ABSTRACT
Since the eighteenth century, the traditional observance of Saint Monday had been practised in many parts of Britain, where some workers, with much-needed specialised craft skills, could choose not to work on that day, without fear of dismissal by their employers. The nearest modern equivalent might be ‘Mondayitis’, a reluctance to attend work, or a reduction in working efficiency, experienced on a Monday morning. Explorations of changes in working-class leisure mobility in the nineteenth century have suffered from a lack of archival evidence, as most such journeys were undertaken on foot or in carts until at least the middle of the century. The railway excursion therefore offers much scope for exploring nineteenth century working-class leisure mobility nationwide. One of the few relevant studies on railway excursions for workers was carried out by D. A Reid in 1996, when he re-examined evidence the Victorian railway excursion, focusing on Birmingham in 1846.
