Remember the 1930s

Every now and then I get to thinking about a particular decade. Earlier in the year it was the 1950s, now my attention has strayed to the 30s. Most people think of the 30s as the wasted decade, or 'the devil's decade'. They picture the Jarrow crusade and the hunger marches. The spectre of the Means Test still plays a part in the mythology of the age. Of course desperate poverty was certainly a feature of those years; unemployment reached nearly 3 million and remained persistently high until rearmament brought hope to those blighted industrial regions of the nation.

However that is far from the full picture as in many ways the 30s were a decade of national growth that would be put into the deep freeze when war broke out. Paid holidays were granted legal status for all employees during this decade. Mass tourism began and the holidays camps (like Butlins) were built to accommodate this new demand. In Caerwys this social change became apparent with opening of the White River Holiday Camp. I will quote from my book 'Caerwys Since Victorian Times':

By the 1930s businesses in Caerwys had begun to cater specifically for tourists. The ‘White River’ Camp was perhaps the first Caerwys ‘holiday’ camp to cater for large numbers of visitors. It was designed for the cycle and motor cycle tourists from the major cities of the North West of England. It advertised ‘Excellent Accommodation, Dining Rooms, Recreation Rooms, Latrines, Lavatories, Sports Fields (9 Acres)’. It claimed to have covered accommodation for 250. Interestingly the advertising brochure perhaps suggested it was a place to meet members of the opposite sex. The brochure claimed that ‘White River’ Camp was ‘A complete “Social Rendezvous” where you can arrange TO MEET YOUR FRIENDS (No Irksome Restrictions). It went on to list the added attractions of ‘Dancing, Concerts, Music, Piano, HMV Gramophones’.  In a post card sent to cycling clubs, the owners of the camp described the situation as amidst the ‘LOVELIEST SCENERY in the BRITISH ISLES’. The ‘Camp Log’ offered tourists advice as to what they should bring: ‘Campers should bring their own Towel, Soap, Boot brushes and Polish, also Hair Brush and Comb’. The Camp Log has a number of so called ‘Appreciations’ from satisfied customers; one entry gives an idea of the type of holidays some campers achieved: ‘We walked all day and we slept all night, and at the ‘White River’ Camp its sure all right, not forgetting the girls at Caerwys’.  The price for breakfast, dinner, tea, supper, and a bed was the sum of £2-2-0.