These notes cover the Changing Quality of Life unit for Edexcel AS/A level history Paper 1 Britain 1918-79. They are a compilation of my class notes and other resources, mostly the textbook. They include all the information but condensed and have evidence and evaluative points.
To What Extent did the British
Experience of Transport and Leisure
Pursuits Change Between 1918 and
1979?
Reasons for the Growth in Leisure Time and Mass Tourism from the
1930’s
Holidays and Tourism
The Rise of Free Time
● 1935 – 1.5 million out of 18.5 million workers received paid holiday
● 1938 Holidays with Pay Act made paid holiday a right and not a privilege – 7.75
million people benefitted
● However, it was only three consecutive days – did not affect British holidaymaking
much
● Amount of leisure time increased:
o 1960: 2 weeks paid holiday
o 1975: 3 weeks paid holiday
o 1979: 4 weeks paid holiday
● Increased wealth encouraged people to take holidays
Destinations
● Destinations were class-based:
o The better off went to Tynemouth
o Working-class mainly went to places such as
Whitley Bay
o By the 1930’s, Blackpool drew over 7 million
working-class visitors per year
● Butlin’s changed holidaymaking dramatically:
o First camp opened in Skegness in 1937
o By 1939 there were over 200 camps in Britain
which could cater for 30,000 visitors per week
o Poorer families could afford to go away for the
first time
Impact of Second World War
● Limited impact during the war – government tried to dissuade travel for pleasure –
not effective
● Post-war:
o More disposable income
o Foreign and caravan holidays became more popular
, ● Caravan holidays:
o Opened up areas such as Devon and
Cornwall that were previously restricted to
those who had a second home (i.e. the
wealthy)
o By the end of the 1970’s, over half the
population had been on a caravan holiday
● Foreign holidays:
o More package operators (e.g. Thomas Cook and Thomson) offered cheap,
foreign, package holidays – encouraged foreign travel
o 1951: 2 million went abroad
o 1971: 7 million went abroad
o Removal of exchange controls in Britain so people were allowed to spend
more abroad
o Resorts such as Benidorm in Spain offered home comforts – made foreign
travel less daunting
● Traditional seaside holidays and the popularity of holiday camps declined after the
1960’s
Transport
Cars
● Between 1919 and 1939 car ownership rose
from 100,000 to two million – cars became
smaller and cheaper
● Motoring became affordable to middle class
● By 1939, around 1.4 million jobs were
dependent on the motor industry
● Cars hit the mass market in the early 1950’s
● Effect of Second World War:
o End of petrol rationing
o More effective production techniques
o Greater average income
o Between 1960 and 1970 car ownership rose from 5 million to 11 million
● Effects of increasing car ownership:
o Houses and factories were being built along roads (ribbon development)
rather than being built around a central hub of a railway station
o More people could live in the suburbs – population of large cities decreased
o More remote parts of the UK opened up to holidaymakers
o Consumerism: people could go for large weekly shops; the first out-of-town
supermarket, Asda, was built in 1964 with a car park of 1,000 spaces;
refrigerator ownership increased
However:
● Before the Second World War, buses were still the main mode of transport for the
working class
● Passenger miles on buses increased from 3.5 million in 1920 to 19 million in 1938
● Cars were mainly a middle-class symbol up until the late 1960’s
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