The Clarion Clubs, Rambling and the Holiday Associations in Britain since the 1890s

Abstract

The various workers' rambling and holiday associations (which form the subject of this paper), had in many respects as significant an effect in forming the attitudes of many workers as those bodies more concerned with political change. They were less preoccupied with political programmes than with enlarging the individual personality through creative activities, the development of 'fellowship' and a group life which foreshadowed the collectivity of the socialist society for which they were striving. Moreover, they expressed a revulsion against the ugliness and anonymity of urbanised, industrial society, and a deep reverence for nature. In this they continued the tradition of Ruskin, Morris and others who followed Rousseau in his treatment of the problems of Nature and Civilization and the appeal for naturalness and simplicity of living. The Clarion Clubs and the holiday associations (which were separate bodies) were founded to provide for the more fruitful use of leisure at a time when alternative opportunites for workers' recreation were limited. While these groups were largely concerned with the enlargement of the human personality, the intellectual and moral regeneration of the working class was seen as the essential counterpart to any social and economic reorganization. In order to change society it was necessary, they argued, to transform the individual. Some of the organizations considered here, such as the Co-operative Holidays Association, were not specifically socialist or even political