>Of course in almost a quarter of a century that may have changed a bit, but knowing England and the English I suspect not much.

Yes "shut down" holidays were common. In the North West where I lived, Oldham had the "wakes weeks" in June, so the schools followed suit and closed for two weeks. In Rochdale, just half a mile away had a week in September. My father was a headteacher and the holidays were very inconvenient for anyone sitting important exams as they had to be taken on the same date all over the country. I think that although the few remaining mills may well close for the Wakes weeks, there is no longer the same major shut-down.

In Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow have "Trades Fortnight" -Edinburgh in the first two weeks in July, Glasgow in the third and fourth weeks.

I found this on the internet:
"(1) I am not sure how it was arranged, but no two adjacent towns had "Wakes" in the same week. This meant, as the week wore on and you ran out of food because all the grocers were shut, you could get a bus into the neighbouring town to do some shopping. It also meant that you did not get
people from neighbouring (=rival) towns in the same pubs in Blackpool, as they were there on separate weeks. This helped keep the peace in Blackpool.


(2) Whereas towns like Oldham, Chadderton, Bury and Bacup had "Wakes Weeks", the people of Rochdale thought themselves a cut above the others, and their one-week holiday was called "Rushbearing".


(3) When I say I doubted if you could even be buried in Wakes Week, I did not mean you could not find a clergyman. Rather, the gravedigger would be in Blackpool, the undertaker's clerk in St Anne's and the undertaker
himself probably in somewhere posh like Morecombe or Grange-over-Sands.

(4) As I said, there were no coal mines still working in Rochdale when I lived there up to 1945, but I am sure the same arrangements applied in towns where there were mines. To suggest they would not take the one week a
year holiday they were entitled to, pay or no pay, is to invite a punce (=kick) on the shins with an iron-shod clog!"
Tony Brewis
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/mining-history/1999-05/0058.html

also: http://www.mill-hill.org.uk/Moonraker/Chap8.html