Pancake Races

All over the country people cook pancakes and enjoy them with fruit, chocolate or simply with a twist of lemon and a sprinkle of sugar.

On Pancake Day, pancake races are also held in villages and towns across the United Kingdom. The tradition is said to have originated when a woman from Olney in Buckinghamshire was so busy making pancakes that she forgot the time until she heard the village church bells. She raced out of the house while still carrying her frying pan and pancake.

Nowadays the races, in which contestants have to complete a course while continually tossing their pancakes, are a fun way of celebrating the tradition and raising money for good causes. If you’re in London head east for the Spitalfields race where the prize is a specially engraved frying pan, opposite the Tower of London for the All Hallows race or to Victoria Tower Gardens where politicians take on members of the media in the annual Parliamentary Pancake Race.