Putting Barnard Castle’s pies to the test

Barney is one of Britain’s best for pies.

According to a study from hotel booking site LateRooms, Barnard Castle is the best small town in the country for pies – ranking fourth overall.

It means the town is rubbing shoulders with the likes of pork pie capital Melton Mowbray.

But what puts our pies in the upper crust?

The Mercury visited the five butchers and pie sellers referenced in the report to get a taste of success.

At McFarlane Family Butchers on the corner of Horse Market and Galgate, pies are home baked by Stuart McFarlane and Aimee Rowe.

Their minted lamb pie is the star of the show, earning a bronze award in the 2026 British Pie Awards.

The minted lamb is a huge hit.

By 10am on Tuesday, it was already sold out.

The shop’s pork pies (£2.50) are also big sellers, and for good reason.

Another top seller is the Scotch pie which features haggis and peppercorn sauce.

The butchers is gearing up for Christmas with its big pork pies and game pies.

Asked what goes into the game pie, Aimee said: “Everything – venison, duck, pigeon, pheasant.”

In the Mercury’s not very highly scientific taste test of the pork pies the rich seasoning and the delightfully flaky pastry won high praise.

Next door, Halls Bakers is the newest addition to the pie scene having opened its doors about a year ago.

Their home-baked pies use meat from McFarlane’s.

Owner Stacey Hall says the dalesman pies go quickly – selling out… well, like hot pies before afternoon.

The shop is now selling their “festive one” pies (£3.95) and sausage rolls which include turkey, cranberry sauce, their own recipe stuffing and a pig-in-blanket.

The Mercury’s tasting crew was impressed with the generous filling and melt-in-the-mouth pastry.

A few doors down, William Peat Bakery & Deli is stocked with freshly-made pies from a bakehouse in Crook.

Pork, steak, and steak and kidney are among the best-sellers, and there are seasonal ranges, especially in the run-up to Christmas.

“We have the bakehouse, so if somebody wants something different we can get that ordered in,” said Emma Gilham.

“And we sell big slabs of the corned beef and steak slices, which do well.”

Family-sized pies are also popular with demand for chicken often outstripping supply.

After sampling the steak and kidney pie (£2.50), the Mercury’s taste testers were impressed with the amount of rich, flavoursome filling.

Rise Artisan Baker is thriving after a recent refit to replace the upstairs café with a mini farm shop.

Downstairs, the bakery turns out some belting pies, with their steak pie being the top seller.

Alex Lister of Rise said other pie varieties such as chicken and ham, steak and onion, minted lamb, ham and egg and black spot (black pudding) are rotated.

There are also vegeterian pies such as cheese and onion, cheese and leek, and hummus.

Alex said: “Everything is made on site, we use local butchers, Peats, so we keep it as local as possible.”

The Mercury’s experts found the steak pie to be “outstanding”, full of quality meat and a delicious gravy packed into a fine pastry case.

At the top of Galgate, Andalucia combines continental flair with hearty fare.

The steak pies are the stuff of legend, and chicken, lamb and mint, and corned beef slice are also big sellers.

“The steak pie and the corned beef are the most popular,” said Christine Taylour.

“We don’t have enough capacity to do them all in the shop so we have them made off site then we cook them up in the shop.

“The lamb and mint and the corned beef slice are completely made here.

“We started the lamb during lockdown and it proved so popular we kept it on.”

Pies are also available to eat in Andalucia’s café, and Christine insists takeaways must be heated up.

That brings the best out of another well-filled pie, stuffed with a quality cut of beef in a rich gravy.

• Have you eaten all the pies? Share your favourites with us – write to letters@teesdalemercury.co.uk