High Days and Holidays
The miners and their families found plenty of ways to spend their precious spare time. Sports, music and clubs were popular, and a day trip was an occasional treat.
Join the club
Many of the mining villages had a brass band, and they always welcomed new members. There was live music and dancing at local dance halls too.
Clubs and Friendly Societies flourished, from the Free Gardeners to the United Order of Shepherds. For younger family members, there were scout groups and sporting competitions. People also played quoits wherever there was space for a pitch.
A grand day out
When bank holidays were introduced in 1871, local families began taking day trips. They went to the seaside at Scarborough, Redcar, Saltburn and Seaton Carew.
Holidays away from home were too expensive for most working-class families. Workers weren’t paid during holiday leave until the law changed in 1938.
What is in this case?
1 Iron Quoits This traditional game involves throwing the quoits a set distance, with the aim of landing over or near a metal spike set in a square of damp clay. Quoits could be made of wood, metal or even ivory. These iron quoits are heavy and needed a skilled player to throw them. Have a look at the film playing in this area to see how it’s done.
2 Quoits medals People have been playing quoits for centuries, and plenty still compete in local leagues. The Whitby & District Quoit League won these medals in the 1920s, playing at Egton on the North York Moors.
3 Suitcase Very few working people had paid holiday time until the Holidays with Pay Act in 1938. Within a few years, around 15 million people were packing up for trips to the seaside each year.
4 Saltburn and Marske poster c1938 Coloured lithograph by Greenhop for LNER Railways changed the landscape and people’s lives. It was easy for working-class families to take day trips by train. The railway companies paid well-known artists to create posters, like this one, to promote Britain’s seaside resorts.
5-6 Skinningrove Working Men’s Quoits Club in 1938 Quoits can be played both indoors and outside. Skinningrove had a pitch in front of the local pub, Timms Coffee House.