Sport, Recreation and the Workplace in England, C.1918 – C.1970
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Sport, Recreation and the Workplace in England, c.1918 – c.1970 Steven Lea Crewe Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for PhD Degree awarded by De Montfort University, Leicester Submission Date: July 2014 Contents: Chapter Number Page Number Abstract 7 List of Abbreviations 8 List of Illustrations & Table 9 Acknowledgements 10 1 Introduction 11 2 Raleigh Cycle Company, Nottingham 61 Origins and Growth of the Raleigh Athletic Club 69 Clubs, Teams and Games 75 Women and Sports Provision at Raleigh 93 Works Sport and the Wider Community 102 Social Provision: Music, Dancing and Fundraising 107 Trips, Outings and Visits 117 Other Social and Sociable Recreations 122 3 Robinson & Sons Ltd, Chesterfield 132 Origins of Leisure Activity 137 Sport at Robinsons, c.1918 – 45 145 Social Activities, c.1918 – 45 155 Sport and Social Activities at Robinsons, 1945 – c.1970 161 Company Paternalism and Industrial Welfare at Robinsons 170 Class and Occupational Hierarchy 175 Women, Work and Leisure at Robinsons 181 4 The Bank of England, London 194 The Bank, Recreation and London: Leisure Activity to c.1918 200 5 The Bank of England Men’s Sports Club c.1918 – 1945 203 The Men’s Sports Club, c.1945 – c.1970 220 The Women’s Sports Club, 1921 – c.1945 226 The Women’s Sports Club, 1945 – c.1970 235 Social Recreation for Bank of England Employees 240 5 J. Lyons & Co Ltd, London 259 Sport at Lyons before 1918 262 Women’s Sport at Lyons 265 Men’s Sport at Lyons 284 Aspects of Social Recreation & Leisure c.1918 – 1945 300 Social Recreations at Lyons, 1945 – c.1970 311 6 Conclusions 322 Bibliography 342 6 Abstract: Over the fifty years from the end of the First World War, the experience of work in England was increasingly shaped by a concern for industrial welfare which manifested itself in various forms. Large-scale employers, in both the manufacturing and service sectors, often saw the provision of sports and recreational facilities as an important aspect of their commitment to industrial welfare and as a way of maintaining harmonious industrial relations. Sport, along with various recreational activities, increasingly provided a way of encouraging workers to identify with their employer; it was as important in this respect as the company outing or the annual dance. This thesis seeks to build on the existing historiography relating to the ‘sports and social’ side of corporate industrial welfare. Whereas historians to date have focussed on single companies or on a particular sector, it examines four separate case studies – two (Robinsons of Chesterfield and Raleigh of Nottingham) located in the manufacturing sector and two (Lyons and the Bank of England) located primarily in the service sector – to provide an account of this aspect of industrial welfare that is cross-sector in its scope. Company magazines, which played an important part in sustaining clubs and societies by publishing their activities, are the principal primary source used in each case. While underpinning previous work which has emphasised the commitment of employers to industrial welfare, it is argued here that workers themselves had an important part to play in the making of sports and social provision in factories and offices and other places of work, such as the catering establishments and hotels run by Lyons. Often the role of management was simply to respond positively to suggestions made by employees, providing the strategic support that enabled an activity to take off and then sustain itself. In all four case studies here the day-to-day organisation of particular activities was usually undertaken by interested employees. Thus, the characteristics of works-based recreation in a particular workplace could be shaped as much by ‘bottom-up’ initiatives as it was by ‘top-down’ directives. This especially applied to the numerous hobby or interest-based societies – amateur dramatic societies, camera clubs and horticultural societies, for example – which were an important feature of works-based recreation. It is argued here that the importance of such activities has been underestimated in studies to date. They have attracted less attention than company commitment to sport, for example, which manifested itself in the provision of expensive facilities. Yet, clubs and societies which could appeal to employees beyond the age at which most were likely to engage in sport were a relatively inexpensive way of extending the reach of an organisation’s welfare strategy. Accordingly, they are given substantial coverage here. 7 List of Abbreviations: Abbreviation: Full Title: AAA Amateur Athletic Association BoEA Bank of England Archive BESFVH Bank of England Staff Fund for Voluntary Hospitals BHS Bank Horticultural Society CCL Chesterfield Community Library DCRO Derbyshire County Records Office IWS Industrial Welfare Society LAC Lyons Athletic Club LC Lyons Club LLA Library & Literary Association LMA London