Display case inside Idwal Cottage Youth Hostel

Image: © Jeremy Bolwell Taken: 15 Nov 2013

When I stay in a youth hostel I am always aware of the history and traditions of the early YHA movement and here is a display to promote that awareness. The items in here belonged to a Doug Smith of Birmingham who enjoyed life and the Welsh hills in the 1940's and '50's - his climbing boots, ice axe and crampons are shown here along with some old photos, guidebooks and items relating to that era. Countless souls have passed this way before me. Doug Smith of Brum included. On the weekend I stayed here there were visitors from Milton Keynes, Redditch, Ludlow, Germany, Ireland and other reasonably far flung places. One day my boots, ice axe and crampons could be studied and smirked at by a new generation as yet unborn maybe. But all linked by the YHA ethos - cheap, basic, functional accommodation for outdoors people and bonds of shared passions and experiences. So simple but standing the test of time.

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