Legendary Walthamstow pie-and-mash shop L Manze has closed for good

It’s a sad farewell for the east London institution L Manze. It has finally confirmed that it has dished up its traditional delicacies of pies, mash, green liquor and eels for the last time. The Walthamstow landmark has been a slice of history, serving generations of customers eager to fill up on hot tasty edibles in the Grade II-listed shop on the High Street, which had preserved its iconic wooden storefront and authentic tiled decor.

There has been speculation for some time about the future of the shop, with rumours circulating earlier this year on social media that a closure was done deal, sparked by a handwritten message on the shutters directing hungry punters to its other branches. This was something that was denied when MyLondon spoke to Manze’s team in February, who claimed that it was more a case of staff shortages and that the closure was temporary. However, it looks as though changing tastes in the capital and lower high street footfall have turned that rumour into reality. 

No doubt some will attribute its demise to the dreaded ‘gentrification’, but it’s easy to say it’s just the impact – or demonisation – of a new generation of Londoners who prefer matcha lattes to mash. But it’s more complex than that: each area has a delicate socio-economic ecosystem, with numerous different businesses relying on each other’s existence, and, for increasing numbers of us, it’s about how with our precarious/flexible work lives we get to spend free time. During its near-century of business, the pie and mash shop was a firm favourite with customers heading straight from the mile-long market which runs the length of the high street past its doorstep and from the local Walthamstow Dog Stadium – the site of Blur’s 1994 iconic album cover ‘Parklife’, which closed its doors for the last time in 2008. These days we shop differently – hastily grabbing our bargains in the supermarket and rarely getting a regular day out with our mates that’s not heavily pre-planned for months in advance, so perhaps we have become too time-poor for the casual joys of browsing a stall or two followed by a hot pie and. Whatever the reason, let’s hope that the shop that takes L Manze’s place can fill some really big boots.

L Manze, 76 High St, E17 7LD.

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