Shouts of ‘please, a pancake’ have echoed across a village on the outskirts of Preston in a tradition dating back more than 100 years.
Shrove Tuesday saw children and families take to the lanes of Whitechapel for what villagers say is a ‘simple, good-natured and wonderfully old-fashioned’ event.
Lizzie Billington, a retired school governor and Whitechapel resident for more than three decades, said: “I was pancaking when I was a child at Whitechapel school and my youngest will have just done her last year pancaking as she’s going to high school this year.
“Historically, the custom is thought to date back to a time when local farm workers would call at larger farms or houses on Shrove Tuesday asking for pancakes or ingredients before the start of Lent.
“Over time, this evolved into the children’s “Please a pancake” tradition we still see today. While similar customs once existed in other parts of Lancashire, they have largely disappeared.
“As far as we are aware, Whitechapel is now the only village in England that continues this particular Shrove Tuesday tradition in this way.”
Lizzie said as Pancake Day fell in half-term the children had been picking up oranges and sweets from homes across the village during Tuesday morning.
In term-time the tradition is considered so important the local primary school finishes early to allow children to complete the tradition before dark.
