.
Dr Sacha Howell commented, “We’re really confident that we have a system that is working, from the results so far, which is great news, these findings mean that we may be able to offer personalised ways to predict and prevent breast cancer more widely in the population in future”.
Girls Aloud featured a glorious tribute to Sarah Harding each night of the show.The lovely Sarah Harding singing to Manchester one last time.Credit: Audio North
In 2022, The Christie art and relaxation room received a wonderful makeover from proceeds raised at the Primrose Ball organised by Girls Aloud.
Within this room, visitors can find a lovely framed picture of Sarah Harding with the quote, “The darkest nights produce the brightest stars” and with all the work accomplished so far, we couldn’t agree more.
If you would like to show your support and help fund this life-changing research set up in Sarah’s legacy, you can donate HERE.
‘Open-minded’ single Mancs wanted for new series of hit reality show Love Is Blind UK
Emily Sergeant
The next series of hit reality dating show Love Is Blind UK is currently in the works, and Mancs are being encouraged to apply.
‘Open-minded’ and single Mancs that is, of course.
There’s no denying that Love Is Blind has become a smash-hit since the US version first aired on Netflix in the early days of lockdown in 2020, with four additional seasons airing afterwards, and the UK remake hosted by Matt and Emma Willis first hitting our screens last August.
If you’ve never had the chance to watch it before, the show promotes itself as a social experiment where single men and women look for love and get engaged, all before meeting in person.
The cast members are initially paired up in a speed-dating format, but later can choose to have longer dates, and the daters may extend a marriage proposal whenever they feel ready, but a couple only meets face-to-face for the first time after a marriage proposal is accepted.
The series has gained a cult following over the years, receiving mostly positive reviews by critics too.
Following the success of the first UK series, producers have now put a casting call live and are on the look out for people brave enough to fall in love without seeing their partner in person to apply – including Greater Manchester residents.
A casting call on the Love Is Blind UK website reads: “Love is Blind UK is currently on the lookout for single, open-minded individuals from across the UK and Ireland, who are ready to take the plunge into finding true love.
‘Open-minded’ single Mancs are wanted for the next series of hit reality show Love Is Blind UK / Credit: Netflix
The show is all about discovering whether love really is blind, with participants growing deep connections with potential partners without the initial distractions of physical appearance.
“It’s an exciting and unique approach to finding love, and one that has proven successful in the past… so, if you’re ready for an adventure and want to explore the possibility of finding love in a new and exciting way, then why not consider applying for Love is Blind UK?
“It could be the start of an incredible journey towards finding the one.”
Fancy it then? Applications for the second series of Love Is Blind UK are now live, and you must be 18 years of age or over to apply, and have the right to reside in the UK or Ireland.
Daisy Jackson -
22nd February 2025 