Metropolitan Archive MRC Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick NCL Nottingham Central Library NCRO Nottinghamshire County Records Office OD&OS Operatic, Dramatic & Orchestral Society RAC Raleigh Athletic Club RAFC Raleigh Athletic Football Club RAODS Robinsons Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society RASC Raleigh Athletic Social Club RSC Raleigh Social Club RWSSC Robinson Works Sports & Social Club 8 List of Illustrations & Tables: Figure Number: Description Page Number: 1:1 Raleigh Works Cricket 1947, NCRO. 78 1:2 Raleigh Works Tennis 1950, NCRO. 79 1:3 Raleigh Interdepartmental table tennis final 1954, NCRO. 90 1:4 Ladies football at Raleigh, 1949, NCRO. 96 1:5 Christmas Party at Raleigh, 1949, NCRO. 110 1:6 Raleigh Bazaar Brochure, NCRO. 115 2:1 Chesterfield School Sports Day, 1930, CCL. 145 2:2 Interdepartmental football final, cartoon, 1921, CCL. 147 2:3 Robinsons Operatic Society, 1932, CCL. 157 2:4 Inter-Works hockey finalists, 1955, CCL. 164 2:5 Florence Robinson, 1940s. Robinsons of Chesterfield: Links to the Past. 168 2:6 Advert for tennis at Robinsons, 1970, CCL. 180 2:7 Interdepartmental Women’s hockey finalists, 1922, CCL. 184 3:1 Bank of England, Rugby Union Cartoon, 1922, BoEA. 212 3:2 Bank of England Sports Day, 1957, BoEA. 239 3:3 Operatic, Dramatic and Orchestral Society, 1932, BoEA. 244 4:1 The Lyons Mail, 1919, LMA. 267 4:2 Coventry Street Corner House Tug-of-War Team, 1933, LMA. 273 4:3 Lyons Boxing Contest cartoon, 1921, LMA. 290 5:1 Box Department Outing, 1938, LMA. 328 Table 1:1 Activities at the Men’s Sports Club c.1921-22, Bank of England. 209 9 Acknowledgements: The valuable assistance of many people has helped in bringing this thesis to its current point. In the first instance I would like to thank my supervisory team, Dilwyn Porter, Jean Williams and Neil Carter. My academic and personal development is a result of the critical and constructive guidance, as well as the considerable encouragement, from the above team. The academic community within the International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Montfort University have been crucial in my development and appreciation of the skills involved in researching and writing this thesis. Therefore, I would like to offer my thanks to Tony Collins, Jeff Hill, Dick Holt, James Panter, Matt Taylor and the research students past and present. It was during the 1970s when I used to watch my dad play in various local football leagues in Leicestershire that my interest in works sport and recreation was formed. Visiting works sports grounds that offered some of the best pitches and off-field facilities in the county was an impression that stuck with me into adulthood. With this in mind then I gained a place on the MA Sport History and Culture course at De Montfort University where my final year dissertation was the launch pad for PhD study. Research can be a solitary and very time consuming activity however the assistance and friendly nature of all the staff at the various archives, libraries and records offices have made this a less onerous task. Additionally, the time and consideration shown to me by both Terry Radford and Barry Hoffmann in offering oral testimonies was vitally important to this study. I thank them all. Most importantly, however, I have a huge debt of gratitude to my family. My parents have offered emotional and financial support in equal measure not only through my time as a postgraduate student but throughout my life. My two sisters have also been a considerable source of support. Finally, the two most important people in my life my wife Elain and son Harvey. Without the support of Elain this thesis would not have been possible. She has sacrificed a great deal of time and energy in supporting my ambition to complete this study and has been a source of unending encouragement. While the frequent games of football in the garden with Harvey have been welcome distractions from the monotony of keyboard writing. 10 Chapter 1 Introduction The directors of the Raleigh Company learned long ago that good relations with the workers inside the factory and the office are the basis of all successful business. They realised that if they took an interest in their employees, then the employees would take an interest in their work. So they started many years ago a social and welfare service for their employees that ranks with the best in the country.1 The extract above, taken from an in-house history of Raleigh Bicycle Company, represents a sample of the rhetoric which prevailed in many established manufacturing companies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries. It also points to an intriguing and challenging arena in which to research aspects of recreational activity that bridge both work and play. Such was the growth of workplace-based recreation that company-sponsored sports and social provision became firmly embedded in the paternalistic culture of predominantly family-run firms of the period up to the end of the First World War.