A promotional film produced for the Youth Hostels Association (YHA) in which a young couple after attending an open-day at the YHA the hostel at Ivinghoe in Buckinghamshire decide to become members. Told from point of view of the young woman she and her partner end up at the hostel at Holmbury St Mary Surrey Hills in Surrey where they get to experience hostelling life sleeping in dormitories, cooking in communal kitchens and joining in with a sing-song in the common room. They also speak with...

A promotional film produced for the Youth Hostels Association (YHA) in which a young couple after attending an open-day at the YHA the hostel at Ivinghoe in Buckinghamshire decide to become members. Told from point of view of the young woman she and her partner end up at the hostel at Holmbury St Mary Surrey Hills in Surrey where they get to experience hostelling life sleeping in dormitories, cooking in communal kitchens and joining in with a sing-song in the common room. They also speak with two other hostellers about some of the fun activities associated with he YHA, in this film pony trekking across Exmoor and gliding over Land’s End in Cornwall. From the backseat of a car a young couple drive through the village of Ivinghoe in Buckinghamshire. Title: Passport to Roam A YHA poster on a wall promotes an open day at their Ivinghoe hostel changes to the couple crossing the road from their car to The Old Brewery House, now a YHA hostel. They are greeting in the doorway by the hostel warden who takes them inside for a tour of the facilities. In a common room the woman races over to piano and begins to play it. In the kitchen the couple are shown the large collection of kettles, pots and pans sitting in a row on a shelf. In another room they meet and shake hands with a second man, he takes the woman over to a bar area where she completes an application to become a member and is presented with her copy of the YHA handbook and membership card. The woman walks along another street and heads into a different YHA hostel, inside she tries on pairs of hiking boots. Outside YHA Holmbury St Mary Surrey Hills near Dorking she takes off a pair of walking shoes putting on another pair of slip-on shoes before heading inside. At the reception desk she completes the guest register and is asked if she wants supper or breakfast. She declines both. Having been provided with a clean sheet she makes her way to the female dormitory and begins to make her bed for the night. Having problems another guest comes over to assist. In the kitchen her partner Roger is making dinner that includes tomatoes and sausages frying in a pan. As she begins to open a can of baked-beans the film cuts back and forth between her and the sausages and tomatoes ending on them all being burnt. With the sun setting a man sits outside the hostel smoking a pipe. A second man walks past carrying a bushel of wood heading into the hostel common room where a young man is playing a guitar and leading many of the other hostellers, including the couple, in a rendition of ’On Ilkley Moor Bar t’At’. The song over he removes his jumper before starting another tune recommended by Roger called ‘Don’t Think Twice’. In a kitchen a man pours sixteen cups of tea from a large metal teapot. A woman comes over and places a bowl of sugar on the tray and holds open the door as he carries it into the common room where everyone is sitting. They each come to get a cup placing a coin on the table beside him as payment, some put a spoonful of sugar into their tea. A tray of full teacups morphs into a tray of empty ones. Around the room people sit relaxing including two women who play a game of chess while their friend sits beside them reads a magazine. On the walls behind them several Ordinance Survey (OS) maps for the south coast of England. At the hostel shop a woman buys a bottle an orange soda followed by the warden asking for one more song before bed. The man with the guitar proceeds to sing a song about the warden with everyone once again joining in. Everyone leaves the common room heading to their respective dormitories. In the men dormitory Roger and three other men sleeping in the bunkbeds around him get ready for bed. Wearing a pair of golden-spotted pyjamas Roger jumps into his bed on the top bunk while those around him finish getting ready. The warden wishes them goodnight before turning the light of and closing the dormitory door. The next morning sitting at the breakfast table the woman watches as a bowl is filled with cornflakes. Around her Roger and two other male guests. She speaks with one man sitting nearby as he remembers a recent hostelling experience that he believes she may be interested in. The film changes to trekking instructor Ted Page coming along a woodland track on horseback passing a YHA sign. In voiceover the man at the table explains he was helping his friend take a pony trekking expedition across Exmoor. The other riders come slowly down the lane changing to them passing a stone cairn atop a moorland hill. The group of women continue their trek along various moorland tracks, through a stream and back to the YHA hostel. In the stable yard the women brush down their horses. Returning briefly to the breakfast table, the film changes again to an airfield in Cornwall and a glider taking off into the air launched by a woman working a winch. From another aircraft above it the glider flying over both land and sea around Land’s End. From the cockpit of another glider takes off, this time being toed by a small aeroplane. The glider is towed over the sea before coming into land back at the airfield. Back at the breakfast table again a third older hosteller recommends the couple visit the nearby Tanner Hatch hostel. Over views of the hostel built in woodland, the man explains why he likes it and why it is so popular. The couple and a second man walk along the path leading to Tanner Hatch and head inside. While Roger prepares a meal inside, the film ends on the woman sitting on a stool outside relaxing as the sun goes down. Title: by courtesy of the Youth Hostels Association Pony trekking Ted Page Gliding instructor Brian Pritchard Credit: Cameraman Richard Smith End credit: Director Martin Johns