The Bank Holiday!!

First a liitle bit of explanation and history :

A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom and also in the Republic of Ireland. There is no right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population not employed in essential services (e.g. utilities, fire, ambulance, police,  health-care workers) receive them as holidays; those employed in essential services usually receive extra pay for working on these days. Bank holidays are so called because they are days upon which banks are shut and therefore (traditionally) no other businesses could operate.

Prior to 1834, the Bank of England observed about thirty-three saints’ days and religious festivals as holidays, but in 1834, this was reduced to just four: 1 May,  1 November,  Good Friday,  and Christmas Day.

In 1871, the first legislation relating to bank holidays was passed when Sir John Lubbock introduced the Bank Holidays Act 1871 which specified the days in the table set out below. Sir John was an enthusiastic supporter of cricket and was firmly of the belief that bank employees should have the opportunity to participate in and attend matches when they were scheduled. Included in the dates of bank holidays are therefore dates when cricket games were traditionally played between the villages in the region where Sir John was raised. Scotland was treated separately because of its separate traditions; for example, New Year is a more important holiday there.

So what do you do on a bank Holiday ? Here are some suggestions:

• Stay in Bed all day
• Garden
• Clean the cooker
• Fill out your tax forms
• Read a book
• Surf the net reading all those blogs that enliven your life ( joke?)
• Drink as much wine as is possible
• Inflict BBQ food on friends
• Go shopping
• Look out of th ewindow and wonder what is going on in your life
• Throw stones at the nieghbours pets
• Ring all those people that you have been meaning to for ages
• Watch the TV
• Climb a mountain
• Let the kids loose on the street
• Think about Christmas
• Wonder why it always rains in August
• Recycle everything
• make a resoltion to go to Church and listen to the sermon ( some hope)
• Be  nice to everyone you meet
• Shop at B and Q – Sainsburys or anywhere else that will sell you soemthing you dont need

 

I could go on….. and on…… and on! Any suggestions for a Bank Holiday Pastime?