August Bank Holiday!

~ Annalisa Crawford

We love a good bank holiday in the UK – New Year, Good Friday, Easter Monday, a couple in May, August, Christmas and Boxing Day.

Today, I’m going to be writing because I’ve got a self-imposed deadline coming up, and spent the weekend reading. Fun, but not particularly useful for the competition submission I haven’t yet started!

I must admit, we tend to ignore bank holidays in the Crawford house. Living in a tourist region, you can guarantee the roads will be packed and any destination crammed. In the current climate, I definitely don’t want to be crammed anywhere with anyone!

We went out one year, completely forgetting it was a bank holiday. The dog was wrestled into the car (he’s not a fan), a walk on the beach and rock cake at the cafe planned – but never made it out of town. It’s a small place – you can walk end to end in less than an hour – and we got stuck in completely immobile traffic five minutes down the road. So we turned around, got Artoo out of the car, and took him on his usual walk. I’ve no idea what he thought of us, but his expressive eyebrows were unusually waggly!

Some things you might not know about bank/public holidays:

  • India has the most, worldwide, with 21
  • Until 1834 the UK had 33 (mostly Saints Days) but it was reduced to four!
  • We call them bank holidays, because it was a banker who created the Bank Holidays Act (1871), which made those four days official
  • We now have eight, and the only country with fewer is Mexico
Seaton, Cornwall: the beach we didn’t get to that day in the car. Pictures taken 4 years ago, possibly on the August bank holiday, but no guarantees 😁

What are you up to today? Is it a public holiday where you are?

11 thoughts on “August Bank Holiday!”

  1. Hi Annalisa – as a family from childhood we never went out on bank holidays – so I’m well used to it … this year I’m not going anywhere – sincerely hope by next things will adjust! This year the beaches have been like bank holidays in the hot weather – ah well … I disappear elsewhere. Great to hear of Artoo’s reactions – take care and write hard and well … have a good day – Hilary

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    1. Hi Hilary, oh Artoo is the most expressive dog I’ve ever known. I must video him one day, when he’s in full conversation mode! I hope the weather is as nice with you as it is here – I’ve got all the windows open wide while I write 🙂

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  3. Labor Day is the next holiday for us, but I know what you mean about avoiding traffic on holidays. That’s why I often try to get my errands, like grocery shopping, done on weekdays and stay in on weekends when the stores are more likely to be crowded. I try to do social distancing at the grocery store, but sometimes it’s hard to do that in the narrow aisles.

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