IF you thought Easter was coming exceptionally early this year, you're absolutely right. In fact, according to one Michael J Turvey, Easter Sunday - which falls on March 23 - is only one day later than the earliest possible date.

And he says the next time it falls this early will be long after we're all dead and buried, in the year 2160. And it will be an even longer wait for Easter to fall on the earliest possible date, March 22. That treat happens in 2285!

Mr Turvey has written everything you always wanted to know about early Easters - and possibly a little more than you needed to know - in the latest parish magazine of Sutton-on-the-Forest and Huby.

He writes that the moving around of Easter to different dates occurs because it always falls on the Sunday following the first full moon, on or after the vernal or spring equinox - March 21.

He reveals that in only three years time, we will experience one of the latest ever Easters, when it falls on April 24 in 2011.

"The very latest date for Easter, April 25, last happened in 1943 and will next happen in 2038, so our younger readers should still be around by then."

There have been calls recently for Easter to be set on a fixed date, as happens of course with Christmas Day. The very early Easter means that schoolchildren are having a very short spring term, followed by an exceptionally long summer term.

Mr Turvey reveals that as long ago as 1928, Parliament did approve a measure to fix the dates, but the change still hasn't been implemented 80 years later because it needs the agreement of all the Churches, and this presumably still hasn't happened.

He says that in 1997, the World Council of Churches also came up with proposals which would have given the planet a date common to both Orthodox and Western churches. "It was to have started in the year 2001, when both calendars coincided. It did not happen."


Vet bills can prove costly

IT'S a dog's life - and what a life it is for the accident-prone pooches.

According to Saga Pet Insurance, they're forever suffering injuries to their feet or ligament damage caused by "sudden strain on the leg."

And dogs in this region are some of the clumsiest in the country, says Saga.

Not that cats are much better off when it comes to clumsy accidents.

The moggie scrapes that result in a visit to the vet include getting caught on branches when jumping out of trees or cutting themselves when squeezing through small gaps.

Road accidents also end up with many needing treatment.

But Saga says it's not just the pets we should be feeling sorry for; the cost of treating such animals is potentially huge for the 71 per cent of pet owners who are uninsured in the UK. Saga says the average cost of treating a cat involved in a road traffic accident is £705, but the costs can be as much as £5,000.

Meanwhile, treating a dog that has ligament damage could be closer to £9,000, which must be nudging the bill for treatment to a Premiership footballer crocked on the pitch.