Britain celebrates Shrove Tuesday in style by cooking up crepes and racing with frying pans

This year’s Pancake Day will have been celebrated by the cooking and eating of the delicious treats in homes up and down the country this morning. 

But the event has also been marked with the return of centuries-old traditions in northern England and London.   

In Ashbourne, Derbyshire, the Royal Shrovetide Football game is is taking place. It sees the Up’ards and the Down’ards take to the streets where they compete to tap a ball three times on stone plinths which act as goals.   

The annual two-day spectacle, which sees players carry the ball across a boundary-free pitch as volunteer stewards keep a watchful eye, has been played from at least 1667 and looks more like a game of rugby than football.

As the players run from opposite ends of the town for the fierce game, local shops close early and board up as if preparing for a riot.

The match is played from 2 to 10 pm on both Shrove Tuesday and the following day, Ash Wednesday, but goals are rare because of the size of the pitch.

Elsewhere, a multitude of pancake races have seen participants young and old precariously carry their floury creations through the streets in front of hundreds of spectators. 

At Leadenhall Market’s race, in East London, an elderly woman was seen concentrating deeply as she flipped her pancake while surrounded by a throng of onlookers. 

And outside Winchester Cathedral, in Hampshire, a young chorister in full regalia wielded his frying pan as older spectators watched on with delight.   

Batter the devil you know! Shrove Tuesday fans share bizarre toppings – including TUNA – pancake masterpieces and some spectacular flipping fails

• Pancake fans have been sharing their tossing fails, arty creations and strange toppings on social media
• Sports reporter Ian Abrahams took to Twitter this morning to remind fans once again that he likes to top his pancakes with a can of tinned tuna, leaving sugar and lemon purists aghast
• Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox showed her flipping fail in a video that saw her pancake ending up on the kitchen floor 
• Some have turned their hand to pancake art, creating batter versions of animals, pop stars and bicycles 

By Jo Tweedy for MailOnline

Shrove Tuesday enthusiasts have been sharing their pancake adventures on social media – including less-than-conventional toppings, flipping fails and some batter masterpieces. 

In the Christian calendar, the day marks a final day of feasting before Lent officially begins tomorrow. Social media is showing that the traditional Mardi Gras treat – fluffy discs of flour, milk and eggs whisked together and quickly fried – can take on many forms.

Pancake fans have been getting busy in the kitchen – with varying results. For every creative design that looks too pretty too eat – think squirrels, pop stars, bicycles – there’s plenty more photos showing sad piles of batter on the kitchen floor.   

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When sports broadcaster Ian ‘Moose’ Abrahams shared his annual snap of how he likes to enjoy a Shrove Tuesday breakfast – with a ready-made supermarket batter and a can of tinned tuna – he was greeted with the same annual response: derision at his unconventional topping. 

He’s not alone is shunning the traditional foolproof sugar and lemon combo;  Worldwide Cancer Research shared a photo of beaming communications executive, known as Rachel, tucking into a plate of tinned spaghetti atop a circle of pancake. 

Bacon, maple syrup and pancakes might feel wrong on the British side of the Pond but plenty of UK fans admitted it was their perfect Shrove Tuesday combo 

Anyone looking for pancake fails will find them on social media, there’s crepes stuck to the ceiling and the floor, a pancake that took on a phallic shape in the pan and what can only be described as scrambled pancake. 

One Twitter user remarked ‘good job I’m married’ after posting a photo of a chaotic batter mess.  

Elsewhere, there was plenty of pancake art to behold. Why would you make a pancake to eat when you could wear it as a mask? 

Others spent time painstakingly recreating their idols – including late rapper Tupac and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle – in batter; none of which looked particularly appetising. 

Daytime telly got in on the pancake action too, with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield reaching for the frying pan on Tuesday’s This Morning – departing the ITV studios to flip pancakes.

In a bid to beat the world record for pancake flipping, the duo were tossing pancakes from a pan beside a vast measuring tape before later tucking in to the sweet treats which were whisked up by Ainsley Harriott.

The trio were attempting to beat the world record, which is listed as: ‘The highest pancake toss measured 9.47 m (31 ft 1 in) and was achieved by Dominic Cuzzacrea (USA) at Walden Galleria Mall in Cheektowaga, New York, USA, on 13 November 2010. Dominic beat his own previous record by 30 cm (11.8 in).’