A wooden box of old glass slides has come my way. They date from the early 1930s when the Youth Hostels Association (YHA) used slides like these for publicity purposes, at magic lantern shows, in halls and clubhouses.
Some are of places rarely or never seen before. They include shots of the Damson Dene hostel at Crosthwaite, near Kendal, Cumbria. That one was open from 1931-1963.
Another shows the hostel at Askrigg in Yorkshire, open 1934-1950. A couple are rare shots of the early Coniston Coppermines hostel, surrounded by mineworkings.
Slides like these show the interiors of hostels and a glimpse of conditions at the time. One shows the common room at Goldrill House, Patterdale, complete with oil lamp. Another of the common room at Keswick shows what looks like a hotel lounge, which it was when YHA took the hostel in 1933.
Many have been seen before, like a collection of shots of Black Sail. But another is the gem above, of a young man with a beaming smile, lounging on a wire meshed bed, with his hobnail boots on display.
Glass is fragile. Glass breaks. Some slides are cracked, but even those show the resilience of old fashioned, out of date records. How our current digital shots will survive remains a concern for anyone like me with an interest in historical records.
Rescued from a cellar years ago, they’re on their way to the YHA archive at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.
SIMPLY HOSTELS 
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