Whit Friday
Encyclopedia
Whit Friday, meaning White Friday, is the name given to the first Friday after Pentecost
or Whitsun
(White Sunday).
The day has a cultural significance in northern England
, as the date on which the annual Whit Walks are traditionally held. By convention, the Whit Walks coincide with brass band
contests, held in Saddleworth
, Tameside
and other outlying areas of Greater Manchester
.
, is an important feast day in the Christian Church. In the United Kingdom this was followed by a week of festivities called "Whitsuntide". As the population moved away from the countryside during the Industrial Revoluion the celebrations became less important in many areas, but in the manufacturing towns of the north west of England they were seen as a welcome break from work in the mills and factories. In an article in the Manchester Times in 1859 the London correspondent wrote:
Manchester traditionally held its annual horse races on Kersal Moor
between the Wednesday and Saturday of Whit Week. The local Sunday School Superintendents worried about the gambling and drinking and "desiring to keep youth of both sexes from the demoralising recreations of the racecourse, took them to fields in the neighbourhood and held anniversary celebrations, tea parties etc. in the schools."
During the 19th century Whitsuntide became an accepted holiday week for all, with the mills shutting down and the workers taking canal boat trips and later, with the coming of the railways, cheap rail excursions.
and Mossley
were held, inadvertently launching an internationally renowned and unique brass band
occasion - the Annual Whit Friday Band Contests. The Whit Friday contests are now firmly placed in the brass band calendar and attract thousands of people, whether musicians or spectators, to listen to brass band music. The bands' discipline, stamina, and organisational skills are tested to the limit. Each of the contests on the Whit Friday circuit is organised by a dedicated committee who organise their own contest prizes.
Saddleworth:
Tameside:
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
or Whitsun
Whitsun
Whitsun is the name used in the UK for the Christian festival of Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ's disciples...
(White Sunday).
The day has a cultural significance in northern England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
, as the date on which the annual Whit Walks are traditionally held. By convention, the Whit Walks coincide with brass band
Brass band (British style)
A British-style brass band is a musical ensemble comprising a standardised range of brass and percussion instruments. The modern form of the brass band in the United Kingdom dates back to the 19th century, with a vibrant tradition of competition based around local industry and communities...
contests, held in Saddleworth
Saddleworth
Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets amongst the west side of the Pennine hills: Uppermill, Greenfield, Dobcross, Delph, Diggle and others...
, Tameside
Tameside
The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...
and other outlying areas of Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
.
History
The Feast of Pentecost, which falls on the seventh Sunday after EasterEaster
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, is an important feast day in the Christian Church. In the United Kingdom this was followed by a week of festivities called "Whitsuntide". As the population moved away from the countryside during the Industrial Revoluion the celebrations became less important in many areas, but in the manufacturing towns of the north west of England they were seen as a welcome break from work in the mills and factories. In an article in the Manchester Times in 1859 the London correspondent wrote:
Whitsuntide is not a great holiday week with us, as with you...indeed, we have now no amusements appropriate to this season. We used to have fairs but these degenerated into nuisances and were properly enough suppressed in the interests of public morality and decency...although a good number of well-to-do Londoners take advantage of the week for a cheap trip, the mass of the populace work and toil through the week, which you Lancashire people have so well and wisely reserved for recreation. - The Manchester Times
Manchester traditionally held its annual horse races on Kersal Moor
Kersal Moor
Kersal Moor is a recreation area in Kersal, within the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England, consisting of eight hectares of moorland, bounded by Moor Lane, Heathlands Road, St...
between the Wednesday and Saturday of Whit Week. The local Sunday School Superintendents worried about the gambling and drinking and "desiring to keep youth of both sexes from the demoralising recreations of the racecourse, took them to fields in the neighbourhood and held anniversary celebrations, tea parties etc. in the schools."
Whit walks
The origin of the Whit Week processions of "Sunday school scholars" (which are still held to this day) dates back to 19 July 1821 when there was a procession of the children of Manchester to commemorate the coronation of George IV. On that day children of all denominations walked in procession from their schools and assembled at Ardwick Green to sing "God save the King". From then on the annual festival flourished and, in the course of time, St Ann's Square became the assembly ground. The numbers continued to grow and this was moved to Albert Square in 1878. Each Whit Friday, local churches or chapels in the region employed bands to lead traditional processions through the streets. Whit Friday was the "Scholars' Walk", or the Church's Annual Day when the girls would have a new dress and the boys would have new trousers, and neighbours, friends and relatives would give a penny for their new clothes. The church officers, clergy and children carried baskets of flowers or ribbons attached to banners.During the 19th century Whitsuntide became an accepted holiday week for all, with the mills shutting down and the workers taking canal boat trips and later, with the coming of the railways, cheap rail excursions.
