Connie Alexander (youth hostelling)
English pioneer of UK youth hostelling
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Edith Constance Alexander (27 November 1897 – 9 November 1979) was a pioneer of youth hostelling in the United Kingdom. She was a founder member of the Youth Hostels Association in the UK and their first warden.
27 November 1897
Connie Alexander | |
|---|---|
Connie with her dog Yo-Ho | |
| Born | Edith Constance Alexander 27 November 1897 Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 9 November 1979 (aged 81) Llandudno Junction, Gwynedd, Wales |
| Years active | 1929–1939 |
| Known for | youth hostel pioneer |
Life
Connie, as she was known, was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire in 1897 but by her teenage years was living in Liverpool.[1] An active member of the Liverpool Ramblers Federation and Holiday Fellowship, she was also involved with the League of Welldoers.[2][a] In 1929 Connie was one of seven members of the Holiday Fellowship who went on a fact-finding expedition to Germany to investigate the work of the German Youth Hostel Association.[4] From that trip, came the interest to found a youth hostelling movement in Britain.[5] During 1930 the Merseyside group of the newly formed Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales) (YHA) looked for premises to use as hostels and in time for Christmas 1930 the group opened Britain's first youth hostel at Pennant Hall near Llanrwst in north Wales.[6] Alexander was part of the advance party of four who set up the hostel, where Connie was appointed cook and generally in charge of affairs.[7] Although Pennant Hall closed shortly into 1931 due to issues with the water supply, Connie Alexander is considered the first YHA warden.[8][2][7]
The following year YHA opened Idwal Cottage youth hostel in the Ogwen Valley and Alexander was appointed as the warden, taking up her duties in May 1931. A keen climber, Alexander, spent much of her spare time in the mountains around the hostel and was involved in several rescues of people lost or injured in the area.[9] On more than one occasion she gave evidence at inquests following fatal incidents.[10][11]
In March 1937 she was the subject of a large scale search after she failed to return from a walk when a storm came on. Over 30 people were involved with the search which took place overnight and into the next day before Alexander was reported safe at a hotel in Llanberis, having found her way in the storm to the road and being given a lift by a passing motorist into Llanberis.[8][12] Alexander recounted the incident in the first episode of the series, It Might Happen To You on the BBC Regional Programme broadcast on 11 October 1937.[13]
Alexander remained warden at Idwal Cottage until July 1940 when she left to marry a local climber, Richard Williams. After their marriage the couple settled in the area eventually residing in Llandudno where they remained until Alexander's death in 1979.[14]