BANK holidays aren’t just a break from the working routine.

Many have associated customs and traditions. Take Easter for example, the longest Bank Holiday break of the year which is religiously important with associated traditions such as Hot Cross Buns and Easter eggs as well as traditional activities such as egg rolling and donning Easter bonnets.

Following the Easter celebrations there is the May Day Bank Holiday - steeped in May pole dancing traditions - and now we are looking forward to another Bank Holiday - known on the ecclesiastical calendar as Pentecost.

Perhaps, though, Whitsuntide is the name we are more familiar with.

In bygone times factory and mill workers would look forward to stepping away from the workforce for some well earned down time during what is for some a week-long break or simply a Bank Holiday Monday for others.

Resorts such as Morecambe and Blackpool have always been popular, particularly with families, and the seaside was one of the locations throng with folk enjoying the traditional Whitsuntide break.

For many, it was a time to escape the pressure of the hard work they faced daily on the factory floor and enjoy relaxing on the beach or doing things they wanted to do - a break from the usual workday routine.

Cotton mills were among the workplaces which closed for Whitsuntide week offering workers the opportunity to pick up leisure pursuits instead.

Apparently the races were a favourite pastime for the men, while markets and esplanades were popular places for women.

There were plenty of traditions too associated with, what is also, an important religious occasion.

Sandra Benham, vicar of Baildon, explains the church refers to Whit Sunday - which falls on June 4 this year - as Pentecost.

“From a Christian perspective that is the day we celebrate the Holy Spirit coming on the disciples - Jesus’ friends - and the church giving them the powers to take the Christmas message out into the world,” she explains.

Sandra says Whit Sunday is often referred to as the ‘Birthday’ of the church, hence why they often have a cake to commemorate the occasion.

The Rev Ruth Yeoman, Associate Priest, Parish of Baildon, explains Whit Sunday is the seventh Sunday after Easter.

She believes it could be christened after the custom of wearing white robes at or after baptism which goes back to the early centuries of Christianity.

This custom appears to have continued into the 1920s with participants in the processions - one of the customs of the Whitsuntide tradition - wearing white.

Explains Ruth: “The public procession was probably an act of Christian witness, a physical expression of the corporate nature of the Christian faith and a celebration of the fulfilment and completion of Easter, a new beginning, the birth of the church, as the promised Holy Spirit comes.”

Whit Monday, the day after Whit Sunday, was officially recognised as a bank holiday in the UK in 1871.

It remained a holiday in the UK until 1978 when the moveable holiday was replaced with the fixed Spring Bank Holiday in late May.

Among the traditions associated with Whitsuntide are Whit Walks, including brass bands and choirs.

Whit fairs and parades also took place during the break, along with Morris dancing, although this custom tends to be more popular for the May Day celebrations.

Whitsuntide is also the first holiday of the summer and a popular time for fairs and pageants taking place.

On March 20 2012, the Telegraph & Argus reported how the world’s oldest amateur road walking event had to be cancelled due to lack of entries.

The Bradford Whit Walk, held continuously since 1903, was one of the most popular events on the race walking calendar. At one time it attracted over 300 entries.

Sadly, the race followed the demise of other long distance events such as the London to Brighton and Manchester to Blackpool races.

Bradford Walk president Geoff Dowling, 79, who competed in the event since the 1960s, said: “It is a sad reflection on British race walking when in Olympic year we can only muster four male and one lady for both the 35 and 15 kilometre races.”

At the height of its popularity, the Bradford Walk attracted top British race walkers and in the 20s and 30s was recognised as the breeding ground for British Olympians, with winners Tommy Green and Harold Whitlock going on to win Olympic gold medals in 1932 and 1936 respectively.

And, according to our photo gallery sourced by our nostalgia writer and researcher, Odele Ayres, it seems for some, participating in the Whit Walk could have been a family tradition?

One of the photos, capturing the 104th Bradford Whit Walk, features Simon Hambridge and M Hambridge.

Readers can also look back at the crowds of visitors taking a break on Morecambe Beach.