Wakes Weeks

The holiday weeks of the industrial towns of the North West of England, and possibly of the West Riding, were known as Wakes Weeks. From family connections, I know that Bolton had a June week and a September week. The mills would shut down and most of the population would migrate to the seaside: Blackpool, Bridlington, Filey, Morecambe, Scarborough, Southport. I know the following applied in Morecambe and Blackpool, and I'm supposing that it applied in the other places as well.
At the start of the Bolton week, Bolton corporation would hire its buses to Ribble to operate on extras to take the folk on holiday, as the previous town was hiring its buses to Ribble to bring its folk home again. At the end of the Bolton holiday, Bolton would hire its buses to Ribble to bring them home, as the next town was hiring to Ribble to take people away for their break. Next comes the reason for asking the question.
I have a OO scale model tramway, based on a Lancashire seaside resort in the mid to late 1960's. No, it isn't Blackpool! As well as the Ribble buses and coaches, and the local Corporation buses, I have buses and coaches from different parts of the UK, and they appear on the layout in a nine-week cycle. The question is, what would be the correct sequence for the Lancashire element of these, to tie in with these Wakes Weeks? Who was before Bolton? Who came next?

Pete Davies

30/10/12 - 08:07

Not a clarification, but more like mud in the pot. Memories are vague, since I have just retired from full time teaching, but schools tended to have eccentric summer holidays because of Wakes Weeks. I did my post-graduate teacher training in the Wigan and Bolton areas between September 1975 and June 1976. Instead of six weeks, I recollect four weeks, back to school for a fortnight and then the WW - and something similar in June. Never had anything like that as a boy in Sheffield - but we were a City/County Borough and not strictly part of West Riding CC.

David Oldfield

30/10/12 - 08:09

There was a rolling programme of Wakes Weeks throughout the mill towns of Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire starting from around the religious festival of Trinity Sunday at the end of May/beginning of June through to mid August. This was a two week shut down in general. There were other similar holidays in other places - for instance Manchester had a two week Engineering Holiday in July.
Many towns had another week from late August, the season finishing in late September.
With so many areas involved and the idea having slowly been dropped by places over the last 30 years it would be difficult a this juncture to give accurate information from memory.
You might try contacting the Manchester Evening News which used to produce an annual list of Cotton Town Wakes Holidays and I believe the Yorkshire Evening Post produced a similar list for the Woollen Towns.
Those lists were vital for planning for sales forces, delivery companies and, of course, anyone in the leisure/hotel/transport industries so there is bound to be a wealth of information around.

Phil Blinkhorn

30/10/12 - 16:11

Like David Oldfield, I was a boy in Sheffield. In contrast with David, I do remember that everything industrial closed down for two weeks at the old August Bank Holiday (Works Weeks rather than Wake Weeks) which came on the first Monday of August. Two whole weeks with no Steam hammers or Drop Forges rocking the entire city. SUT would have their entire fleet at the bottom of Pond Street, together with hirings from Mexborough & Swinton, Tracky and several local independents.
Some would be away to Devon & Cornwall, IOW etc, some heading for Blackpool & Rhyl, but most were going to Skegness and other resorts on the east coast of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. On the convoy run to Skeggie we would see Peter Sheffield, of Cleethorpes and Lincolnshire RC bearing "on hire to SUT" travelling in the opposite direction. I think Grayscroft Mablethorpe were also party to this but much time has passed. Sorry that this doesn't help the original question though.

Les Dickinson

31/10/12 - 06:54

Les. It's old age creeping on. Of course I remember Works Weeks - but only when you nudged me! I was friendly with Walter Martin, Cyril Littlewood and Wilf Anderson and spent time at Harmer Lane seeing off the Newquay, Torquay and Weymouth overnighters on the Friday evening. Joint Littlewood/SUT services, only Newquay ever saw SUT coaches - the other services saw just about every indi "On Hire to C G Littlewood". Up to 6 for Newquay, 4 for Weymouth and between 20 and 24 for Torquay. This included one for crew duties taking drivers to Bath for a changeover - these drivers swapping again at Bath on the return journey.

