This week the Guardian ran a piece on the ten best hostels and lodges that can only be reached by foot. Surprisingly to me and another reader they neglected Black Sail hut in the Lake District but included Glen Affric in Scotland. More interesting than that oversight, another reader commented that "the Youth Hostels Association... Continue Reading →
The first youth hostels
This time of year always reminds me how quickly youth hostels happened. The first moves to start youth hostels happened at the end of 1929. Less than eighteen months later the first youth hostels opened in time for Easter. In that short time they had signed up members, raised funds, formed regional groups, found buildings,... Continue Reading →
A book about the spirit of YHA
The Spirit of YHA is many things to many different people. For some in the 1950s the true spirit was the spirit of those who walked or cycled and who did not use motor cars. For others it meant participating in youth hostels, taking part in the work that gave them life. For the authors... Continue Reading →
Questions easy, questions hard.
People sometimes ask simple questions about youth hostel history that quickly get complicated. This week someone asked when YHA's Enterprise scheme started. That's easy. YHA launched its current licensing scheme in 2003. Under the scheme YHA licenses individuals and organisations to run youth hostels. If it works well you will never need to know who... Continue Reading →
Shining Cliff youth hostel
Out for a walk in the first spring sunshine, we detoured up hill through the woods at Shining Cliff to see the old youth hostel. Climbing the path through the trees the hostel seems almost suspended above you, an idyllic spot in acres of woodland. The original wooden hostel started as a collection of former... Continue Reading →
SIMPLY HOSTELS 