Maws Pies, a beloved Sunderland Brand which ended in scandal, but was any of it true?

Maws pies was a localised chain of pie shops which originated in South Hylton in the 1960s. Famously, the pies would be delivered to around the town in a blue van.

The original store proved to be an instant success and boomed in popularity, leading people to walk miles just to frequent it.

One of its most famous and beloved products was a mince and Mushy pea pie. People spoke of enormous ques outside just to get them.

Soon, Maws Pies expanded into a chain encompassing up to five pie shops around Sunderland at its height.

This included one in Pallion on St. Luke’s Terrace, one in Chester Road, one in Jacky White’s Market, one in the old Park Lane and one purportedly in Southwick.

There are some longstanding legends about what went on in the floor above the shop in Pallion, which was purportedly a “glamour photography studio.”

It has been since claimed that the association with this studio led to the downfall of the business itself in the 1990s, with the owner having got himself in trouble.

But being so long ago, the facts are sketchy, and others have claimed that the owner was set up and framed by the News of the World, a newspaper who’s lack of ethics ironically caused its own downfall.

Running with the headline the “Peeping pie man“, the owner was subject to accusations by the newspaper but ultimately had done nothing illegal.

Yet the financial impact of the scandal was enough to bring him down and end this famous Sunderland brand for good. The closure of Maws Pies on St. Luke’s Terrace marked the end of an era, and many people can only imagine the taste of that hot, distinctive gravy and crust today.