Presented by Welsh television personality Johnny Morris, a promotional film produced for the Youth Hostels Association (YHA) in which Johnny extoling the virtues of staying in one of the many hostels run by the YHA across both England and Wales. As well as explaining how they work and operate, the film also looks at the many fun and exciting activities that are associated with hostelling including sailing, rock-climbing and surfing as well as the many ways one can get to and from a hostel...

Presented by Welsh television personality Johnny Morris, a promotional film produced for the Youth Hostels Association (YHA) in which Johnny extoling the virtues of staying in one of the many hostels run by the YHA across both England and Wales. As well as explaining how they work and operate, the film also looks at the many fun and exciting activities that are associated with hostelling including sailing, rock-climbing and surfing as well as the many ways one can get to and from a hostel including by train, bicycle or hiking. A montage featuring various forms of transport begins with a steam train on the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highlands Railways pulling into the station at Ffestiniog. This is followed by several groups of young people on a lake in a sailing dingy, riding bicycles along a busy road, in a kayak paddling along a rover and a group on horseback arriving at a YHA hostel. The sequence ends with a man riding another horse that is pulling a passenger barge along a canal. A phantom car ride along a three-lane motorway with traffic overtaking changes to a long traffic jam further along possibly the same motorway. At YHA Treyarnon Bay near Padstow in Cornwall a young couple make their way from the hostel towards the nearby beach, the man carrying a surf or bodyboard under his arm. The come to edge of the cliff looking down onto the sea and beach below. In a garden presenter Johnny Morris plays a game of croquet. He stops and address the camera about YHA hostels, where to find them and how much they cost. He tells a funny story about travelling in Italy and says to avoid such trouble look out for ‘that green triangle and the letters Y.H.A'. Two young women in bikini’s and carrying surf or bodyboards walk through the gate heading back to YHA Treyarnon Bay passing a YHA sign nearby. On the nearby beach crowds of people happily splashing about in the sea while others make their way down to the beach, some carrying surfboards. Title: The YHA presents A young man carrying a rucksack approaches the entrance of YHA Keswick in Cumbria along a wooden walkway or veranda besides the fast-flowing River Greta. He sees the green triangle on the door and heads inside. Title: Johnny Morris Goes Hostelling Two young women sit on deckchairs on the wooden veranda changes to a montage of various YHA hostels ‘from mansions to cottages’ with Johnny Morris commenting that no two are alike. The sequence ends with three young people head off on a hike from YHA Black Sail in the Lake District. A montage of archive photographs featuring YHA Port Eynon on the West Glamorgan coastline in Wales when was the villages lifeboat station. Outside the local church, St Cattwg’s Church, the Port Eynon Lifeboat Memorial. A final archive photograph showing the lifeboat crew standing outside the station then morphs into a group of young people standing outside the same building, now the YHA hostel. On the Selby Canal in North Yorkshire the 70ft former grain barge transformed into YHA Sabrina changes to Johnny Morris walking along a road through a village talking about the types of people who are attracted to YHA hostels, both young and old. As he approaches one of YHA’s smaller hostels he takes from his pocket his YHA membership card and explains how it works. A young couple arrive at the hostel and speak with the man behind the reception about a bed each for the night. She signs the guests register and is given change from a £1 note before being pointed in the direction of the dormitory. In a dormitory Johnny Morris talks about the facilities provided by the YHA; simple, comfortable and clean. As he continues to talk about family rooms being available in some hostels, a family with five children in one of the said rooms. In the hostel kitchen two young women prepare a meal cooking burgers and mushrooms in a frying pan. In the hostel shop a father and his two sons purchase basic supplies, a can of beans. At another hostel a group of wet walkers and cyclists arrive making their way to the hostel drying room. In the hostel kitchen the warden-in-charge preparing meals for her guests, in the dinning room young hostellers sit together around tables enjoying a meal and chatting. Johnny Morris steps out of one of the ‘small and basic’ hostel to explain the four different types YHA run. As well as this one there are also standard, superior and special. As Johnny explains that the cost of staying at a YHA hostel are kept low by hostellers do many of the routine jobs, a family in a hostel kitchen working together on the washing up. In another hostel a games room where children of various ages playing games of pool or table football. In another room they play Scrabble and chess while a group of them speak with several