Shrove Rag was an annual event of the University's Students Union (latterly in cooperation with UMIST and Salford University), held on Shrove Tuesday, which combined charitable collecting with high-spirited revelry. In the post-war period, Rag had a fairly settled programme of a procession of floats, sale of a Rag magazine, a revue and more recently, the sponsored 55 mile Ogle Stroll. Shrove Rag was generally treated as a non-teaching day by the University. By the 1980s, the Rag had become a quieter and less ubiquitous student event, although it continued to raise considerable funds for charity. Reflecting these changes, the Rag evolved into the Student Charities Appeal in the 1990s, and the official Shrove Tuesday Rag was discontinued in 1996.
The file includes complaints from some departments about the disruption to teaching occasioned by Rag Tuesday, as well as details of local charities which benefited from Rag funds.