IT is difficult to understand how hot cross buns could be considered offensive to non-Christians, but that was the reason given last year by several Labour-controlled councils to ban these buns in schools.

York was one of those councils and one London council in fact decided to provide naan breads instead.

No-one appeared to consider that a ban on hot cross buns, or the supply of naan breads, might have been offensive to Christians, but it might be argued that Christians are very accustomed to being offended and persecuted, something which has been their lot ever since Christ was crucified. And most of us are aware that He was the first Christian to suffer.

Hot cross buns are a type of bread leavened with yeast and flavoured with spices and sometimes fruit. The top is glazed and bears a cross, which might be either cut into the crust or formed from shortbread pastry to which water has been added.

In medieval times, bakers would mark all their loaves with a cross, either to ensure that dough rose or perhaps to ward off evil spirits, but following the Reformation this was regarded as 'too popish' and the practice was ended in the seventeenth century.

Only buns which were made on Good Friday were then allowed to bear the cross and this was permitted by the new Protestant regime because it was a reminder of the Crucifixion.

The buns were eaten hot and fresh on Good Friday, the day with which they will always be associated. Originally, they were eaten at breakfast, which meant the lady of the house had to get out of bed very early to prepare them or, alternatively, that local bakers had to ensure the buns were ready that morning.

One of the sounds of a town coming to life in the early morning of Good Friday was the cry of bakers' lads touring the streets with trays full of hot cross buns, calling: "Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns."

Despite this link with religion, however, it seems buns marked with crosses have been eaten for several thousand years, long before Christianity arrived.

The ancient Greeks and Romans marked the Vernal Equinox and the feast of Diana, the moon goddess, by eating small wheaten buns marked with crosses, and in this country similar buns were eaten some 2,000 years ago.

During those pagan times, the buns were marked with a cross because it represented the moon and its four quarters.

Exactly when these buns became associated with the Catholic church in this country is difficult to ascertain, but there is a record that Fr Thomas Rockcliffe distributed such buns to the poor in St Albans Abbey in 1361.

From this small incident, the custom spread to other parishes, but it seems it was not widespread until the eighteenth century.

The practice of eating hot cross buns on Good Friday has remained very popular throughout this country and continues to be so in many areas in spite of silly bans.

From this custom there developed a superstition that eating hot cross buns for breakfast on Good Friday was a means of encouraging good luck, but another very widespread belief was that hot cross buns never went mouldy.

Experts will confirm that if the buns are made correctly in the traditional way with the right ingredients, then it is very unlikely they will go mouldy if kept in a dry place.

Another belief was that these buns possessed curative powers. Some women would make more buns than necessary for Good Friday, dry them in the oven and hang them in the kitchen rafters for use throughout the year, particularly if a member of the household became ill.

It was thought they could cure, or at least ease, ailments such as diarrhoea, dysentery, whooping cough and other unspecified problems. To be used as a medicine, they were grated into a fine powder and mixed with either milk or water for the patient to drink. These were also given to sick cows, by being mixed with their food.

They also had other uses. Farmers would hang hot cross buns in their barns and outbuildings to protect them from rats, sailors would carry them on voyages as a protection against shipwreck and many householders would hang one somewhere in the house as a charm against fire.

In all cases, though, the buns were only considered effective when baked on the morning of Good Friday, a fascinating mixture of religious and superstitious beliefs. If they were baked the previous day, they were considered quite useless as a form of protection against evil.

As we prepare to go out and about on this first major public holiday of the year, it is interesting to note how this region played a highly important role in determining the method of calculating the date of Easter in this country. Easter is a moveable feast which can fall as early as March 22 and as late as April 25, a span of 35 days or five entire weeks.

The rarest date for Easter Sunday is March 22 and it last fell upon that date in 1818. If the present system is maintained, it will not happen again until 2285. The last time Easter Sunday fell on its latest date, April 25, was in 1943.

In this country prior to AD 664, there existed two methods of calculating the date of Easter. One was the system used in the rest of the Christian world and which had been introduced here by St Augustine, who was sent by the Pope to be our first Archbishop of Canterbury. This was the Roman method and it was used widely in the south of England.

The Celtic branch of the church, which had been established in the north by St Columba, used a slightly different system.

This meant there were two different dates for Easter in this country and the problem was highlighted when King Oswy of Northumbria married Queen Eanflaed of Kent.

She was a southerner, while he was a northerner. The king wanted a single date for Easter and so he called for the Synod of Whitby to discuss the matter. His wish was to unite both traditions of the church in England, one matter being that all the monks should have the same style of tonsure, and another being that both sides celebrated Easter at the same time.

It was an important meeting and, after a good deal of complicated discussion, Wilfred of Ripon said his piece. He pointed out that Christ had given the keys of the kingdom of heaven to St Peter, so surely the method used by Rome was the right one?

The Synod agreed and so the whole of this country adopted the Roman method, which is still used today. It is that Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon or is next after March 21. If that full moon falls on a Sunday, Easter Sunday will be the one after that.

Despite attempts to have a fixed date for Easter, we still follow that ancient method of calculation, although the eastern Orthodox churches continue to use their own system. If you go to the Greek islands on holiday about this time of year, you might find yourself celebrating two Easters, one here and the other there!

This week, one of my morning walks was enlivened by the sight of a roe deer trotting along the lane ahead of me.

I do not know how she came to be on the road, but as morning traffic was heading into the village, the unhappy animal found itself having to dodge the cars. Fortunately, oncoming drivers were able to see the animal some distance ahead and take the necessary action to avoid it.

As the cars negotiated their way past the increasingly nervous deer, I grew nearer and was able to shoo it into a nearby copse where there was a convenient opening in the hedge.

Off it went without a backward glance, making me happy that it had not been involved in an accident. This roe deer, without antlers, was easily identified by her white rump and foxy-red coat, but it was too early in the season for her to have kids.

* In my Diary of April 2, the name of Coverham mysteriously appeared in print as Caversham. Although there is a Caversham near Reading, I know of none in this part of the world and so we must assume it was due to a technical hitch - unless there is a Caversham somewhere near the mysterious Kelderdale?