Module Identifier WH35130  
Module Title LEISURE AND POPULAR CULTURE IN WALES, C1850-1939  
Academic Year 2002/2003  
Co-ordinator Mr Owen G Roberts  
Semester Semester 2  
Mutually Exclusive HC35130 , MW35120  
Course delivery Lecture   18 Hours Timetabled with MW 35120  
  Seminars / Tutorials   10 Hours  
Assessment Semester Exam   3 Hours   60%  
  Semester Assessment   1 x 2,500 word essay 1 x 4,000 word essay   40%  

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to:
a. critically assess the corpus of historical evidence relating to leisure and popular culture
b. understand the historical issues surrounding the study of leisure and the working class
c. understand various historical approaches to the subject
d. place the experience of Wales within a British and European context
e. read, understand and evaluate primary evidence
f. develop and sustain historical argument
g. find and use historical sources
h. work independently and in collaboration with others, and to take part in group discussions

Brief description

The module will begin by tracing the rise of leisure during the second half of the Victorian period, and will examine the growth of seaside and other holiday resorts. Various forms of working-class recreation will be considered, including pubs, music and sport. The module will also consider the response of the middle class and the authorities to new recreational forms, and attempts to provide more ‘rational’ and moral recreation through public parks and libraries. The course will trace the development of recreation and popular culture into the early twentieth century, examining in particular the rise of the cinema, and the relationship between sport and national identity. The course will place the unique experience of Wales within a British and European context.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Croll, Andy. (2000) Civilizing the Urban. Popular Culture and Public Space in Merthyr, c. 1870-1914. Cardiff, UWP
Lambert, W. (1983) Drink and Sobriety in Victorian Wales. Cardiff, UWP
Williams, Gareth W. (1998) Valleys of Song. Music and Society in Wales, 1840-1914. Cardiff
Williams, Gareth W. (1991) 1905 and all that. Essays on Rugby Football, Sport and Welsh Society. Llandysul

Articles
Stead, P. (1988) Amateurs and professionals in the cultures of Wales’, in G. H. Jenkins and J. B. Smith (eds.), Politics and Society in Wales, 1840-1922. Cardiff

Books
Walton, J. K. and Walvin, J. (eds.). (1983) Leisure in Britain, 1780-1939. Manchester UP
Walvin, J. (1978) Leisure and Society, 1830-1950.
Meller, H. E.. (1976) Leisure and the Changing City, 1870-1914. London

Articles
Reid, Douglas A. (2000) ‘Playing and Praying’ in Daunton, Martin (ed.), The Cambridge Urban History of Britain, vol 3.. Cambridge

Books
Cunningham, H.. (1985) ‘Leisure’, in J. Benson (ed.), The Working-Class in England, 1875-1914. London
Holt, R. (1990) Sport and the British. OUP
Holt, R. (ed.). (1990) Sport and the Working Class in Modern Britain. Manchester
Cunningham, H. (1980) Leisure in the Industrial Revolution, c. 1780-1880. London, Croom Helm
Cunningham, H.. (1990) ‘Leisure and culture’, in F. M. L. Thompson, The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750-1950.
Bailey, P. (1997) Leisure and Class in Victorian England. Routledge