The record for the world's largest Cornish pasty may long since have been claimed elsewhere, but I'm wondering whether a monster created at Cury back in August, 1985, might still be top of its class, writes Mike Truscott.

I'm talking LONGEST pasty - courtesy of Cornwall's Young Farmers Clubs at their annual county fair.

Stephen Ivall - whose name graced Packet pages for 30-plus years - was the intrepid reporter assigned to observe this elongated epic in the making and then to sample it.

For over four hours, he wrote, it was “fed” into what looked like a disused drainpipe suspended over a hot fire. This 12ft long “oven” was built by Fred Teagle of Blackwater and the end product was principally a triumph for Miss Dot Rogers, a domestic science teacher at Redruth School.

There were 40lbs-worth of crimped pastry, Steve noted, along with 20lbs of potatoes, and 15 lbs each of onions, turnips and beef.

The teddy oggie's first slice was cut by Julian Williams, chairman of Cornwall County Council, who put it up for auction, raising £2.50.

Steve was “soon in the queue” - by which time the price per slice was 50p. Before the slicing began, Mr Williams had unreeled a builder's tape to measure the culinary giant. A big cheer went up with the announcement - 32ft 1in - and the title of longest pasty in the world was duly claimed.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world's LARGEST pasty was made by a team of six bakers from Proper Cornish Food Company in 2010. It was 15 feet long and weighed 1,604 lbs (that's nearly a ton). It took 11 hours to cook in a specially-built oven, as part of a TV show cook-off.