youth hostels, the history, people and ideas behind them
In 2020 the Cadbury Research Library was successful in an application for funding from the Wellcome Trust to catalogue the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and Youth Hostels Association (YHA) archive collections. After two years the project is now complete and new catalogues for both collections are now available. Both provide a fantastic body of... Continue Reading →
YHA wants to involve more people in running youth hostels. It’s an approach with potential for sustainable tourism, a way of maintaining and re-imagining hostels, based on YHA’s long history. At its start, in 1930, with people eager for hostels to open, YHA lacked the resources to build or buy its own properties, and turned... Continue Reading →
A family member is asking for advice on careers. Would I suggest a career in travel, tourism and hospitality? I'd have wasted my life if I didn't recommend the career I followed all my working days! The one that has taken me to this blog, books and history. Career is a poor description of the... Continue Reading →
The impact of tourism captures headlines. Overtourism. Too many visitors destroying the places they come to see. Reports of changes in places we love to visit. And tourism still remains the pursuit of the wealthy, despite the efforts of Thomas Cook, Billy Butlin and TA Leonard to bring travel within the reach of millions. Their... Continue Reading →
Youth hostels found new roles in the pandemic. Some housed families at risk of domestic violence. Others housed the homeless or distributed food to their communities. The period echoes the Second World War when youth hostels also turned themselves to other ways. Lands End Youth Hostel The outbreak of the Second World War caused confusion.... Continue Reading →
SIMPLY HOSTELS 