Brass band contests
A brass band contest has been held in Stalybridge on Whit Friday since at least 1870. On Whit Friday 1884, 6 June, two further unconnected events in UppermillUppermill
Uppermill is a village in Saddleworth—a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England, historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It lies on the River Tame in a valley amongst the South Pennines, east of Oldham, and east-northeast of Manchester...
and Mossley
Mossley
Mossley is a small town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. The town is located in the upper section of the Tame valley in the foothills of the Pennines, northeast of Ashton-under-Lyne and east of Manchester.Mossley has the distinction of...
were held, inadvertently launching an internationally renowned and unique brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
occasion - the Annual Whit Friday Band Contests. The Whit Friday contests are now firmly placed in the brass band calendar and attract thousands of people, whether musicians or spectators, to listen to brass band music. The bands' discipline, stamina, and organisational skills are tested to the limit. Each of the contests on the Whit Friday circuit is organised by a dedicated committee who organise their own contest prizes.
Contests
The contests are split between Saddleworth and Tameside. The following localities have held Brass Band contests on Whit Friday::Saddleworth:
- DobcrossDobcrossDobcross is a village in Saddleworth—a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is located in a valley in the South Pennines, along the course of the River Tame and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, east-northeast of Oldham and west-southwest of...
- DelphDelphDelph is a village in the Saddleworth civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on the River Tame below the village of Denshaw, east-northeast of Oldham, and north-northwest of Uppermill.The centre of the village has barely...
- DenshawDenshawDenshaw is a village in Saddleworth—a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies by the source of the River Tame, high amongst the Pennines above the village of Delph, northeast of Oldham, and north-northwest of Uppermill...
- UppermillUppermillUppermill is a village in Saddleworth—a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England, historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It lies on the River Tame in a valley amongst the South Pennines, east of Oldham, and east-northeast of Manchester...
- FriezlandFriezlandFriezland is a hamlet in Saddleworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated four miles east of the town of Oldham....
- GreenacresGreenacres, Greater ManchesterGreenacres , or archaically Greenacres Moor, is an area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the west side of the River Medlock opposite the village of Lees....
- GrottonGrottonGrotton is a relatively wealthy hamlet in Saddleworth, a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. Grotton is a suburban area located along the A669 road, and forms a continuous urban area with Austerlands and Springhead, which in turn link to Lees and...
- LeesLees, Greater ManchesterThe village consists of a small cluster of shops and businesses on either side of the A669 Lees Road, surrounded by some terraced houses and some small estates...
& SpringheadSpringhead, Greater ManchesterSpringhead is a suburban area of Saddleworth, a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England.Situated along the eastern edge of the Greater Manchester Urban Area, Springhead is contiguous with the village of Lees, the Oldham districts of Greenacres and... - LydgateLydgate, Greater ManchesterLydgate is one of the Saddleworth villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England....
- ScoutheadScoutheadScouthead is a hamlet within Saddleworth, a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is traversed by the A62 road, and occupies a hillside amongst the Pennines....
& AusterlandsAusterlandsAusterlands is a suburban area of Saddleworth, a civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It occupies a hillside amongst the Pennines, between the villages of Lees and Scouthead. It is traversed by the A62 road.... - GreenfieldGreenfield, Greater ManchesterGreenfield is a village in the Saddleworth parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It is east of Oldham, and east-northeast of the city of Manchester...
- Diggle
Tameside:
- StalybridgeStalybridgeStalybridge is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 22,568. Historically a part of Cheshire, it is east of Manchester city centre and northwest of Glossop. With the construction of a cotton mill in 1776, Stalybridge became one of...
- MillbrookMillbrook, Greater ManchesterMillbrook is a village near Stalybridge, northwest England. It is part of the Stalybridge South ward of Tameside metropolitan borough.-History:...
, Stalybridge - CarrbrookCarrbrookCarrbrook is an area in the east of Stalybridge, in Greater Manchester, England. The area still has many seventeenth and eighteenth century buildings. Much of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century village was built during the industrial boom brought by the printworks. Modern Housing...
, Stalybridge - HeyrodHeyrodHeyrod is a suburban village in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. It is between Stalybridge and Mossley.In contrast to the rest of Stalybridge, which was anciently a part of Cheshire, Heyrod was formerly a part of Lancashire...
, Stalybridge - Stalybridge Celtic, Stalybridge
- Top MossleyMossleyMossley is a small town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. The town is located in the upper section of the Tame valley in the foothills of the Pennines, northeast of Ashton-under-Lyne and east of Manchester.Mossley has the distinction of...
- Micklehurst, Mossley
- DukinfieldDukinfieldDukinfield is a small town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies in central Tameside on the south bank of the River Tame, opposite Ashton-under-Lyne, and is east of the city of Manchester...
- Hurst Village, Ashton-under-LyneAshton-under-LyneAshton-under-Lyne is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies on the north bank of the River Tame, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines...
- Broadoak, Ashton-under-Lyne
- DentonDenton, Greater ManchesterDenton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is five miles to the east of Manchester city centre, and has a population of 26,866....
- DroylsdenDroylsdenDroylsden is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is to the east of Manchester city centre, and west-southwest of Ashton-under-Lyne, it has a population of 23,172....