The picture of Lily Taylor in front of the Youth Hostel which was at Cwm Ivy Court Farm which appeared on the Llanmadoc website (not available at present) inspired the present owner to explore the history of hosteling at Cwm Ivy. The YHA sign is quite prominent on this photograph.
“Jenny has been in touch with the YHA (volunteer) archivist to find out whether they hold any information on or images of when Cwm Ivy Court Farm was a Youth Hostel. He has been YHA’s volunteer archivist for 21 years, and during that time he has collected as much information as he can about each of YHA’s all-time 1,150 properties, and has files of them all. However, the sum of YHA information on CICF remains small. He has told us that YHA began its operations in 1931, so the Llanmadoc hostel was an early example.”
Cwm Ivy did indeed operate as a YHA South Wales region youth hostel. It was opened at Easter 1935 by the Swansea YHA Sub-Group. The warden was Mr TJ Taylor, assisted at least in the first year by his sister Lily. It was short lived however, closing after the 1936 season, when Mr Taylor moved the short distance to Bay View in the village, to re-establish the YHA there. The overnights recorded at Cwm Ivy were: 1935 – 371, 1936 – 307.
From 1937 onwards the details given in YHA handbooks referred to Bay View. Overnight figures there were:
1937 – 260,
1938 – 278,
1939 – 352,
1944 – 711,
1945 – 684,
1946 – 717.
Between 1940 and 1943, the operating pattern at Bay View is uncertain as bednight figures were unrecorded by South Wales region, probably because of wartime shortages of civilian time. The hostel there almost certainly continued to function, however: a national notice of 8/10/1940 advised that the hostel was operating then and it was shown in annual editions of the handbook.
Bay View was still running at the beginning of 1946 though the annual report advised that after 1946 the warden would not continue to provide a youth hostel, as Mrs Taylor was in ill-health. A hut was sent from here to Penlanwen Hostel in mid-Wales about the beginning of 1946. Bay View closed permanently on 30/9/1946.
Both Llanmadoc hostels had beds for 8 men and 6 women.