youth hostels, the history, people and ideas behind them
Idwal Cottage in Snowdonia is a favourite of mine. Its location is perfect, its facilities great and its history unrivalled. It’s located among marvellous hills. They’re big - technically mountains - and the challenge of climbing them rises in your face, with no long treks to get among them. They’re big and ugly and they... Continue Reading →
The origins and aims of youth hostels have often been misunderstood. Traditional views have youth hostels emerging from an outdoors movement of walkers and cyclists. This view overlooks the leading role played by Quakers in the pioneering years of youth hostels and the work of its first national secretary, E St John “Jack” Catchpool. Catchpool's... Continue Reading →
Colin Logan, former YHA chief executive, has died in North Wales on 14 August 2018. Colin Logan came to the Youth Hostels Association when YHA stood on the verge of momentous change. Many would not have given YHA much chance of surviving in 1980. It had just emerged from a bruising and costly dispute with... Continue Reading →
“How does a life-changing experience start? With some, it’s a single event; with others it creeps up on them over time.” Sir Chris Bonington has been a long time supporter of youth hostels. He’s one of those who found adventure through youth hostels and never looked back, and youth hostels were one of the events... Continue Reading →
History’s a living thing. YHA archivist John Martin gets out and about a lot, researching the history of hostels, looking for old hostel sites and finding people with memories of hostels as they were. He gets to celebrate all that is rich in YHA’s history. As well as spending hours searching and cataloguing papers and... Continue Reading →
