And about time too,
because it's been 34 weeks since the last Bank Holiday Monday,
and that's the longest possible gap.
n.b. I'm now going to explore whether this is true,
and prove that it isn't,
and then prove that it is.
Bank Holiday Mondays are the touchpoints of the English spring and summer, a key time to get out and explore, to hit the beach or the DIY store, a stately home or a garden centre, deep countryside or a festival, perhaps even fire up the BBQ. It's just a shame that the weather doesn't always deliver and that they're not better spaced.
These are the big four.
March/April
May
June
July
August
Easter Monday
Early May Late Spring
-
-
Late Summer
That's the day after Easter Sunday, the first and last Mondays in May and the last Monday in August.
That's a gap of 2 weeks, a gap of 3 weeks and a gap of 13 weeks.
Which is appalling spacing - a springtime glut and a summer drought.
Easter Monday
2 weeks
Early May
3 weeks
Late Spring
13 weeks
Late Summer
It's not always this bad but it often is, and it can be worse.
The gap between the two May bank holidays is always either 3 or 4 weeks.
If May has four Mondays the gap is 3 weeks and if it has five the gap is 4 weeks.
The gap between the Late Spring and Late Summer bank holidays is almost always 13 weeks, i.e. 3 months.
But one year out of seven the gap is 14 weeks.
This happens when the Late Spring bank holiday is 25 May, the earliest possible date.
The Late Summer bank holiday is then 31 August, the latest possible date.
The gap between Easter Monday and the Early May bank holiday is the true variable.
Easter Monday can be as early as 23 March and as late as 26 April.
If it's 23, 24, 25 or 26 March then the gap is six weeks, the greatest possible.
If it's 24, 25 or 26 April then the gap is one week, the shortest possible.
The last time we had a six week gap was in 2008 when Easter was 23 March.
The last time we had a one week gap was in 2011 when Easter was 24 April.
One week and six week gaps are rare.
They'll each happen only three times in the next 100 years.
A quick summary of Bank Holiday Monday gaps...
Easter Monday
1-6 weeks
Early May
3-4 weeks
Late Spring
13-14 weeks
Late Summer
There's never a gap of more than 14 weeks in the spring and summer.
But through autumn and winter the gap can get very long indeed.
As long as 34 weeks, you may remember, which is the gap that ends today.
You might think we don't have Bank Holiday Mondays in the winter but we absolutely do.
When Christmas falls on a Monday that's technically a Bank Holiday Monday.
When Christmas falls on a Monday so does New Year's Day, so that's technically a Bank Holiday Monday too.
We also get a winter Bank Holiday Monday if Boxing Day falls on a Monday.
Or if Christmas falls on a Friday and Boxing Day gets shifted to Monday.
Or if Christmas falls on a Saturday and the holiday gets shifted to Monday.
Thanks to substitution we get a winter Bank Holiday Monday four years out of seven.
Christmas Day
Christmas holiday
Boxing Day holiday
New Year holiday
Monday
Monday
Tuesday
Monday
Tuesday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Wednesday
Thursday
Thursday
Friday
Thursday
Friday
Friday
Monday
Friday
Saturday
Monday
Tuesday
Monday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Monday
So if we're looking for the longest gap between Bank Holiday Mondays,
we need Christmas to fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
That's what happened last year.
Christmas was on a Wednesday, so no winter Bank Holiday Monday occurred.
Instead we skipped all the way from Monday 26 August to today, Monday 21 April.
And that's 34 weeks, the longest possible gap.
Late Summer
34 weeks
Easter Monday
To get the longest possible gap we need...
a) the Late Summer bank holiday to be as early as possible
b) Christmas to be on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday
c) Easter Monday to be as late as possible
If Christmas is on a Tuesday then the previous bank holiday is always 27 August.
If Christmas is on a Wednesday then it's 26 August.
If Christmas is on a Thursday then it's 25 August.
And these match up with late Easters of 22 April, 21 April and 20 April respectively.
Late Summer bank holiday
Christmas Day
Easter Monday
gap between BH Mondays
27 August
Tuesday
22 April
34 weeks
26 August
Wednesday
21 April
34 weeks
25 August
Thursday
20 April
34 weeks
It turns out you only get a 34 week gap when Easter Monday is 20, 21 or 22 April.
i.e. when Easter is 19 April, 20 April or 21 April.
If Easter is any later, Christmas kicks in and breaks the gap.
Years with Easter on 19, 20 or 21 April include 1981, 1987, 1992, 2003, 2014, 2019 and 2025.
These all have 34 week gaps between Bank Holiday Mondays.
So far so good.
Except leap years sometimes mess this up.
In a leap year things nudge one day forward.
In a leap year the Bank Holiday Monday gap table actually looks like this.
Late Summer bank holiday
Christmas Day
Easter Monday
gap between BH Mondays
27 August
Tuesday
21 April
34 weeks
26 August
Wednesday
20 April
34 weeks
25 August
Thursday
26 April
35 weeks
And oh look, a 35 week gap has suddenly appeared.
This pairs the very earliest day for the August Bank Holiday with the very latest Easter Monday.
This gap is unbeatable and can only occur in a leap year.
It turns out 34 weeks is not the longest possible gap so I have misled you.
I did say I'd prove it wasn't true,
and then prove that it is,
so here goes with that.
A 35 week gap requires the latest possible Easter Monday.
The very latest Easter Monday only occurs when Easter Day is 25 April.
And this, it turns out, is exceptionally rare.
Here are all the years with Easter on 25 April,
from the start of the Gregorian Calendar to the end of the fourth millennium.
But for a 35 week gap it also has to be a leap year,
and there are vanishingly few leap years in that list.
Unbelievably there's only one - 3784.
All the other years, including all the other even numbers, don't divide exactly by four.
And by the time 3784 comes round the current system of Bank Holidays won't exist either.
(nor indeed banks, nor probably holidays, nor possibly England).
So although a 35 week gap between Bank Holiday Mondays is technically possible,
in practice it never ever happens.
So hurrah it's a Bank Holiday Monday today,
and about time too,
because it's been 34 weeks since the last Bank Holiday Monday,
and that really is the longest possible gap.
