MOST who celebrated Pancake Tuesday will not recall the way the event was celebrated traditionally.

Fifty years ago this week, local engineering apprentices were told that they had enjoyed their last ever "Shrove rag".

Every year, for as long as anyone could remember, young men from the factories would black their faces with soot and roam the streets of Radcliffe and Bury.

They would amuse themselves with general tomfoolery, which for the most part was of a good nature.

However, there had been incidents of damage in Bury and one apprentice was injured.

In one instance, a group of apprentices had been given a friendly warning by the police for causing a disturbance.

The Bury and Radcliffe district was the "last outpost" of the tradition, which had died out in nearby towns many years earlier.

But many employers were beginning to express concern about the practice.

This had given rise to an hour-and-a-half long discussion in the board room of Bury Chamber of Trade and Commerce, days ahead of Shrove Tuesday.

It had been between representatives of the Bolton and District Engineering Employers Association and the No.29A district of the Confederation of Engineering and Shipbuilders Unions.

Mr H Webb, vice-president of the employers association, had presided and issued a joint statement from the groups afterwards.

It said that the practice had "outlived its purpose" and that the custom should cease.

The statement said: "Daytime release for further education, the shorter working week and improved holidays are all factors which make this practice completely outdated."

It added: "Apart from the question of breach of contract of service, danger to life and property is involved and serious accidents have occurred through horseplay on recent occasions.

"It is therefore the joint decision of the unions and employers that apprentices shall remain at work on Shrove Tuesday as on a normal day."

Notices to this effect were to be posted in engineering workshops before the day.