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Thursday OcTOber 20 2016
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MARCH 4 2017 LINCOLN nine bands.
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Pie maker leaves his legacy to family at the time, which was “very expensive” compared to the other pies. However, they were popular, Grant Hillyer said. “The students came down with their pocket money on Thursdays and Fridays and would buy two of them.” Further down the track, the chicken, cranberry and brie pie was put on the menu, which was inspired by a pizza flavour at Winnie Bagoes after it had just opened in the 90s. Hillyers was a real family business – with Grant and his wife Nardia taking it over and daughter Wendy having an input into recipes – until it was sold in 1995 but it still retains the same name today. “The strength of our business was the family,” Grant Hillyer said. However, when family members moved away, it felt like the right time to sell, he said. Mrs Hillyer passed away 16 years ago, but some of her recipes are still being used at Hillyers now. Grant Hillyer said the family still did a lot of baking and cooking – sister Wendy, who has had a lot of input into Hillyers and its recipes, is married to award-winning chef Rex Morgan.
A pioneer in pie making died early this month. Bridget Rutherford reports FROM RAISING four children to making half a tonne of pastry a day – Bert Hillyer was a busy man. The co-founder of Hillyers of Lincoln passed away earlier this month, aged 87. Mr Hillyer’s son Grant said his father was always cheerful and most happy when he was with his family and friends. Mr Hillyer and his wife, Irene, started Hillyers of Lincoln in 1967 after Irene had been baking for the local bowling and tennis clubs. Her food became so popular, the council told her she needed to get commercial premises to continue doing it. So that is exactly what the Hillyers did. Their good friend Jim Burke offered his building at 9 Robert St in Lincoln to them, which had previously housed a butchery. “Hillyers would have never existed without the help of the Burke family,” Grant Hillyer said.
PIONEER: The late Bert Hillyer set up Hillyers Bakery with his wife Irene about 50 years ago.
Mr Hillyer had been working as an engineer at Springston Agriculture Engineering and wanted a change. “Even the first oven they had was rescued from being thrown out from the dump.” Mr Hillyer was raised in midCanterbury and went into an orphanage after his mother died giving birth to his younger sister. At the age of 12, he left school to work on farms before he became an engineer. Although his background was not in baking, he still had input
into the recipes and was tasked with making half a tonne of pastry a day. “They would never work less than 80 hours a week. It was a really hard life, but one that was very rewarding for them,” Grant Hillyer said. The pie has always been the bakery’s forte and it began experimenting with different flavours and combinations. Grant Hillyer said it was at a time when there were only mince, bacon and egg and steak pies to choose from.
EARLY DAYS: Some of the original staff and family outside Hillyers Bakery in Lincoln.
He said the steak and mushroom was the first gourmet flavour they introduced and, by 1980, they brought in the now popular steak and cheese. “And for three years, nobody would buy them, nobody liked them.” The steak and oyster pie was introduced shortly after, which generously had three Bluff oysters in it. “My mother only did things over the top. She didn’t like to skimp.” They were being sold for $3.50
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