Working Mens Clubs and Education: Into the 20th Century by Ruth Cherrington

In a previous article, I outlined the educational strands of Working Men’s Clubs (WMCs) as they developed from their mid-19th century origins. Already by the end of that century there were concerns that these were declining due to a rise in popular entertainment. The WMCIU motto was ‘recreation hand in hand with education and temperance’ but few clubs had remained ‘dry’, with most choosing to sell beer. Read more…

Working Men’s Clubs and Education by Dr Ruth Cherrington

It’s for a good reason that I gave my book on working men’s clubs (WMCs) the title ‘Not just Beer and Bingo!’ They were always about much more than drinking and low level gambling. I will outline here the important educational aspects that WMCs started out with which were part of their ‘self help’ ethos. Another article will follow WMCs into the 20th century describing how, whilst educational aspects declined, they did not entirely disappear. Read more…