Hi,
I've also put this suggestion on the uk.rec.youth-hostel newsgroup, but I
thought it was worth posting here as well.
I've been mulling over whether there is anything "grass roots" that can be
done to save some of the hostels in England and Wales that the YHA are
planning to close (counting the ones announced last year, it amounts to
around 1/4 of the whole network)
What if as many people as possible (individual walkers, cyclists, members of
various groups eg YHA Local groups, CTC and Ramblers etc and their friends
and families) try to visit these hostels sometime before they close eg in
the Spring or Summer this year, and enjoy them and the countryside nearby,
and take digital photos of the hostels and the surrounding area and other
attractions, and/or produced some descriptions about them and the area.
The photos and text could be put up on the internet eg "unofficial websites"
for the closing hostels.
If this sort of grass roots publicity does improve overnights significantly
at these places, and even people who were previously non-hostellers end up
finding out these hostels and how nice they are this a) makes it harder for
the YHA to justify closing them and b) may help to turn around some of the
YHA's financial problems (which is why they feel that they have to sell off
hostels in the first place).
Even if this approach does not gather enough momentum to make a real
difference (it really is difficult to predict whether something will capture
people's imagination and take off, or end up being a damp squib), I think
anyone who did take part might be glad that they managed to stay in some of
these great places that we will never see again.
If you know anyone who is interested in the countryside and may want to stay
in some lovely places before they are gone, please forward this to them as
well.
A couple of people have already told me that they are starting/have started
up a websites with information and photos of the closing hostels. I would
like to encourage anyone else who wants to do something similar - I think
the more of these initiatives the better. People might want to put their
own perspective or individual touch on their websites (perhaps they are
particularly interested in walking or cycling or visiting historic places,
or are family or group or youth or senior oriented or whatever).
Then when these websites have grown in number and content, we could have
some form of unifying website that links them all together and/or a webring
for them or whatever. This will increase traffic even more, and also show
the "grass roots"/anarchic/individual nature of this "project".
But anyone who just likes visiting hostels and taking photos of them and the
walks and interesting places you can visit from the hostels and/or writing
about them, but doesn't want to design a website can just send them to the
people with the websites..
There are 12 hostels which were announced as closing since August - Badby,
Lincoln, Crowcombe, Aysgarth, Ystradfellte, Kemsing, Malvern, Bradenham,
Broadstairs, Winchester, Corris, Hampstead.
The information I have at present is that some of these are still open:
"Badby, Lincoln, are no longer available. Crowcombe will close in 2006 and
is taking bookings to end of March. Broadstairs has disappeared from the map
despite an offer being listed and the link is dead. Winchester has been
taken back by the National Trust. Corris is still open - no longer
associating itself with YHA. Bradenham will close in 2006 at a date to be
finalised....Aysgarth and Ystradfellte have been sold. Kemsing, Malvern and
Hampstead appear to be open as 'normal'"
6 more closures were announced over Xmas - Portsmouth,Baldersdale,
Blaencaron, Chester, Dentdale, Llanbedr.
I think they are still open at present.
32 more were announced last week - the YHA are intending to close these
later this year or even later.
The following will be closed with no replacement.
1. Ivinghoe in the Chilterns and on the Ridgeway National Trail
2. Blackboys in the Sussex Weald on the Weald Way path.
3. Castle Hedingham in Essex.
4. Steps Bridge in the Teign Gorge near Exeter and Dartmoor.
5. Dartington near Totnes on the River Dart near Dartmoor and the South
Devon Coastpath.
6. Quantock Hills near Holford in Somerset.
7. Elmscott near Hartland and Clovelly on the North Devon Coastpath.
8. Capel-y-Ffin in the Brecon Beacons on Offas Dyke and the Cambrian Way.
9. Trefin on the Pembrokeshire Coastpath.
10. Dolgoch in the remote Welsh Tywi Valley.
11. Tyncornel in the remote Welsh Elenydd.
12. Llangollen in the Clwydian Hills & Dee Valley; one of YHA's flagship
activity centres till just a couple of years ago.
13. Meerbrook in the Peak District near the Roaches rocks and Staffordshire
Moorlands.
14. Langsett near Sheffield on the newly-opened Trans-Pennine Trail.
15. Earby between the Yorkshire Dales and Forest of Bowland on the Pennine
Way and Pendle Way.
16. Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales on the Pennine Way and Three Peaks
Challenge Walk.
17. Keld in Swaledale at the junction of the Pennine Way with the
Coast-to-Coast Path and Herriot Way.
18. Kirkby Stephen in the Eden Valley on the Coast-to-Coast Path.
19. Alston in the North Pennines and South Tyne Valley on the Pennine Way
and Coast-to-Coast Cycle Route.
20. Greenhead on Hadrians Wall and the Pennine Way.
21. Acomb near Hexham on Hadrians Wall between Northumberland and the North
Pennines.
22. Bellingham near Kielder Water in Northumberland on the Pennine Way.
23. Wooler in the Cheviot Hills on St Cuthberts Way and the Ravenber Path.
The following will be closed but YHA will see if it's possible to open
another hostel in the area after they've closed:
24. Dover in Kent on the North Downs Way.
25. Hastings (Guestling) on the Sussex Coast.
26. Brighton (Patcham) on the South Downs Way.
27. Sandown on the Isle of Wight.
28. Lynton in Exmoor on the North Devon Coastpath and Two Moors Way.
29. Matlock in the Peak District.
30. Bakewell in the Peak District.
The following will be closed if YHA can open another hostel in the area:
31. Liverpool, only opened a few years ago.
32. Rotherhithe, opened a few years ago as a flagship hostel.