Pancake day represents the start of Lent, traditionally forty days long it was instituted to teach men self control and commemorate Christ's fasting in the wilderness.

In Staffordshire on the Monday before Shrove Tuesday it was common for people to eat a meal of Bacon and eggs. This was known as 'Collop Monday'.

At Lichfield grammer school it was customary for the children to take part in 'barring out' their schoolmasters.

In some parishes, Church bells would ring out at 11am on Tuesday to tell cooks and housewifes to prepare the batter.

If it snowed on Shrove Tuesday, cooks would carry the batter outside to catch a few flakes, which was said to improve the mixture.

Finally, the first three pancakes of the batch were held to be sacred. They were marked with a cross and sprinkled with salt to keep evil spirits away, then put aside. There was even a rhyme -

"Good pancakes made of milk and beer, Are made for no one present here; There's one for Peter, one for Paul, The third for him who made us all."