Kmflett's Blog

Their traditions and ours: Mothering Sunday. Historically it was about cakes & ale

Given the movable date of Easter, Lent invariably contains within it a number of religious festivals which have to be marked and indeed celebrated. Probably the most well-known of these is Mothering Sunday which takes place during Lent.

Traditionally it is not about mothers, that was of course a twentieth century commercial invention. Rather it was about communities and families coming together during Lent . It was marked with a spicy fruit cake- simnel cake- and in some areas such as Lancashire a spiced ale- braggert. In any case drinking was ok after sunset.

So if you are feeling the privations of Lent, Sunday may be a good time to relax them a little and all in the best of traditions, and what better time to come together as a community.