Why do we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? (Pancake Day)

So why do we eat pancakes on Pancake Day? Pancake day is also known as Shrove Tuesday and it is the day before Lent which is the time of the year that Christians abstain from certain foods for 40 days leading up to Easter.

Traditionally Pancakes contained the foodstuffs that were not allowed to be eaten during Lent; fat, butter and eggs. So, in order to ensure that food wasn't wasted pancakes were made and consumed on the day before Lent.

This tradition remains in place today and has led to the annual event of pancake races all around the country. This tradition is said to stem from the year 1445 when a woman in Olney, whilst cooking her pancakes, heard the church bells calling the faithful to attend confession and she ran to the church with her pancake in its pan and her apron still on to attend confession.

Most towns and cities still have Pancake races and Hitchin is no exception. It has it races on the High Street and starts at 11.30am.