Holidays Learning Journey

Holidays as we know them today were an invention of the industrial revolution. Before the factory people did not think of leaving their village and home for a week to stay elsewhere, they had chores and animals that could not be left alone.

Holy days were single days of celebrations, and the entertainment would travel to the people in the form of a travelling fair or troupe of players, which would set up on the village green and entertain for a few coppers or some food and drink.
The factories, with their unhealthy atmosphere and long days of work provided no time for enjoyment, the only days of freedom allowed were Sundays, Christmas Day and Good Friday.

So how did holidays as we know them develop? Follow the learning journey to see how our great grandparents celebrated and saved for their leisure time.

Click on the steps below to explore.

Holidays learning journey Step 2: Rushbearing. A significant part of the celebration of Wakes, was the rush cart being paraded through the village to the church, bringing rushes to be strewn on the floor. Samuel Bamford records in his Autobiography how the practice of "rushbearing" began, with some families bringing rushes into the church to warm their feet during the winter, eventually this grew to a tradition as the families tried to outdo each other and ingratiate themselves with the priest, and soon the whole village would be involved in preparing the cart and joining the procession to the church on the feast of the dedication; other hamlets around bringing their own carts all gaily decorated, thus the village would become the focus of festivities for one day a year. The cart would be decorated with brightly coloured rosettes, bells, flowers and silver objects borrowed from members of the congregation and displayed to show the prosperity of the village. The rushes were then piled up in a carefully constructed form, topped with waving green boughs, and sitting astride the rush-heap one or two young men of the village. The whole thing was then drawn round the village to the church, joining others from the district and forming a procession. With the church bells pealing the rushes entered the church. Design and draw a rush cart to celebrate modern day life. Try to obtain Samuel Bamford's Autobiography and read his descriptions of life in Middleton during the early years of the Industrial Revolution.

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