Leisure in Britain 1918-1979

Question 1

Who experienced the most leisure time in the early 1920s

Answer 1

The upper classes and the aristocracy

Question 2

How did car ownership change over the interwar period

Answer 2

2 million cars on the road by 1939

Question 3

What were boarding houses

Answer 3

Buildings similar to BnB’s that were cheaper than hotels, often run by widowed women were people could stay for a few days

Question 4

When was the first Butlins created

Answer 4

1936, the first camp in Skegness is set-up

Question 5

What was the appeal of Butlins

Answer 5

• Offered cheap holidays, chalet accommodation with entertainment whatever the weather and three meals a day
• Promised a weeks holiday for a weeks wages

Question 6

How successful was Butlins across the 20th century

Answer 6

• Two camps provided holidays for 100,000 people

- 6 more camps built by the 1960s

Question 7

Why did Butlins decline during the 70’s

Answer 7

• Better access to foreign holidays

- Tried to appeal to the youth who were seen as rowdy and violent by the older population

Question 8

How did foreign tourism increase from the 50’s-70’s

Answer 8

• Places like Benidorm become incredibly popular
• 4% of British holidays around the Mediterranean in 1968, up to 8% in 1971
• By 1979, Britons spent more on foreign holidays than on domestic holidays
• Rise of affordable and accessible foreign holidays

Question 9

What were the downsides of increased Leisure

Answer 9

• 25% of workers had no paid holiday entitlement

- 1/3 of the middle-class holidayed abroad compared to only 1/5 of the working-class