RETRO: Picture special - A delve into the archives for Mother's Day

Mother's Day, orginally called Mothering Sunday, is the fourth Sunday of Lent and has no connection with the American festival of the same name.

Traditionally it was a day when children, mainly daughters who had gone to work as domestic servants, were given a day off to visit their family.

Today it is a day when children give presents, flowers, and cards - often home-made - to their mothers.

In the past people would return to their home or 'mother' church once a year in the middle of Lent, and this would become a family reunion for children as young as ten who were working away to return home.

As they walked along the country lanes, children would pick wild flowers to take to church or give to their mother as a gift.

The food item specially associated with Mothering Sunday is the Simnel cake - a fruit cake with two layers of almond paste, one on top and one in the middle and decorated with eleven balls of marzipan on top representing the disciples but not Judas. Traditionally, sugar violets would also be added.

Here's some pictures of wonderful Northamptonshire mothers from our archives.