David Oldfield

31/10/12 - 06:56

The Wakes have a long and complex history, but at the time we are talking about they had developed into the pattern about which you are talking. I can give a bit of detail on Oldham Wakes, and you will realise that a full answer to your question would be a very complex piece!
Until 1948 Oldham's Wakes Week had been at the end of August (and do remember that the bank holiday was at the beginning of August then, as already alluded to by Les). In 1948 it was moved to the end of June, unpopular at the time and not something that sat easily with school exams.
From 1952 the Wakes was extended to become a two-week event, still at the end of June. In both cases it had been combined with a long weekend in September which in due course became a full week. Due to the September week Oldham didn't take the August Bank Holiday when it was moved to the end of the month and I remember going to Crich with Oldham 368 on the bank holiday and, before we set off, photographing all the peak hour buses coming back into the garage.
Educational pressure and changing employment patterns meant the gradual run-down of the Oldham Wakes as less and less people took it. They were finally abolished in 1992.
When I worked at Seddon Atkinson from 1977-79 the factory shut down for the wakes holidays. I resented it at the time and did whatever I could to have the holidays at some other time. Ironic really, as the June fortnight became my preferred time for a break due to the long days and lack of holiday crowds until I had to fall in line with the rest of the country as the children reached school age.

David Beilby

31/10/12 - 14:41

Thank you for your comments, chaps. I'll contact the Manchester newspaper, as suggested.

Pete Davies

01/11/12 - 06:42

Not really an answer to the original question, but in the early and mid 50's, my parents used to take me on the famous Yelloway services from Lower Mosley Street in Manchester for our week at a B&B in Torquay. One year, I can't remember which, we were unable to go as my father had changed his job to a company in Ashton-under-Lyne whilst my mother continued in her job in Hyde. Wakes Weeks in the two adjacent towns were different dates, and so we couldn't go anywhere that year !! I think the increasing number of working women in the late 50's and early 60's together with unaligned dates for Wakes Weeks in adjacent towns also contributed to their eventual demise.

Stuart C

02/12/12 - 16:41

Stalybridge was the third week in July. Ashton Under Lyne Mid August and Hyde early September

Mr Anon

22/08/19 - 08:01

One of your correspondents asked in 2012 if there was a list of Wakes Weeks. I was in Lancashire Archives in Preston in 2015 and found a list of holidays in the 1923 Blackpool Directory. They were not described as Wakes Weeks.
My notes are not of the clearest as I was not researching this point but the period ran from 30 June to 6 October and the sequence ran : Bolton / Burnley / Blackburn /Accrington / on its own Manchester / Preston with Bury, Halifax and Stockport / Rochdale with Bradford / Oldham / Huddersfield / Bolton with Burnley / Darwen / Colne with Wigan / Bacup with Bury / Blackburn / Accrington / Oldham.

John Tarling

30/08/19 - 09:49

Huddersfield followed Halifax, and Dewsbury et al followed Huddersfield. Leeds was the first week in August.
However there could be variations. My late father was a mineworker in Dewsbury. Mine holidays should have been the same as the local mills. However Dewsbury miners had the 2 weeks of mill holidays only on alternate years. The other year they had the first week of Dewsbury mills only. The second miners holiday week was Doncaster Races St. Ledger week.
Also occasionally weeks were out of sinc. because some wakes weeks were calculated from the Saturday and some were calculated from the Monday following - so for example it could be calculated as the Saturday prior to the first Monday in July for example, rather than the first Saturday.
Coach operators used to arrange "back loading" from the weeks either side to avoid having to pay double mileage for single journeys on the peak outward and return journeys, usually using their "pet" hired operators rather than any Tom, Dick or Harry used on double hires, as it required the hired drivers to use their brains to operate the "foreign" leg of the journey.
The numbers of hired vehicles required on peak weeks had to be seen to be believed, but it beggars belief that Corporation buses were used on coastal express - how were loadings controlled without calculating luggage space, and what about the poor passengers having to ride on service buses rather than coaches?

Malcolm Hirst

04/09/19 - 05:55

As is pointed out here, Wakes Weeks were not confined to textile mills. Put me right if needs be but in South Yorkshire there were "pit weeks" when the Miners' Welfares ran excursions, often to the east coast with large numbers of coaches hired in. Prior to these weeks there were "bull weeks" when the production soon to be lost could be replaced by holiday-bonus assisted effort.

Joe

09/09/19 - 06:56

I have in my collection a list of the holiday dates for the Lancashire towns for Summer 1978 which is attached herewith. It was originally published in the 'Rochdale Observer' local newspaper during January 1978.

David Slater

19/09/19 - 06:42

Interesting that Congleton, in Cheshire, should be the lone outsider. They were late going, too, compared with the others.
Using Corporation buses must have been challenging, with the width of 7' 6" and a low maximum speed.
There was also the problem of where everyone put all their luggage!

Chris Hebbron

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