It's hard to miss the reminders that Pancake Day is just around the corner.

The flour and eggs are on display in supermarkets not long after the selection boxes have been cleared.

I have lovely fond memories of pancake day in our house when my Mum would prepare a real hearty meal made up of pancakes packed with wholesome homemade stew. And to follow? Well pancake of course, topped with treacle!

Some prefer lemon, even sugar - a tradition which tends to be more familiar with older generations.

In-keeping with tradition, my daughter loves Pancake Day too, although I'm not as an efficient pancake flipper as my Mum - she had it off to a fine art whereas I lose a few on the floor!

Practice makes perfect though!

Most families, and many organisations, acknowledge the tradition of making pancakes, hosting special events or just making a stack of them for lunch or tea.

But where did it all begin? Shrove Tuesday, to give it its formal reference is an important calendar occasion as it is the day in February, or March, preceding Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) and the reason why pancakes appear to be associated with this tradition is the simple basic recipe used to create them uses up all the rich food such as eggs, milk and butter before the fasting for the 40 days of Lent begins. It also ties in with the tradition of eating plainer foods.

The UK isn't the only country to refer to Shrove Tuesday as 'Pancake Day' and Canada, Australia and Ireland also commemorate the occasion by eating pancakes as a meal.

Interestingly though, it seems that back in the day Shrove Tuesday was apparently once a half-day holiday in Britain starting at 11am with the ringing of the church bell.

Today, as well as eating pancakes, people have taken to tossing them in races around towns and villages across the UK.

This wonderful picture from the T&A archives shows the expressions on the faces of pupils as they get flipping as part of a fundraising campaign for a swimming pool in 1977.

According to the article, despite the mist and rain, 40 pupils and 10 teachers from Buttershaw Middle School, Bradford, participated in the pancake race and, by the looks of the expressions on their faces, were deep in concentration to get the mid-air pancakes back into the pan.

Among the pancake racers are: Julia Noble; Linda Brooke; Alison Smith; Martin Carter; Tanya Ford; Graham Lowery; John Cunningham and Mandy Dunn.

So don't forget the date - this year Shrove Tuesday falls on February 28.