"Wakes " is a north of England holiday of two two weeks granted by mill owners to the workers every year different towns hade their "Wakes" at different time Rochdale for example always had the last week of June and the first week of July Oldham had a different period. The landladies of Blackplool new where their visitors were from by which "Wakes week" it was. A custom which has more or less died out because of flexible working practices.