Theme 3 - Leisure And Travel

Question 1

What was the status of spectator sports during the interwar period?

Answer 1

• During 1920’s and 30’s it was possible to see many sports such as horse racing for free (Eg: Epsom Derby) which attracted crowds between 200k-500k. Football had on average 22million people a year watching it
• During Great Depression, football rugby and cricket clubs in deprived areas struggled to continue due to decline in ticket sales. Nearly all clubs outside of Yorkshire and Lancashire closed due to low attendees
• In contrast posher sports such as golf and show jumping still had large middle class following with 50k paying to see Ryder cup in 1933

Question 2

What was the status of broadcasting in the interwar years?

Answer 2

• By 1936 BBC began to broadcast live from football. This worried FA as they believed people would just stay at home and not go to the games
• In fact radio broadcast strengthened turnouts
• Mass media helped extend sporting events across the country and created a national spectator culture.
• Money sport could generate increased

Question 3

What as sport like during WW2?

Answer 3

• Stadiums closed due to fears of high death tolls if they were bombed
• Gov saw that sport boosted morale so reopened them
• National league sport was at a standstill due to many joining army, however military were able to form highly talented teams. In May 1943 55k attended a football match at Chelsea which raised 8k 4 naval charities
• FA services football team played France and Belgium shortly after their liberation in 1944

Question 4

What was spectator sport like between 1945-79? (Except football)

Answer 4

• British Newspapers devoted more coverage to sport than to any other topic after the war
• Nations favourite game in 1940’s was county cricket
• Developments in TV increased British TV audiences’ acces to sporting events around the world such as the World Cup and the Olympics. 1966 World Cup final attracted 32 million viewers
• Increased audiences lead to increase gov spending in sport. Sport council of Great Britain set up in 1972 promoting “sport for all”

Question 5

Who won the 1966 World Cup

Answer 5

England

If you got that wrong you should question your very existence on this planet

Question 6

Reasons for decline in football attendances between 1945-79?

Answer 6

• 1948 41 million tickets sold for Football league matches. This dropped to 30 million in the 60’s
• Seen as the working class sport as it did not have the upper and middle class history
• Offered an escape from post-war austerity but as economy boomed in 1960’s had to compete with other pastimes for people’s attention
• Violence and hooliganism increased in football so many stopped going

Question 7

What was tourism like pre 1930?

Answer 7

• Tourist facilities were geared towards wealthy as few working class people went on holiday( Eg: expensive hotels in seaside and spa resorts and leisure facilities such as golf courses)
• Sailing was popular in fresh and sea water
• Few went abroad and those who did went to exclusive locations such as French Rivera

Question 8

What were baedeckers?

Answer 8

Guidebooks that concentrated on the most expensive hotels, art and cultural pursuits

Question 9

What caused an increase tourism throughout the 1930’s?

Answer 9

• The growth in the affordability of cars lead to tourism that was not reliant on train travel to seaside resorts
• 1936 coaches transported 82 million passengers to rural parts of Britain and by 1939 there were 2 million cars on the roads
• Scotland, Lake District and north wales were popular among caravaners campers and hikers with 72k people a year visiting the Lake District during 1930’s
• Increase in education lead to more visits to places of cultural and historical significance

Question 10

What were boarding houses?

Answer 10

• Cheaper option by the seaside than hotels
• By 1920’s there were 4K boarding houses in Blackpool and many families returned year after year to the same place
• Many ran by widows
• Guests not given own keys and not able to stay out after certain hours. Many landladies were seen as far too strict
• As disposable income increased boarding houses were less popular

Question 11

What was Butlin’s?

Answer 11

• Holiday camps with first being built in Skegness in 1936 promising ‘a weeks holiday for a weeks wages’
• cheap holidays that provided activities and entertainment whatever the weather and three meals a day. Dominated tourism for 30 years until package holidays came around
• Camp in Skegness were providing holidays for 100k visitors a year in 1939

Question 12

What caused the fall of Butlin’s? (Longer answer)

Answer 12

• Regimented nature of stay
• chalets, communal dining areas and loudspeaker system remained many of army camps
• Holiday makers demand more individual holidays as LS and wealth increased
• Growth in cheap foreign holidays
• Butlin’s tried to appeal to younger people rather than families in 1960’s however this lead to reports of teenage sex, vandalism and antisocial behaviour with damaged reputation

Question 13

What was What caused the increase in foreign holidays during the 1950’s-70’s?

Answer 13

• Cheap flights and hotels
• Almost all businesses offered at least 2 weeks annual leave to employees by early 1960’s
• hot weather
• Increase in disposable income
• Holidays to Mediterranean increased from 4% of all holidays in 1968 to 8% in 1971
• Decision by gov to allow holidaymakers to take £25 per trip caused a boom. In 1971 4 million holidays were taken but in 1981 13 million were

Question 14

What impact did the increase in foreign holidays have?

