Wakes Weeks and how entire towns emptied to visit Blackpool

Robert Leach writes for The Blackpool Lead on the North West's tradition of heading to the seaside

Wakes Weeks were originally religious feasts; the tradition of the Wakes Week developed into a secular holiday during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, particularly in the mills and factories of the North West.

The word Wakes comes from the Old English word ‘waecan’. Each town and village had a wake on the feast day of the saint their local church was named after.

From May to September, each town was assigned a week of their own, which was used for much-needed maintenance of the mills, collieries and factories. The mill gates slammed shut, local papers’ printing presses went silent, and the shutters came down on corner shops; the whole town was on holiday, and everyone joined the stampede for the railway and coach stations heading for Blackpool’s seven miles of Promenades and all the fun it offered.

To give you some idea of the scale of the exodus, in 1860 alone, more than 23,000 people travelled from Oldham to Blackpool by train. This was big business, with people travelling from smog-ridden towns to the fresh air and sea breezes of Blackpool. An irony being that with the mills closed for maintenance, the smog will have lifted in their home towns, albeit for a short-lived period.

It wasn’t until 1907 that workers were granted 12 days of unpaid annual leave, which included Bank holidays. In 1915, this was increased to 15 days.

In August 1937, the Manchester Evening News reported on Wakes Week for the region's workers.