Welcome to the great British summer – with weather so patchy and unpredictable that we’ll pile into the nearest park at the first hint of sunshine. After all, why would you stay indoors during the holiday when the weather is nice, if you have the option to go to a natural environment right by your house?
And while that’s all very fun at the weekend or during annual leave from work, there’s something even more satisfying about lapping up some rays on a Bank Holiday. Bank holidays – so-named because banks, government offices and most business are closed – are different to public holidays.
There are technically four bank holidays in England, Wales and Ireland: Easter Monday, Whit Monday, the first Monday in August, Boxing Day in England and Wales and St Stephen’s Day in Ireland. In Scotland, however, there are five: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, the first Monday in May, the first Monday in August and Christmas Day.These were the days set out in the Bank Holidays Act of 1871, and as Christmas Day and Good Friday were considered days of rest they weren’t included in the act, so were deemed public holidays rather than bank holidays.
They all have one thing in common, this being that most people have a day off work. Lot’s of people have to work anyway however, otherwise the public would be at risk of rioting if they can’t get a beer in a pub or a bag of malteasers from the shop. So in this sense, a bank holiday is a day where some people have the day off. This includes EC Brighton staff and students. The school is closed and the usual occupants are invited to do as they please, except for attend Brighton English School. Since it’s the summer, it shouldn’t be too hard to enjoy yourself.