My Story

The Humble Pie Cookery Kitchen is run by me, Elizabeth Fawcett. Although born near Doncaster, we moved to Wensleydale in the mid 1970’s when I was 9 years old and it is my happy place! My father, Christopher, was a seed potato merchant in Lincolnshire and my mother, Margaret, was originally from Cornwall and studied domestic science in Bath in the early 1960’s and then taught at secondary school level. Mum was a fabulous cook and was renowned for producing delicious family food from her beloved big red Aga at Stalling Busk. Life centred around the kitchen table and it was a warm, welcoming, sociable hub of the home with a constant stream of friends and family. Although none of her five children followed her into formal cookery training, we are all good cooks with a love of quality ingredients and good flavours.

Humble Pie was started as a delicatessen & fresh food takeaway in 1999 in the village of Askrigg, in Upper Wensleydale. Before it was fashionable, I championed our quality local meats and dairy and used local ingredients wherever possible. It was a successful and busy shop and I thoroughly enjoyed the 5 years that we were there.

In 2006, I took part in the BBC Countryfile – the Summer Diaries when they came to Wensleydale and I did 10 cookery slots at the end of each programme. These were well received and resulted in me writing “Rambler’s Rewards – Cooking from Coast to Coast” with my friend Pat Kirkbride.

In 2017, the opportunity arose to lease the original Humble Pie premises and on 1st April of that year, my youngest daughter Betty and I reopened as Humble Pie Fawcett & Guy and enjoyed over 2 years of mayhem as the shop went from strength to strength! Times have changed and people are more inclined to go out for coffee and lunch so the shop was much more of a bakery and café than the original deli.