It’s England, Eh?
English people have a unique set of traditions and entertainment. Among them is celebrating the day before Ash Wednesday, not as Mardi Gras, but as Shrove Tuesday, which of course means pancake races. In London racers dressed as a skyscraper, beekeeper and a chest of drawers were among dozens of runners in zany costumes zipping around a central London square with a frying pan in hand to celebrate Shrove Tuesday, or “Pancake Day.” Hundreds of people packed into Guildhall Yard, cheering as participants in the annual Inter-Livery Pancake Race ran around the square while tossing pancakes in their frying pans. A company of gunmakers fired the starting shots, the clockmakers time the races, while the “fruiterers” provided the lemons to go with the pancakes on sale from stands at the square. The London crew gets graded on their costumes and their ability t run with a pancake in the pan and flip the pancake in the air going back and forth at the mid-point of the track.
The spectacle was one of many such pancake races across the U.K. to mark the day before the start of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter that Christians mark with prayers, fasting and repentance. The name Shrove Tuesday derives from the English word meaning to seek forgiveness or be granted absolution. Somehow the English tie their need for forgiveness into making pancakes on the fly. These days most people mark Shrove Tuesday by cooking pancakes in a nod to the custom of using up eggs and butter before the period of abstinence begins. The Inter-Livery race featured teams donning fancy dress or traditional garb that represent their livery companies — historic guilds or trade associations that have existed in London for almost 1,000 years.
The oldest and most famous of pancake races take place in the small town of Olney, England, which legend has it held its first run in 1445. Folklore says the Olney tradition started in the 15th Century when a harassed housewife, rushing to attend church on Shrove Tuesday, ran to the service with a frying pan still in her hand. Even in the throes of coronavirus lockdown, a solitary pan-bearer dressed up and ran the 415-yard course in 2021 so the tradition wouldn’t be broken. But it has to be done right. There are rules. With the sounding of the church Shriving Bell, runners start from the pedestrian crossing by Olney market and make their way to the church door of St Peter and St Paul’s – a route that involves the closure of the main A509 through the town. “You have to wear a skirt, and you are provided with an apron and headscarf and a pancake pan, but you need to bring your own pancake. “You toss it at the start – and you have to be able to toss it at the end.” The course is 415 yards (about ¼ mile) so it’s not a quick dash. “You toss it at the start – and you have to be able to toss it at the end.” And you can’t enter the race if you’ve already won it three times – like the 2022 winner, Katie Godof.
Flippin’ Pancake jokes
Did you hear about the angry pancake?
He just flipped.
How many potatoes does it take to make a potato pancake?
A latke!
Customer: Waiter, I’m in a hurry! Will the pancakes be long?
Waiter: No sir, round.
Why was the pancake arrested?
Unwaffle activities.
March 6th Birthdays
1944 – Mary Wilson, 1967- Connie Britton, 1997 – Alicia Boe, 1937 – Valentina Tereshkova
1972 – Shaquille O’Neal, 1959 – Tom Arnold, 1947 – Rob Reiner, 1475 – Michelangelo