During the Industrial Revolution the economy of the United Kingdom moved from being primarily agricultural to a manufacturing base.
This had profound implications for how communities and towns were created throughout the land. Prior to industrialisation the vast majority of the UK population lived in rural settings literally living off the land.
As factories were built they of course needed workers and the people moved into communities close to these factories given the attraction of regular wages and continual work were something these people had not previously been able to rely upon.
So the towns in Northern England and Southern Scotland were established, they were called Mill towns as the settlement’s that developed around one or more mills another name for factory were mainly based upon cotton and textile manufacturing. Some of the great towns and cities of the UK can trace their origins back to this time and they include such names as Burnley, Bolton, Preston and the big one Manchester which was at one time called Cottonopolis such was the profusion of cotton mills within its limits.
Before Beeching Blackpool Main Station was Central on what is now the Central Car Park. The track line went along what is now the Yeadon Way and the main routes to the huge car parks in the centre of town from the M55
The notion even entered literature with one of the most famous references to the early mills being in the poem/hymn “Jerusalem” by William Blake, in which “those dark satanic mills” were referenced. Around that time trade routes were being opened with the East India trading Company importing raw materials from Europe and Asia which were then carried to the mills to be turned into fine clothing and other garments. This in turn led to the creation of the canal systems in Northern England as a cheap way to move supplies from the sea ports to the mills of the inland towns.
Blackpool in its Heyday had Dozens of Fully Laden Trains Arrive Daily from the East Lancs Mill Towns
So we have a significant resettlement of the population into towns across the North of England and their recreational needs have to be considered, amongst this of course was time off work. The notion of Trade Unions were still a way off at this stage so these people would only have been allowed perhaps a week or two off per year which would have been unpaid with a proportion of that time taken at the important Christian festival of Christmas. So Wakes weeks were born. Around the same time the railways were being extended and part of this meant a line had been run into Blackpool. Up until the arrival of the railway Blackpool was a small town that stood in East Lancashire on the coast of the Irish Sea and was not really famous for anything. Anyway the Wakes weeks were to change all this. Each town would designate a separate week in the late spring, summer or early autumn for its workers to have their ‘week off’. There were a couple of reasons for this, it allowed manufacturing to continue and output to be kept up to minimize supply problems and it meant the whole town could decamp en-masse for it’s weeks holiday schools included thereby not inconveniencing anyone else. Now these people needed somewhere to go and spend their holiday so in essence Blackpool was born as a holiday resort. It had enough accommodation and sufficient entertainment to keep everyone happy. The fact the weeks were staggered meant that at no one time did the town become overwhelmed with visitors and there was plenty of space available in the many bed and breakfast guesthouses and the like that sprung up all over Blackpool.
Thousands of Holidaymakers Flocked to Blackpool for the Wakes Weeks
These visitors poured money into the resort which allowed it to be developed further and this saw the Pleasure beach, piers and Illuminations features born. Then Blackpool Tower was built to further astound visitors.
During the last 25 years of the twentieth century globalisation took hold across the world meaning textile imports from all over the world could be brought in cheaper than it cost to manufacture product in the UK. This led to a decline in textile manufacturing around the same time as the Thatcher revolution was taking place with her wide ranging reforms on the British Coal Industry, as such the wakes weeks gradually petered out to a point the only real one recognised today is the September weekend where it seems that almost the entire population of Glasgow decamps to Blackpool to take up residence for a few days. The town is flooded with Scottish accents and the banks have to lay on additional security transport in the days after to ship all the Scottish banknotes north of the border.
Blackpool has launched the nostalgic week-long initiative to remind East Lancashire families who are looking to holiday at home because of the recession just what it has to offer.
The tourism chiefs in Britain’s premier resort have unveiled a week-long package of offers and events from August 9-16 which celebrate the holiday ritual.
They include special family rail travel offers from the historic cotton towns of East Lancashire and beyond, and an exhibition celebrating the glory days of the Wakes holidays at Blackpool North station.
At the start of Blackburn’s July 1945 Wakes Week, the first since the end of the Second World War, holidaymakers queued at the town’s railway station from early morning to catch one of 23 trains.
The following week 14 trains set off from Accrington and it was estimated that 250,000 people crammed into the resort that Saturday.
According to reports at the time, it was also estimated that the holiday-makers from East Lancs spent almost £1 million on their break from work.
One of the highlights of the Wakes Week celebration will be a special 1950s steam train excursion on the Scots Guardsman to Blackpool from Carnforth, calling at Blackburn and Preston before arriving at Blackpool North Station.
The journey will take place on Sunday, August 9, coinciding with Blackpool’s famous air show, which will feature the Red Arrows.
Coun Maxine Callow, at Blackpool Council, said: ““We believe the initiative will strike a chord with communities like Blackburn, Burnley and Accrington.”
Bookings for the special steam train excursion can be made with the Visit-Blackpool team on 01253 478222.
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