Custom survived: Lichfield’s Pancake Toss

I’ve decided to do sometime a bit different for this month’s post which is to divide two customs into its traditional part and its contrived form.

Lichfield as I said before is justly proud of its customs and I have had the pleasure of attending all of them (and it is only the Bower and Court of Array I have yet to record in this blog). The last Lichfield custom I had yet to attend was the Pancake Toss and Shrovetide Fair

This blog post as the page records is about the Pancake Toss. After the civic opening of the Shrovetide Fair the Mayor and Town cryer returned to see the pancake race.

Trying to find how long this race had been done is difficult. It is not mentioned by any folklorists  and everyone I asked at the event suggesting that it probably arose in the 1980s. Of course it is a clever addition to the probably receding custom of the Shrovetide discussed above and ensures a fair crowd around for that..ahem…fair.

I arrived when Shrove Tuesday was at its earliest it seemed a very cold and snowy early February day, this year it was a very pleasant and warm March. Despite the wet and wintry nature, people were there to race and watch. Those in fancy dress were certainly better off!

It was a well organised event, there were the ‘traditional’ steel barricades down the side of bore street and some very clear guidelines:

“Runners will line up at the start and the Starter will declare: – “Are you ready?”  And then give the starting signal, at which point runners MUST TOSS THE PANCAKE ONCE BEFORE SETTING OFF.  

Runners will run down Bore Street, with the pancake in the frying pan; flip the pancake once at the designated point before sprinting to the finishing line.

At the finish the first runner across the line will be declared the winner.

In the event of a tie, the 2 runners will enter the final heat until one overall winner is declared.

In the event of a dispute, the Mayor’s decision is final.”

Despite the sleet and snow, it didn’t dampen the onlookers enthusiasm as they cheered on the runners. If I am to be honest I wasn’t 100% sure they all tossed as well as each other -but as I remembered ‘the Mayor’s decision is final’ – but their enjoyment was clear to see.

There a plenty of pancake races of course and it appears to be a growing trend but I think this maybe the only one where the finishing line tape is held up by two beadles in full regalia who still manage to keep the tape tort and hold onto their maces! The prizes were particularly impressive with a frying pan attached to a plinth!