youth hostels, the history, people and ideas behind them
Today designer hostels create a stir. CN Traveller has picked up on them. Wallpaper, the magazine with the latest news on architecture, design, and lifestyle, has too, along with many other newspapers and magazines. Hilton hotels have launched their concepts for a new brand they call Motto based on the hostel concept. If the idea... Continue Reading →
"Wet suits fitted", the sign said. We had just arrived in Ambleside. The rain blew softly around us as it often does in that town. We might have wanted to keep dry but the sign declared some thing else. River, lake and wild swimming have become a British fashion as we rediscover water is a... Continue Reading →
Idwal Cottage in Snowdonia is a favourite of mine. Its location is perfect, its facilities great and its history unrivalled. It’s located among marvellous hills. They’re big - technically mountains - and the challenge of climbing them rises in your face, with no long treks to get among them. They’re big and ugly and they... Continue Reading →
The origins and aims of youth hostels have often been misunderstood. Traditional views have youth hostels emerging from an outdoors movement of walkers and cyclists. This view overlooks the leading role played by Quakers in the pioneering years of youth hostels and the work of its first national secretary, E St John “Jack” Catchpool. Catchpool's... Continue Reading →
Colin Logan, former YHA chief executive, has died in North Wales on 14 August 2018. Colin Logan came to the Youth Hostels Association when YHA stood on the verge of momentous change. Many would not have given YHA much chance of surviving in 1980. It had just emerged from a bruising and costly dispute with... Continue Reading →
SIMPLY HOSTELS 