Humble pie

Wigan, just 30 minutes by car from Manchester, is famous for its pies.
Land of the bakery, where men tend to look like gym-loving beefcakes, is home to a variety of late night junk food options.
You can opt for a Wigan kebab - a big old meat pie on a skewer, inside a white barm (bread roll in Wiganese) - or for those who can't decide what they fancy, doner kebab pies are also on offer. For those who don't know, that's acres of greasy, spicy lamb lips and scrotums, mixed up with sauce and served inside a big pie crust. Yum.
Rather predicatably Wigan is the longtime host of the World Pie Eating Championship. Competitive eating is something I've never quite understood, it all seems a bit wasteful and indulgent to me.
But anyway. This year's contest has come under threat to the scourge of healthy eating and the campaign against obesity and general slothfulness which is going on in some sections of society.
In the past, first prize was awarded to the entrant who munches through the most meat and potatoe pies in three minutes. But from now on, the king of pies will be the person who can eat a single pasty in the shortest time, with vegetarian options available for the first time in history. The contest kicks off on December 13.
As the Manchester Evening News explains:

Tony Callaghan, owner of Harry's Bar, said that the rule changes had been because of the healthy eating campaign.
He said: "I realise it may be controversial, but this is the way forward for pie-eating at this level.
"It will make for an exciting sporting spectacle, whilst also doffing its cap to government guidelines on obesity.
"We have also bowed to relentless pressure from the Vegetarian Society and agreed to introduce a vegetarian option, although vegetarian pie-eaters in the competition will be allowed to eat a slightly smaller version because of its rather more glutinous content.
"We will not stop competitors from entering both championships - so there is every possibility we will have a double world champion for the first time."