Shrove Tuesday this year fell on February 21st and Yarmouth Square soon filled up with supporters for our annual pancake races. The primary school children, who are now at their new school in Freshwater, were delivered to the car park by their parents where school registration took place! They were greeted by the Mallishag and were keen and ready to join in the fun. The Mallishag also joined them in the races.
The race categories cover all age groups and include a race for pubs and clubs for the prestigious Shrove Tuesday Trophy which this year was won by Lee Web of the River Yar Boatyard.
The only (very flexible) rules are that the participants have to run around Mustapha Pancake and must toss their pancake at least once. Any lost pancakes are soon cleared up by the seagulls!
We also hold a Best Apron competition for both children and adults and adults are encouraged to wear fancy dress. This year we had the Mallishag, a dinosaur and a lion.
At the end of the proceedings the younger children returned to school by bus and the older ones enjoyed a nature trail along the old railway line.
This has always been a popular event involving the school and so to have the children continue this tradition has been a great bonus.