youth hostels, the history, people and ideas behind them
Houghton Mill Youth Hostel drawn in 1944 Youth hostels had a good war. Less than ten years old when hostilities began, war could have destroyed them. But against the odds they decided to carry on. Jack Catchpool was still secretary and GM Trevelyan, the historian and author, was still president. John Cadbury took up the... Continue Reading →
26 Bedford Square, London Different people in different places, through the winter of 1929 / 1930 were trying to start youth hostels. None was making progress until the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) took a hand. The NCSS was the ideal sponsor for the new venture. Today, it’s the National Council of Voluntary Organisations.... Continue Reading →
Jack Catchpool and a history of youth hostels The struggle to improve lives fascinates me. It’s an endeavour, sometimes called the life reform movement, that defines the first half of the twentieth century, the era out of which youth hostels leaped, and is the reason why, when I first came across a second-hand paperback copy... Continue Reading →
Jack Catchpool was the key figure, the central force, the driver, coordinator, and chief pioneer of youth hostels. Using all his enormous skills, a wide network of allies and supporters, and his simple faith as a Quaker, he spread the idea of youth hostels throughout England and Wales to the world. This book, published in... Continue Reading →
Tom Fairclough and friends in Germany. Tom is centre, his feet marked by a blue cross A small group of friends from Liverpool went to Germany in 1929. I've written about this before; how they emerged from different groups in different places in Britain at the the time, all pledged to start youth hostels, and... Continue Reading →
SIMPLY HOSTELS 