Answer 14

• British tastes for foreign food became more adventurous and many returned to Britain with a taste for wine and pasta
• Attitudes towards European countries changed

Question 15

What forms of tourism developed after the war?

Answer 15

• Caravanning: Developed in 1930’s with 90 models available in 1934. Increased in popularity as people had more money. Alternative to communal Butlin’s holidays. Appealed to those wanting individual holidays. 20% of all holidays taken in 1960’s. Created large domestic tourism market
• Hippy trail: Young people who searched for more authentic experience and rejected materialism travelled a route to Nepal and India in the 1960’s called the Hippy trail. Travelling across many continents many people were attracted by availability of opium in Nepal . Showed that not everyone found package holidays ideal and attitudes towards travel were extremely diverse

Question 16

What inequalities did tourism highlight?

Answer 16

• By 1965 full employment and greater working rights meant that 60% of working adults had at least 2 weeks paid holiday however 25% did not
• Also only 1/5 of working class could afford abroad holidays in 1960’s compared to 1/3 of middle class
• Foreign holidays became more common in 60’s and early 70’s but decreased from 1973 due to rising prices

Question 17

How did car ownership grow and develop during the interwar period?

Answer 17

• Decrease in horse drawn carriages (200k in 1923 and 12k in 1937) and decline in tram usage transformed the environment of inner cities
• By 1934 there were 2.5 million cars on British roads oh which half were privately owned
• Cars in 1920’s were far too expensive (Rover 10/25 cost £250 in 1928) but this decreased in 1930’s (Austin 7 cost £125)
• Pricing still well beyond working class incomes however second hand cars were going for as low as £40

Question 18

What effects did the growing ownership of cars during the 1930’s have on road building?

Answer 18

• Rapid expansion of cars led to expansion of Britain road network in 1930’s
• Many new Tarmac roads were built on pre existing highways but some new roads were built straight through scenic countryside
• major civil engineering projects such as Great North road (1939) and Mersey tunnel (1934) were built however by eve of WW2 there were very few major roads in Britain

Question 19

What impact did the increasing car ownership of the interwar period have on society?

Answer 19

• Between 1926-30 there were 124k crashes resulting in 5k deaths. Motorists caused 80% of these deaths
• By 1934 this had risen to 7k deaths and 231k injures
• Speed Limit reintroduced in 1934 that reduced speed limit to 30 Mph in built up areas and introduced pedestrian crossings. Also introduced Driving test
• Driving became leisure activity in its own right. Used for day and weekend trips and new markets emerged for books on rural Britain

Question 20

What impact did the increasing car ownership of the interwar period have on industry?

Answer 20

• New industry of car workshops, garages and petrol stations developed in order to provide motorists with everything they needed to keep car running
• Cars became more reliable in 1930’s so car industry started to overtake the rail industry in popularity

Question 21

What impact did the War have on the car industry?

Answer 21

• Production lines used to build aircraft instead of cars
• After the war many of the models that came off the production lines were flawed or faulty. Callaghan ordered 2 new ministerial cars from rover but they had to be returned with 34 faults
• A combination of poor Labour relations (such as at the Ford Dagenham factory) and the autocratic management styles in factories lead to the weakening of the British car industry. People stared to lean towards cheaper, more reliable foreign cars

Question 22

What happened to the growth of cars after the war?

Answer 22

• Car ownership increased in 1960’s with 2.2million cars registered in London alone. 1972 there were 13 million drivers on Britain’s roads
• However many people were driving better made foreign cars. 1/3 of cars were imported in 1975 (Up from 1% at end of 1940s) and half of them by 1979. Volkswagen was popular with its beetles and golf’s
• Car ownership was not spread equally across the society. Many middle class families owned 2 cars and as a result new villages were built on outskirts of cities that became predominantly middle class

Question 23

What impact did the growth of cars have on public transport?

Answer 23

• Public transport falling out of favour
• 1952 42% of all journeys were taken by bus or coach at 92 billion Km
• 1969 this had fallen dramatically

Question 24

What happened to roads after WW2? Impact?

Answer 24

• 1958 Preson bypass road opened which was the first 8 mile stretch of motorway
• 1959 M1 was built between London and Birmingham
• Thought 60’s and 70’s more motorways were built connecting the country
• Environmentalists complained at the loss of green space and home owners near motorways complained about the noise
• However people became more mobile and found it easier than ever to travel

Question 25

What happened to air travel between 1918-79?

Answer 25

• First international air service began in August 1919 when air transport and Travel flew 1 passenger from London to Paris for £21
• 1924 four majority British companies merged into Imperial Airways which was provided with government subsides
• 1932 it was possible to fly to Australia using British colonies as refuelling stations
• Demand for air travel was low with only 1 million passengers journeys being flown in 1955. However when flights became cheaper this figure rose to 14 million in 1970.
• Laker airlines founded in 1966 were the pioneers of cheap flights. They were charter only so had to be booked in advance by holiday companies as part of a joint holiday resort and transport package