A couple in Saddleworth who "officially make some of the best pies in Britain" have announced their bakery is moving into a new home next month.

Tunnel End Pie Co, which has been based in a kitchen at Saddleworth Cookery School since the second lockdown in 2021, is run by husband and wife, Mark and Gill Bradley.

The Bradleys have decades of experience in baking between them and had previously run cafes in Uppermill before turning their passion for pastry into a business. 

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Their expertise soon gained local recognition as they went on to stock chip shops, cafes and other retailers in Oldham with their high-quality pies.

The Oldham Times: Mark and Gill Bradley in the kitchen at Saddleworth Cookery School Mark and Gill Bradley in the kitchen at Saddleworth Cookery School (Image: Tunnel End Pie Co)

Last year, the couple then went head-to-head with almost 1,000 other pie pros to battle for a crown at the British Pie Awards 2022 in Melton Mowbray.

They won two silver awards for their cheese and onion pie and their pork and hot scotch bonnet chutney pie, marking them as some of the best pie-makers in Britain. 

Now, the pair have announced Tunnel End Pie Company has found a brand new premises to operate in over on 45 High Street, Uppermill, where its doors will open on Wednesday, October 4.

Reflecting on the journey so far, the Bradleys said in a post on social media: "Our little bakery started in the second winter lockdown after we found a base to work from, Saddleworth Cookery School, in Diggle.

The Oldham Times: The company is named after the tunnel gates at the end of the Huddersfield canalThe company is named after the tunnel gates at the end of the Huddersfield canal (Image: Tunnel End Pie Co)

"This enabled us to do local pie deliveries throughout the area and the business grew and we needed a name.

"Tunnel End Pies was suggested by one of the owners of the cookery school and we thought it was a great name and the rest, they say, is history."

The duo said the company is named after the tunnel end gates at Diggle and even their logo is based on the distinct Huddersfield canal gate which covers the Standedge tunnel.

The post continued: "We are a little bit further away from the canal now but we have the beautiful river Tame running alongside the bakery.

"We couldn't ask for a more perfect setting, even in the rain."

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