Former HF Houses - Swanage.
As it was my first HF holiday I wasn't fully prepared. I knew I needed to bring a rucksack but, for some reason, I only brought a small one. As the rucksack only had room for my spare clothes I took my packed lunch in a plastic bag. I think my fellow guests thought I was a bit strange, I was walking in an anorak with a plastic bag and they had all the proper gear. They all had very long woolen socks rolled up over the outside of their trousers, some of them also had gaiters even though it was dry, its not Victorian times but, even in those days, they must have had some fear of getting mud on their ankles.
According to Harry Wroe's book there have been 3 HF houses at Swanage at different times:
- 1921-1934
- 1947-1995
- 2006-2007
I never went to the house they had in 2006/7 but I do remember there were lots of complaints about it. I wonder what the story was there? If anyone stayed there I am curious to know what they thought of it. I think its now Purbeck House Hotel? I assume HF didn't own that house as the only stayed there 2 years?
I do think Swanage is a better walking base than Lulworth and more practical for getting staff, I hope HF get another house at Swanage in the future.
More information from Ruth McTighe My first holiday job in 1972 or 73 at the age of 18y. On the staff, serving meals, changing bed linen, cleaning, and sharing the rota for ringing the wakeup bell in the morning (7.30am I think). The building was originally three separate properties, so I had to go all the way up one flight of stairs ringing the bell, across and down the middle set, and then across and up the third flight. We were allowed to join the guided walks on our days off, and also the evening entertainments, which were much better in those days! |
That's interesting, I didn't think about that, I guess alarm clocks would have been heavy so people would not have taken them on holiday. So HF would have to provide a wakeup service. I don't remember much about the inside of the house, I remember getting lost in long corridors but that probably applies to a lot of HF houses. I'm not sure if I knew, at the time, that it had been converted from 3 houses but looking at it now that makes sense how it would have been built. I am still curious about why it would have been built on a stone base, you can see it more clearly from the picture above.
The convent across the road has also been converted into flats, the sisters let HF guests park in their car park in return for a financial offering.
Sue Wilson My husband and I stayed there in 1981 and I remember going on a tour of the nunnery. The sister showing us round opened a door and the nuns were all sitting watching TV. |
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Other Documents on this site
Click on the following for more information
| Former HF Houses | |
|---|---|
| Conwy (1914- 2011) |  |
| Newlands (1914- 1987) |  |
| Swanage (1947- 1995) | |
| Isle of Arran (1925- ) |  |
| Scarborough (1954- 1998) |  |
| Lulworth |  |
| Beddgelert |  |
| New Inns |  |
| Penrith |  |
| Milford-on-Sea |  |
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About This SiteHere is some history of former HF houses I have visited (there are also some pages about getting to, and walking from, HF houses without using a car). Over the years I have had holidays in houses that HF have closed. I think it would be good if there were somewhere on the HF website where peoples memories could be stored and made available online. I know that HF have a paper history archive at Newfield Hall and there is an online book by Harry Wroe but I would see this as something HF could do which is more of a online community thing. If you find any errors why not let others know by putting a post on the HF Holiday Fans ( unofficial) Facebook forum. I will try to quote such posts here so they don't get lost. |