NO wonder the town's patron saint has two fingers up - his traditional feast day was all but ignored by younger residents of the town this year.

Many people would be glad of a two-week holiday in June - if summer came at the right time of year and stayed for a decent length of time.

But the Macclesfield tradition of the Barnaby fortnight, which was granted as an official holiday by Queen Elizabeth in 1595, is dying out amongst the young as the pace of life steps up every day.

St Barnabas is the patron saint of silk workers and, traditionally, the Barnaby fortnight began on the nearest Sunday to the feast of St Barnabas on June 22.

Now it is hardly recognised except by the older members of the community, who remember when Macclesfield was all fields and mills.

During the fortnight mills and schools used to close religiously, and subsequently shops and other services.

Everything shut down in the town for two weeks while residents travelled in droves to Blackpool or Butlin's holiday camps on specially laid on buses and trains.

This year's Barnaby fortnight ran from Sunday, June 23 to Sunday, July 7, but the dying tradition was lost on many as they went about their busy lives without sparing a thought for the saint.

Former editor of the Macclesfield Express Doug Pickford remembers the days when the celebration was recognised and the tradition was still going strong in the town.

"Everybody used to go away," he said. "The place was like a ghost town.

"The only people left were the ones cleaning the chimneys in the mills.

"Everybody else would queue up for the special buses and trains and meet up again in Blackpool. It was quite common for three generations of one family to go away together.

"And at the end of the holiday they would book the same hotel for the same time the following year."

He added that they would take piles of the Maccclesfield Express to Blackpool to sell because so many people from the town would be there.

And an Express photographer would travel to the seaside resort to catch pictures of Maxonians sporting Kiss-Me-Quick hats and clutching sticks of Blackpool rock.

One year the photographer even followed Macclesfield holidaymakers to Spain for snapshots of the modern feastday activities.

But the demise began when the economic climate changed and the mills began to close in the early Eighties.

The next nail in the coffin came when Cheshire County Council stepped in in the Eighties and banned the schools from closing for Barnaby fortnight, which in turn prevented the parents from going away.

Photographer Gerry Henshall said: "We had to stop taking pictures at the station on Hibel Road after a while because villains would spot the faces of people waiting for the Blackpool bus in the paper, knew they were away for a fortnight, and rob their houses."

Resident Geoff Hunter went to Blackpool with his family every year.

He said: "It was the only holiday the silk workers got apart from Christmas and Easter.

"It was a cheap holiday because we would stay in digs in Blackpool and mother would go out and buy food which the landlady would cook for us.

"I totally ignore it now," he added. "Nowadays I can go away any time I like!"

nAnybody who would like to share their memories of Barnaby fortnight, or their activities this year should write to Virginia Bridgewater at the Macclesfield Express at 37 Chestergate, Macclesfield, SK11 6AL.