People sometimes ask simple questions about youth hostel history that quickly get complicated. This week someone asked when YHA's Enterprise scheme started. That's easy. YHA launched its current licensing scheme in 2003. Under the scheme YHA licenses individuals and organisations to run youth hostels. If it works well you will never need to know who... Continue Reading →
Shining Cliff youth hostel
Out for a walk in the first spring sunshine, we detoured up hill through the woods at Shining Cliff to see the old youth hostel. Climbing the path through the trees the hostel seems almost suspended above you, an idyllic spot in acres of woodland. The original wooden hostel started as a collection of former... Continue Reading →
Youth hostel story
Oliver Coburn's book is the classic history of youth hostels in Britain. Published in 1950, Coburn wrote about the first 20 years of youth hostels. All the familiar history is there. The predecessors of youth hostels in European travel, how youth hostels began in Germany, their beginning in Britain on Merseyside, the early break neck... Continue Reading →
Ramble on
I look out for books about hostels. I call it research but I'm a book maniac anyway, always reading a book or two. Stuck for something to do, waiting for a meeting, a train or an appointment, I head for the nearest bookshop. I look for books that tell me more about youth hostels. That’s... Continue Reading →
Live More YHA
Ever wondered how youth hostels have lasted for more than 80 years. The answer just might be in the latest YHA magazine, Live More YHA, which launched in August. Packed with network news, big name interviews and the latest gear reviews, the e-zine went to 350,000 people, members and non-members. Electronic and colourful, it's the latest... Continue Reading →
SIMPLY HOSTELS 