WORKING with pies all day long is a dream come true for Church resident Tony Cardwell.The 57-year-old, who lives with wife Shirley, has been working for Baxenden pie-makers Holland's for the past three decades and has sampled every variety on the market. Here he tells how spending half his life working with Lancashire's most famous culinary delights has brought him a life filled with enjoyment.

Q. WHAT TIME DO YOU GET UP?

A. I'm up at 7am every morning to be in work for 8.30am - you never get tired of the freshly baked smell. I've tried all the pies. When they are launching a new variety the staff get to try it out. I like them all but mince and onion has got to be my favourite.

Q. WHAT'S YOUR DAILY ROUTINE?

A. I am the business development manager which means looking after existing customers and trying to attract new ones. First thing is to check my emails then make sure the lads know what they are doing. No one day is the same, as sometimes I can be out and about and others can be spent taking care of administration or in meetings.

Q. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THE ROLE?

A. I love coming to work and meeting new people. Retirement has never even occurred to me because I love my job so much. One day you can be talking to a Chinese shop keeper the next you'll be chatting to the manager of a big business. I can be fairly independent which I like. I am responsible for a small team and it's nice being part of that. I also like the fact that you get a lot of fish and chips dinners because they tend to be the main establishments that we supply to. I spent 25 years working in Liverpool and it's funny to see the regional differences. In Liverpool they tend to go for the pies, whereas Accrington people love the steak and kidney puddings.

Q. WHAT'S THE STRANGEST THING THAT'S EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?

A. Selling pies to the comedian Frank Carson was a bit bizarre. I've not met a lot of famous people so that always sticks in my mind. When I was a relief driver he followed me and stopped me in Blackpool. He had a golf driving range club and wanted to sell our pies. He asked me to follow him towards Thornton so I did. I wasn't 100 per cent sure if it was him so I asked him and he turned out to be a really nice person.

Q. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT?

A I've been very proud to achieve management status. I was promoted last year, it might not have been as fast as some people, but I've been proud of my steady climb up the career ladder. I've always been ambitious but for me it was more important was to make sure I did things to the best of my ability.

Q. WHAT'S BEEN THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU'VE BEEN GIVEN?

A. To be honest. Even if you've made a mistake it's better to own up to it because everybody makes them. Being honest in the things you do is important, if it's to the company or to the individual. There's no point making promises you can't deliver and I was taught that on a course and applied that to my life.