Editing Whitsun (section)

==History==

As the first holiday of the summer, Whitsun was one of the favourite times in the traditional calendar, and Whit Sunday, or the following week, was a time for celebration. This took the form of fêtes, fairs, pageants and parades, with [[Parish ale|Whitsun ales]] and [[Morris dancing]] in the south of England and [[Whit Friday#Whit walks|Whit walks]], [[Club Day]]s and [[Wakes week|wakes]] in the north.<ref name="Roud">{{cite book|last=Roud|first=Steve|title=The English Year (eBook)|publisher=ePenguin|date=31 March 2008|isbn=978-0-14-191927-0}}</ref> A poster advertising the Whitsun festivities at [[Sunbury-on-Thames|Sunbury]], Middlesex in 1778 listed the following attractions:
<blockquote>
On Whit Monday, in the morning, will be a punting match{{nbsp}}...{{nbsp}}The first boat that comes in to receive a guinea...In the afternoon a gold-laced hat, worth 30s. to be cudgell'd for{{nbsp}}... On Whit Tuesday, in the morning, a fine Holland smock and ribbons, to be run for by girls and young women. And in the afternoon six pairs of buckskin gloves to be wrestled for.<ref name="Roud"/>
</blockquote>

In [[Manchester]] during the 17th century the nearby [[Kersal Moor]] Whit races were the great event of the year when large numbers of people turned the area into a giant fairground for several days.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dobkin |first=Monty |title=Broughton and Cheetham Hill in Regency and Victorian times |year=1999 |publisher=Neil Richardson |isbn=1-85216-131-0}}</ref> With the coming of industrialisation it became convenient to close down whole towns for a week in order to clean and maintain the machinery in the mills and factories. The week of closure, or [[wakes week]], was often held at Whitsuntide. A report in John Harlan and T.T. Wilkinson's ''Lancashire Folk lore'' (1882) reads:
<blockquote>
It is customary for the cotton mills etc., to close for Whitsuntide week to give the hands a holiday; the men going to the races etc. and the women visiting Manchester on Whit-Saturday, thronging the markets, the Royal Exchange and the Infirmary Esplanade, and other public places: And gazing in at the shop windows, whence this day is usually called 'Gaping Sunday'.<ref name="Roud"/>
</blockquote>

Whit Monday was officially recognised as a [[bank holiday]] in the UK in 1871, but lost this status in 1972 when the fixed Spring Bank Holiday was created.<ref name="Financial Dealings Act 1971"/>