We now take paid leave and holidays for granted but, before the First World War, an annual charabanc trip to Morecambe or Blackpool would probably have been the most that many working-class families from the South Cumberland and North Lancashire area could expect or afford.
In those days - and to a lesser extent in the post-war years too - membership of the Territorial Force provided men with an opportunity for both social comradeship and a (paid) release from work for a set period (usually a fortnight) to go to the annual training camp. An added bonus would be that the wives and girlfriends would not be around to hinder the enjoyment, although, undoubtedly, tales would 'get back' about the behaviour of the unwary!
This splendid photograph, provided by my friend Ian Lewis (cumbrianwarmemorials.blogspot.com), is of just such a group of Territorials on their annual camp at Denbigh, North Wales, in 1913, in this case men of the 4th Battalion from Ulverston. Sadly, none of the men are identified, although it is reasonable to assume that many of them would go on to serve in the battalion during the First World War and probably some did not survive the conflict.
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