Mardi Gras - Shrove Tuesday

Last Saturday, 20th September, the LibDem run Eastleigh council celebrated Mardi Gras, which is the last day of the carnival that precedes Lent. Lent, of course, starts on Ash Wednesday, 44 days before Good Friday, and Mardi Gras is the French for Fat Tuesday.  To us it is better known as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day.

Traditionally, households would use up their sweet and fatty food before starting the austerity of Lent - the ritual fasting, so they made pancakes, and there was often a carnival. 

This year Shrove Tuesday was on 6th March, but for the third year running Eastleigh Council have held this event on a Saturday in September.  Is this because 44 days later it is Hallowe'en?  

Hallowe'en, of course, has both Christian and Pagan connotations, the former being All Hallows Eve, 1st November being All Saints Day,  and the latter being a Celtic festival.  So the question is: have our LibDem Council deliberately shunned a Christian festival to link up with Hallowe'en, which could be considered Pagan?

Or are they just ignorant?  Do they just not know or care that Mardi Gras is Shrove Tuesday?  And do they not know when Shrove Tuesday is?  Or could this be a hint that Christianity has to be pushed to one side, and not ignorance at all?

A Confusing Letter

I received this letter from the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester the other day, and I am sure I can be forgiven for thinking that they thought I had asked for my appointment to be changed.

I telephoned them and was told that this is a standard letter and, in fact, the appointment had to be changed due to sickness: theirs, not mine! Why couldn't they have said so???  To me, the use of "we confirm" suggests that they thought there had already been contact between ourselves, and that could only have been my request for a change.

WH Smith with Post Office in Chandler's Ford

Here is the new WHSmith in Fryern Arcade, Chandler's Ford, which opened last Friday, and which now houses the Post Office.

Late opening post office till

At the moment it has no book section, although the manager says that one will be added very soon; and he mentioned another very useful facility: there will be an extra post office till alongside the shop's counter and which will be open all the time the shop itself is open, which could be as late as 7pm on weekdays, all day Saturdays, and even for a while on Sundays.

I particularly like the very comprehensive magazine section, which we have had nowhere in Chandler's Ford since Alldays closed about six years ago.  And since the demise of the bookshop it's good to know that we'll have the facility to order any books not carried in stock once more.

As for the old post office, in three weeks time a butcher's will be opening there, a welcome replacement for the one that used to be in The Mall on the opposite side of Winchester Road.