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SHROVE TUESDAY A TIME TO CELEBRATE! £1.50 CREPES! - 02.02.2007

Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent which is a time for giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to spoil yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. Pancakes and Crepes are eaten on this day because they contain butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.

To help you indulge yourself we have reduced our Chocolate Charmers and Lemon Lovers to only £1.50 for the whole of Shrove Tuesday in every Crepe a Croissant branch! If you think we’re mad for doing this, just take a look at what some others across the world do to celebrate Shrove Tuesday!

Pancake Races

The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first whilst flipping a pancake in a frying pan a pre-decided number of times. The skill lies not so much in the running of the race but in flipping and catching the pancake, which must be intact when the finishing line is reached.

Tossing Pancakes

The most famous pancake race takes place at Olney. According to tradition, in 1445 a woman of Olney heard the shriving bell while she was making pancakes and ran to the church in her apron, still clutching her frying pan.

The Olney pancake race is now world famous. Competitors have to be local housewives and they must wear an apron and a hat or scarf.

Each contestant has a frying pan containing a hot, cooking pancake. She must toss it three times during the race that starts at the market square at 11.55 am. The first woman to complete the winding 375-metre course (the record is 63 seconds set in 1967) and arrive at the church, serve her pancake to the bell ringer, and be kissed by him, is the winner. She also receives a prayer book from the vicar.

Annual Pancake Grease

At the famous Westminster School in London, the annual Pancake Grease is held. A verger from Westminster Abbey leads a procession of eager boys into the playground where the school cook tosses a huge pancake over a five-metre high bar. The boys then race to grab a portion of the pancake and the one who ends up with the largest piece receives a cash bonus from the Dean.

Skipping

In Scarborough, on Shrove Tuesday, everyone assembles on the promenade to skip. Long ropes are stretched across the road and there maybe be ten or more people skipping on one rope. The origins of this customs are not known but skipping was once a magical games, associated with the sowing and spouting of seeds, which may have been played on barrows (burial mounds) during the Middle Ages.

Football

Shrove Tuesday sees the start in Ashbourne, Derbyshire of the world’s oldest, largest, longest and maddest football game. The game is played over two days and involves