Creation of a Summer Camp- the first 15 years

Alongside the Charity's regular work in providing homes for destitute children they also operated a Summer Camp offering boys from the poorest districts of Manchester and Salford the opportunity of their first holiday.

The camp began on a small scale in 1883 but operated fully from 1886 when between June and September 262 boys enjoyed a week away. This number increased to over 1700 boys by 1899. Before the camp was firmly established in Birkdale, Southport in 1894, it operated from Morecombe, Llandudno and Lytham.

M189/9/2/1 Boys Summer Camp, Ansdell near Lytham, 1891

Descriptions of the camp at Llandudno in 1886 from the Charity's Annual Report states a 'military idea pervaded the whole camp' with bugle calls to prayers morning and night. The Superintendent of the camp described how the children had not seen the sea before and the children referred to playing cricket on the beach. 

Outside the Summer Camp there would have no opportunity for bathing in the sea or going on rambles as the boys did at the camp. These children would be used to living in over-crowded accommodation in Manchester and Salford. The school leaving age rose in 1893 to 11 years but many children worked outside of school hours and families would rely on their income. In these circumstances the chance of a week away must have been incredibly exciting.

Application forms were completed to attend camp which had to be signed by a 'recommender' such as a Ragged School Teacher, School Boards or others. A doctor then had to pass the boy to ensure no infectious diseases could be passed on. The Charity magazine describes the process of registering for camp:

Children's Haven, August 1898

In 1890 the camp run from Ansdell near Lytham was under the instruction of Mr Challen, the Assistant Master of the Charity's Central Refuge in Strangeways, Manchester. The Charity magazine refers to extra tents and improved kitchen facilities. Separate funds had to be raised by the Charity for the camp. In 1900 the Charity needed to raise over £500 to cover the cost of the camp season. The Charity encouraged donations, advertising how six shillings would cover the cost of one boy's holiday. Along with individual donations, collections boxes and concerts were put on specifically to raise funds for the camp.

PH/4/1/15 advert for contributions to send boys to camp c.1900

Alongside sports and games the treats enjoyed by boys at Southport included the circus, concerts and 'switchback'. A switchback was a type of early rollercoaster requiring the physical effort of its operators. In July 1900 there is also reference to visits to the Winter Gardens Entertainment along with the boys enjoying the 'Aerial Flight' which appears to refer to another early ride transporting individuals in a cablecar between two towers. It wasn't only entertainment on offer. The 1895 Charity magazine refers to the boys being served meat on Sundays and it’s likely the food received at camp was an improvement on their usual fare.

The boys who were employed by the Charity's Boy's Messenger Brigade based in Piccadilly, Manchester and carrying out tasks such as minding offices, delivering messages and selling programmes at concerts also got the opportunity to attend camp for a week. While initially the camp was for not those boys who resided in the Charity's own homes, later in the 1890s a week at the camp was reserved for schoolboys from the Charity's homes at Strangeways and Cheetham's Hill.

PH/3/1/3 Boys cleaning their tent c.1900

The free use of a plot of land at Birkdale, Southport donated by Charles Weld-Blundell meant the camp was more permanently established here from 1894. A description of the camp from the 1899 Charity magazine refers to 15 bell tents and wooden structures serving as a kitchen, dining hall and store rooms. The 'Byrom Hall' was a moveable structure used in wet weather. In August 1900 a wet summer meant tents were blown down and the boys had to sleep in the wooden structures. Unsurprisingly a wooden dormitory was constructed the next year accommodating 60 beds and built by the Joinery Department of the Charity's Central Refuge.

A donator to the camp fund in 1893 mentioned in the Charity magazine raised a question about provision for girls. The Charity responded referring to their seaside convalescence home which largely accommodated girls however no fuller explanation was provided as to why they couldn't attend camp. After the construction of the wooden dormitory however, girls from the Charity's own homes in Cheetham Hill were allowed to attend for the first time. We can only speculate that the tents weren't thought to be suitable for girls.

By 1901 the Summer Camp was firmly established in giving boys and girls their first experience of the seaside and continued for many more years, only closing just before the Second World War.