Youth Hostel
Charney Bassett’s Youth Hostel was at Rectory Farm (1944-1948) and contemporary with it being owned by The Kingston Community in Charney Bassett.
The archive records of the Youth Hostels Association (England and Wales), is held at The University of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library, Special Collections. They have the Charney Bassett Youth Hostel in their records. YHA/Y050001-Charney Bassett and have three nice pictures of it as a Youth Hostel but require a payment for us to use them, but you can view them on their website free of charge:
https://calmview.bham.ac.uk/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=XYHA%2fIH%2f1%2fCHAR
At Rectory Farm. CHARNEY BASSETT 1943 to 1948.
Rectory Farm, Charney Bassett, Wantage, Berkshire.
Historic County: Berkshire YHA Region: OXF GR: SU 379946*
Opened in time for Whit 1943 [OXFar43], with opportunities for expansion if needed [OXFar43].
Wartime arrangements: after opening, the hostel operated each year of the war.
Closed 30/9/1948 [OXFar48].
Handbook 1943alterations-48.
Property profile: old farmhouse in centre of village.
YHA Archive file [∂ & «]: Y600013 Mabel Pratt Diaries transcribed.doc
Reports, recollections and observations:
A lovely village. The members’ kitchen was right over the other side of the garden [Mary Jephcott, July 1945, recounted in 2015].
Charney Basset Youth Hostel is a farm, a rambling, disjointed and confusing old place, and the accommodation for hostellers is scattered far and wide. The farmer’s wife seemed surprised to see us. It is three days since any hostellers have shown up at all. As soon as we explain that we are self-cookers we are looked upon as harmless. Self-cooking arrangements were scattered – crockery was in the house, water was outside it, and Calor gas rings were through the gate and across the yard [Mabel Pratt, April 1948].
Background
The very first Youth Hostel was opened in Germany in 1909 by school teacher Richard Schirrmann. Twenty years later, following a trip to Germany, a small group of pioneers opened Britain’s first Youth Hostel. The national organisation was established the following year and, by Easter 1931, 11 hostels were open.
YHA is a child of the Great Depression. The welfare of Britain’s growing urban population was a serious concern in the early 20th century. YHA’s offer of affordable accommodation was an antidote to the poor air quality, cramped housing and harsh conditions of inner city life. It gave young working people an unprecedented opportunity to spend leisure time in fresh air and open countryside, on a scale only previously possible for the wealthy.
During the Second World War the number of YHA members doubled.
[extract from https://www.yha.org.uk/about-yha/history]
Reference in the book ‘No Voice from the Hall‘
Reading Standard – Friday 09 April 1948: Youth Hostels Last week-end walkers of the Reading group of the Youth Hostels Association stayed at the youth hostel at Holmbury St. Mary, which was specially built shortly before the war with the aid of a grant from the King George’s Jubilee Trust. The party reached the hostel from Guildford by way of St. Martha’s Chapel and the Silent Pool. The Sunday’s walk took them over Leith Hill. This week-end walkers and cyclists are visiting the Charney Bassett hostel in the Vale of the White Horse. The full programme of the group may be obtained from the hon. secretary at 126, Elm Park Rood Reading.
Reading Standard – Friday 16 April 1948 BERKSHIRE ANTIQUITIES Local Cyclists Visit the Downs Last week-end a party of cyclists of the Reading Group of the Youth Hostels Association stayed at the hostel at Charney Bassett in the Yale of the White Horse, to explore some of the antiquities of Berkshire. The outward run took them via Yattendon, Hampstead Norris and Wantage. On the morrow the that halt was at the ancient Tithe Barn at Great Coxwell built by the monks of the Cistercian order in the 14th century. and in continuous use since then, the original oak timbers still supporting the tallest tithe barn In Britain. The party moved on through Uffington to the famous Blowing Stone which local people say was used for summoning King Alfred’s men in times of trouble. The stone has been moved from its vantage point on the hills, to the safe custody of a cottage garden following an attempt to remove it by some over enthusiastic souvenir hunters. The Journey was resumed along the Berkshire Ridgeway to the ramparts of Uffington Castle. where a close-up was obtained of the White Horse itself seen only vaguely from the Vale, but now restored to its pristine grandeur after a temporary eclipse during the war on grounds of security. Close by, the party also admired the ancient monument of Wayland Smith’s Cave. After a run down from the Ridgeway, the party followed the Lambourn Valley to Newbury and thence returned to Reading. This week-end walkers are staying at the Hannington Hostel on the North Hampshire Downs, followed the next week-end by a conducted tour of London Airport at Heath Row.
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