CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED TO SAVE IVINGHOE YOUTH HOSTEL
THE YOUTH Hostel Association wants to close the hostel in Ivinghoe as part of a nationwide cost cutting measure.
The move has angered villagers in Ivinghoe who see at as an integral part of their community.
The Bucks Herald was the first to report on the threat to the hostel, and has been following the campaign ever since.
Tomorrow night (Thursday) campaigners are holding a meeting to discuss their plan of action.
As part of their campaign, they are calling for as much support from the community as possible - and that's where you can help.
Email your views against the closure of the youth hostel by clicking here.
The campaign is being led by Aylesbury Vale District Councillor, Avril Davies, who feels a united approach would be the best approach.
“I know a number of local organisations have already contacted the YHA,” Ms Davies said.
“But it is easy for them to pick us off one by one.
“I feel strongly that, in view of the value of the hostel to our villages as a community, and its value to future generations in the context of the environmental education thousands of young people receive in the village – because they can stay at the youth hostel – we shouldn’t let this go without a great deal of noise.”
The Bucks Herald has already received a number of letters on this issue but to have any chance of saving this youth hostel we need many more!
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Your comments...
I am really sorry that Ivinghoe Hostel , along with 30 other great Hostels is to close.
I have been very saddened by the YHA 's attitude over recent years ,they seem to be concentrating on going up market and to tourist areas ,they really think they are running a hotel network!
They are turning their backs on what the YHA was set up for ' Helping all especially young people of limited means to a greater love and care of the countryside '.
I , when I belonged to Beckenham YHA Group , in Kent , went to many of the Ivinghoe rallies ,a good time was always had by all .We loved staying at the hostel , we didn't worry that there were no bunk lights and en suite showers and toilets to the rooms !!
I hope that Ivinghoe can be saved along with the other Hostels that are set to close , but going by the YHA's attitude I doubt it very much as I think that lot at the Matlock head office have LOST THE PLOT . The debts have been run up due to a great mismanagement of funds by that lot .
I hope that my opinion is useful . and good luck .
Patricia Keen ( life member of The YHA )
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I understand that the YHA has decided to close a number of hostels, including the one in Ivinghoe. Without questioning the reasons for selecting the Ivinghoe hostel for closure, may I suggest that the YHA, when balancing the pros and cons, may have overlooked a number of compelling reasons why the Ivinghoe hostel should remain open.
The Ivinghoe hostel has been an important part of village life for nearly 70 years, but in recent years has become more closely integrated with local facilities – in particular The Chiltern Studies Centre, which provides residential courses for hundreds of children each year, many of them from urban backgrounds. Nearly all of these children are accommodated at Ivinghoe Youth Hostel. To remove the hostel would be to deprive successive generations of children of a unique learning experience in a unique environment.
This area provides an abundance of attractions – historical, educational and recreational – that have a degree of interdependence with the Youth Hostel in Ivinghoe. These include Ford End Watermill (fully restored, fully operational, and a very popular educational resource); Pitstone Windmill (also restored); Pitstone Green Farm Museum; and College Lake Nature Reserve (now planning to develop residential courses). Two outdoor sports venues – the Aston Hill Mountain Bike Area near Wendover, and the new mountain-boarding centre at Town Farm Ivinghoe (Hill62) – bring hundreds of enthusiasts to this area from all over the country. Some have already discovered that Ivinghoe Youth Hostel is a convenient place to stay despite the absence of publicity.
Informal local features that attract walkers, mountain-bikers, horse-riders, fishing enthusiasts etc. are well-known and include a large network of rural footpaths (including the Ridgeway), bridleways, canals and reservoirs, Ashridge Estate etc. This factor has been recognised by the group currently working on the Tring Station Gateway project, which will enhance access for visitors to the Chiltern Hills AONB.
I urge the YHA not to close and sell off the Ivinghoe hostel, but instead to support efforts to increase visitor numbers. Visiting schools can provide large numbers of visitors, but only at certain times of the year. However, there is great scope for attracting more year-round visitors by developing ties with the organisations referred to above. Some of these are only just starting out and have ambitious plans for the future – mutual support will secure the future for all, including the Ivinghoe hostel.
Roger Hillier
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As director of The Chiltern Study Centre I am very pleased to hear The Bucks Herald is backing the campaign to save the Youth Hostel at Ivinghoe from closure.
The hostel is very much part of the fabric of the village and I am in no doubt will affect the other services the village provides.
The future of Chiltern Study Centre, which works closely with the youth hostel to provide safe and inspiring field trips to hundreds of school children every year, now appears uncertain.
Whilst I appreciate the YHA has to make difficult financial decisions, to close a hostel in an area that has so much to offer within walking distance is a dreadful oversight: working watermill, Pitstone Green Farm Museum, Pitstone windmill (the oldest of its kind in the country), medieval church, Ashridge Estate, The Chiltern Hills (designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), College Lake Nature Reserve, Ivinghoe Beacon, which is the end of the oldest road in Britain, The Ridgeway Path and the Grand Union Canal.
I am in total agreement with the comments made by Avril Davies, county and district councillor and Lorna Harvey, Ivinghoe Parish Council clerk, and would like to add that the Youth Hostel Association’s mission statement is to provide people of limited means with a ‘greater knowledge love and care for the countryside’.
This is exactly what Ivinghoe Youth Hostel and Chiltern Study Centre with their affordable education packages provide. Many of our visiting schools come from urban areas and have had very little exposure to the countryside, the headteachers I have spoken to are devastated.
The real losers are the hundreds of children who will now be denied the experience of real learning outdoors and the personal development a residential trip offers in the unique environment of Ivinghoe.
Julie Lloyd-Evans
Chiltern Study Centre
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Sir,
I was terribly saddened to hear of The Youth Hostel Association's plans to close the hostel in Ivinghoe.
The YHA at Ivinghoe was one of the very first YHA that I ever stayed in, when I was walking the Ridgeway with The Aylesbury Woodcraft Folk.
Today I am a card-carrying member of the YHA and have been staying in hostels all over Australia this year. The hostels are wonderful places to stop for a night or a fortnight, providing accommodation and cooking facilities for those on a budget.
Being situated, as it is, at the end of one of the South of England's best-loved walks, Ivinghoe simply must keep its hostel.
Yours, Pete Johns, via email
