youth hostels, the history, people and ideas behind them
The journey to the Hebrides from the midlands of England is long. On a train travelling north I had plenty of time to think as, beyond the windows, the landscape changed from the flat yellow Vale of York to green slopes around Aviemore. I love the journey, the views, the company, the comings and goings... Continue Reading →
Democracy is coming to the YHA. Not as Leonard Cohen imagined, with a driving drum and a rousing chorus but democracy all the same. One-member-one-vote democracy. After the Youth Hostels Association's annual meeting in London on Saturday 30 June, from next year all members over-16 will be able to vote in elections to YHA’s Board... Continue Reading →
It's been a busy few weeks with a lightening trip to the Lake District, a trip to Edinburgh and a spate of writing to finish. Somehow I've managed to get this newsletter out early too, to be before the Easter break takes us all away. The Lake District was too brief - isn't it always - and... Continue Reading →
Chatting to a reporter from the BBC last week while taking part in an interview about the history of youth hostels, I was reminded that youth hostels were radical when they began and how much work had to be done to secure their future in 1930. Youth hostels are such a part of life for... Continue Reading →
News about what I've been up to How do you improve lives? When life for many in our society does not seem to be getting better and probably worse, when inequality is growing, when lives are getting meaner and communities more shrivelled, it came as a bolt from the blue to realise that others had... Continue Reading →
