A Venture of Faith – the story of Hitchin Clubland

E. Aillie Latchmore
Foreword by Shirley Williams, M.P.

From the old slums of Queen Street in Hitchin rose the clubs which replaced them: first the original girls’ club in a room next to a fish and chip shop, then the boys’ club, followed by the junior, intermediate and senior clubs. Indeed, at one time Clubland extended from toddlers to pensioners.

These clubs were a source of faith, comfort and guidance to poor families, and offered a window to the wider world. Miss Latchmore’s account, written from the view of club members, covers the fifty years of Hitchin’s history from 1915 during which the clubs offered baths, holidays, dancing, music, sports and day trips to these families.

About the author

E. Aillie Latchmore attended Hitchin Girls’ Grammar School and was the founder and later president of Hitchin Clubland. She dedicated her life to the creation of the clubs and later the Sunnyside Estate which replaced them.

This book is not a Hitchin Historical Society publication
Available free of charge from the Society’s Publications Officer