3 days ago
My sitcom-worthy walking holiday
I've just returned from a walking holiday in Northumberland with Caroline and my mother-in-law. I say 'walking' but that makes it sound more physically demanding than it was. Billed as 'gentle guided walking', it was more like an ambling holiday, and the distances weren't very great. On the second day, I was anxious to make it to the pub to watch the League One play-off final, so raced ahead and completed the walk – the entire walk – in less than an hour.
It was a packaged tour organised by HF Holidays, a co-operative set up as the Holiday Fellowship in 1913 by Thomas Arthur Leonard, a non-conformist social reformer. He wanted to save factory workers from the fleshpots of Blackpool by encouraging them to take walking holidays instead. A great believer in the improving effects of the great outdoors, he was a strong supporter of the National Trust and was also involved in setting up the Youth Hostel Association and the Ramblers' Association – a bit like Robert Baden-Powell, except without the links to African colonialism or Hitler Youth. Leonard was also a supporter of the Independent Labour party, a staunch pacifist and, towards the end of his life, a member of the Society of Friends.
Not my cup of tea, then, but HF Holidays is now a broad enough church to accommodate sybaritic non-believers. Well, up to a point. I asked my mother-in-law if I could bring some wine, but was told this wouldn't be in keeping with the slightly frugal, ascetic atmosphere. We were staying in an hotel in Alnmouth owned by the company, and meals were communal, with the 60 or so guests sharing tables and expected to chat to each other while selecting from a limited menu.
