I JOINED the YHA in 1958, aged 17, prior to a cycling tour of north Wales and south Shropshire (Bygones, June 7).

Annual subscription then was 7s 6d, with a small overnight fee at each hostel.

Sleeping accommodation consisted of two-tier bunk beds and a mattress.

A pillow and three grey or khaki blankets were provided. The latter had to be folded neatly each morning and were re-used by the next occupants without laundering so a light-weight, cotton sleeping bag was mandatory.

Some hostels provided breakfast and evening meal, but nearly all had self-catering facilities – a Calor gas "stove" and utensils.

A small task had to be performed each stay. My most unusual task was at Clun, south Shropshire, where I had to replenish the drinking water. This entailed wheeling a metal tub some half-a-mile each way to the communal standpipe, housed in a small brick building in the village.

At a nearby hostel on the ridge, known as the Long Mynd, washing was done in an enamelled bowl filled from a nearby stream.

Modern hostels are much more refined!

John Richmond,

Chellaston Road,

Shelton Lock.