page_title: Thomas Arthur Leonard
section_title: Other activities
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas Arthur Leonard / Other activities
caption_attribution_description: English: Memorial Plaque on Skelgill Bank Shortly after beginning an ascent of Cat Bells a walker will come across this plaque on Skelgill Bank dedicated to the memory of Thomas Arthur Leonard. The plaque reads: Thomas Arthur Leonard. Founder of Co-Operative and Communal Holidays and "father" of the open-air movement in this country. Born London March 12th 1864. Died Conway July 19th 1948. Believing that "the best things any mortal hath are those which every mortal shares" he endeavoured to promote "joy in widest commonality spread." T.A. Leonard was the Minister of a Congregational Chapel in Colne, Lancashire who began in 1891 to organise holidays for the local mill people. This led to the formation in 1892 of the Co-operative Holidays Association which set out 'to provide recreative and educational holidays by purchasing or renting and furnishing houses and rooms in selected centres, by catering in such houses for parties of members and guests, and by securing helpers who will promote the intellectual and social interests of the party with which they are associated'. The first property, the Abbey House at Whitby, was leased in 1896. The Co-operative Holidays Association later became the Countrywide Holidays Association (CHA). In 1913 the Holiday Fellowship was formed, also at the instigation of Arthur Leonard who wished to extend the work of the Co-operative Holidays Association of which he was then General secretary. This was intended as a companion organisation to the CHA. Goodwill between the two organisations continues to this day. Many of those connected with the foundation and early years of the CHA have also been closely involved with the setting up of other well known organisations connected with rambling and the countryside.
context_page_description: Thomas Arthur Leonard OBE was a British social reformer. He was a pioneer in developing organised outdoor holidays for working people through the Co-operative Holidays Association and the Holiday Fellowship. He also helped to establish the Youth Hostels Association and the Ramblers' Association.
context_section_description: During the First World War, Leonard became a staunch pacifist, and shortly afterwards joined the Society of Friends (Quakers).  He was also involved in setting up the Youth Hostels Association (YHA), of which he was Vice-President from its inception in 1930; and the Ramblers' Association, of which he was President between 1935 and 1946. He founded the Friends of the Lake District in 1934, and pressed for the establishment of what eventually became the Pennine Way. He chaired the Grey Court Fellowship, founded in 1935 to provide holidays for unemployed workers and their families, and towards the end of his life set up the Family Holidays Association, to convert derelict Government training camps into holiday chalets.  He was also a supporter of the Campaign for National Parks, the National Trust and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England.
caption: Memorial plaque at Catbells, near Keswick, Cumbria
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2008:04:25 08:52:55", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "6132", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9336", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/4000", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1600", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:04:25 08:52:55", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:04:25 08:52:55", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "392095/32768", "EXIF ApertureValue": "1111/256", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "31", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "640", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "427", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5766", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "3888000/877", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "432000/97", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}