Dear LPG, 

By now we all know that the Queen has reigned for 70 years as of today even if only because we all get an extra bank holiday, although for me, a few things are a bit confusing about this one.    

Traditionally, we have nearly always thought of bank holidays as being Mondays, with Fridays being the odd exception although we are all used to calling those Good Fridays, and Boxing Day can be any day of the week although it is nearly always referred to as Boxing Day.   The last time Friday was declared a bank holiday was in 2020, when our May Day Bank Holiday Monday became a Friday, because it doubled as a celebration for VE day’s 75th anniversary that year.  

One of the interesting things about this one is that, according to data I found on the internet, Friday is the jubilee celebration day while Whitson bank holiday has become a Thursday this year.

The internet also tells that only 15% of the population who will be celebrating this year were around when the Coronation happened, and I suspect that many of them were not old enough to know what it was all about.

If you are old enough to have been there, do you remember what the world was like back in 1953?  The Coronation was one of the first major events to be televised and, in preparation, the number of televisions bought that year was significant, but was there a set near enough for you to be able to watch it?  For 65 years it was the biggest outside broadcast ever attempted in the UK.

But that was then and now we have this extra day’s holiday which, while it will make a difference to the working people amongst us, will most probably not affect the over-70s of the realm because for us every day is a bit of a holiday unless we choose differently.

An extra bank holiday is always a good thing for a country which celebrates the fewest annual bank holidays in all of Europe.  Although I do have to say that while we are used to Good Fridays at Easter time, and at Christmas Boxing Day is always Boxing day which ever day of the week it falls on, somehow bank holiday Thursday still just doesn’t sound quite right?

TK, Downham.