international visitors. Another hostel with visitors enjoying breakfast in a breakfast room is following by them working together on daily chores such as sweeping the floors and cleaning picture frames. In the doorway of a hostel a group of hikers put on their boots, a montage follows of traveller departing various hostels both large and small heading off into the surrounding wilderness, one family flags down and catching a bus outside their hostel gate. Outside YHA Llangollen at Denbighshire in Wales a group of cyclists make ready to depart. The film changes as they depart cycling along a lane past a YHA sign and along a busy road. A boat on a river and crowds of visitors walking or relaxing along the riverbank. To camera Johnny Morris talks about places like this being overcrowded, but there are plenty of other places available near a YHA hostel that is quiet and unspoiled. A steam train pulls into the platform at Ffestiniog on the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highlands Railways. Amongst the crowds waiting to board are Mary and Alan who are travelling from hostel at Ffestiniog to another along the line. They board the travel which travels the twelve-mile route through Snowdonia National Park. At the base of rockface an instructor speaks with a YHA hosteller about rock climbing. After running through safety checks to ensure ropes and harnesses are secure, he begins the assent, the female pupil watching and listening to the instructions at the base. On a small river a group of children have fun paddling up and down in canoes and kayaks, an instructor helps one boy get into his boat. The occupants of one boat uses their paddle to splash those in another while a kayak overturns and the female occupants have to swim back to the shore dragging their flooded boat with them. The film changes to a lake where the occupants of two small sailing dinghy have fun on the water, the occupants move from one side of their vessel to the other helping it make quick turns. Near to Ironbridge on the River Severn Johnny Morris walks through a field explaining that all YHA hostels are near interesting places so it’s never difficult to find something to do. As he comments that most visitors preferring traveling by foot he looks upstream to The Iron Bridge, the cast iron arch bridge crossing the Severn. Another montage featuring young people hiking along rural footpaths, crossing over stiles, walking through a farmyard and arriving at several different YHA hostels. The sequence ends with a couple wearing matching yellow cagoules who featured in the montage arriving at their hostel and speaks to the owner about a booked bed for the night. Walking through another field Johnny Morris explains there are few rules to staying at a YHA hostel, one of them is you can only stay at the same hostel for a maximum of three consecutive nights. He explains why. A woman asleep in her bunk at YHA Treyarnon Bay, through their window a bright sunny summers day with the waves crashing onto the nearby sandy beach. Outside two young men carry their surfboards down towards the water, a montage follows of men surfing and two young women in bikini’s bodyboarding. The crowded beach changes to the hostel kitchen where a French visitor is showing a group of young people how to make crepes or pancakes. He tosses one into the air catching it in the pan, a girl in the group tries tossing a pancake catching most of it in the pan much to the amusement of those around her. At night on the slipway outside YHA Port Eynon hostellers sit around a fire relaxing, chatting and cooking sausages. In the grounds outside the YHA hostel at Shrewsbury an older hosteller, Ron Nurse, plays a squeezebox and leads those young people around him in song. The following morning as Ron walks up and down outside the main entrance playing a set of bagpipes, in the men’s washroom a group washing, brushing their teeth and getting ready for the day. At YHA Iiam Hall in Derbyshire hostellers construct a float based on the areas lead mining heritage to be paraded as part of a local midsummer festival . A carnival queen, a juvenile jazz band and several costumed characters parade through the village of Iiiam including three men dressed as the television characters The Goodies riding past on a triples or three-person bicycle. Several decorative floats drive past the crowds lining the pavement including the one produced by the hostellers. Johnny Morris arrives at another YHA hostel holding a copy of the YHA members handbook, he suggests that booking in advance is advisable where possible and state contact details are in the handbook. Placing the handbook into his pocket he heads inside. A montage featuring various hikes and visitors arriving at several YHA hostels both in the countryside and beside the sea intercut with a the traffic jam on a motorway seen previously. Over the closing credit a final montage of people enjoying themselves cycling along a road or walking through various rural landscapes. Title: Produced by Sorel Films Credit: Camera David Lenham Sound Chris Wilson, Peter Rann Editor Steven Shearsby, Assistant Kevin Hewitt Written and Directed by John Burder End title: Presented by Youth Hostels Association (England and Wales) St Albans, Herts.