Youth hostels started slowly in Northumberland but the county should have been one of the first to have youth hostels because it was running hostels, a chain of them, in the far north east, before anyone else.It should have been able to claim a status as the foremost group in Britain, beating the group on... Continue Reading →

Youth hostels often seem like an urban idea but the origins of youth hostels in the Lake District show us something very different. They began in the Lake District in a haphazard and unorganised way after a schoolteacher, on the eastern Pennine fringe of the region, opened one hostel. Another opened on the edge Windermere... Continue Reading →

A group of enthusiasts on Merseyside claimed for itself a foremost place in youth hostel history, being the first to use the title of “Youth Hostels Association” and first to use the term youth hostel. Having set themselves “to promote Youth Hostels” they set their hearts on establishing “a chain of hostels in North Wales”... Continue Reading →