holiday-makers at peak holiday times. The Government have, therefore, decided, after full consultation with the interests concerned, that the August Bank Holiday for the next two years, 1965 and 1966, should be on the last Monday in August.” There was a minority who would have preferred to see August Bank Holiday moved well into September, but the consensus favoured the end of August. Mr Heath added that they would like to have combined the experiment with a fixed spring holiday on the last Monday in May to replace the present Whit Monday Bank Holiday. “This is not possible in 1965 because of the arrangements which have already been made for school examinations. These cannot now be changed without serious inconvenience. In 1966, the Whit Monday Bank Holiday will, in any case, fall on the last Monday in May.” Mr Heath urged the holiday trades to extend the season and offer inducements to the public to take their holidays at less congested times. His statement was welcomed, although it was pointed out that problems could be caused to diary manufacturers who had pressed for two years’ notice of the change. He suggested that a corrigendum slip could indicate the change. There was a positive response the following day from bus companies, rail spokesmen and Chambers of Trade. Anything which would stagger the holiday period and ease the loading on trains and coaches was to be applauded. Some factories which closed in the final week of July and the first week of August were more guarded, saying they had already added a weekend at the end of September in lieu of August Bank Holiday. Old habits die hard and it took time to adapt. It rained on what would have been the early August Bank Holiday Monday in 1965 and there was an air of unreality about Monday 30 August which marked the beginning of the experiment. The RAC reported quiet conditions on the roads. “We are now at the end of the main holiday season and most people who were going away have had their holidays. What’s more, it will be work again as usual for many factories and other workers which suggest a Bank Holiday rush is unlikely.” Nevertheless the experiment was considered a success. The first Spring Bank Holiday was introduced in 1967, although in June that year the Conservative backbencher Sir William Teeling (since October 1964 the Tories had been in opposition) sought a return to the status quo. He said because Easter had fallen early, there had been a nine-week gap before Spring Bank Holiday and hotels were finding it costly to retain extra staff. But Labour’s president of the Board of Trade, JPW Mallalieu, said they shared the view of the previous administration that a fixed Spring Bank Holiday could make a worthwhile contribution to the extension of the holiday season. The Church had been consulted and accepted the change. It was formalised in 1971 when the Banking and Financial Dealings Act, which succeeded the 1871 legislation as the statutory basis for Bank Holidays, regulated the two Bank Holidays as the last Mondays in May and August. Later New Year’s Day became such a holiday in 1974 and May Day – the first Monday in May – was introduced in 1978. So the last of the old August Bank Holiday Mondays fell on 3 August 1964 and the final Whit Monday Bank Holiday on 30 May 1966. Like the 24 May’s Empire Day, which eventually became Commonwealth Day, and football on Christmas Day which ceased as a full programme after 1957 (although it was Changing the Dates 179