by Liz Argent…

Christmas is over and the New Year is traditionally a time to make resolutions for the future. For some, who might feel they have overindulged a bit, this may be a decision to get fit by taking up jogging, swimming or joining a gym. In fact quite a few of us will already have done so. But how many of us were aware that back in the 1930s, the government was so concerned about the physical fitness of the population, that they passed legislation to try and improve it?

The years between the end of the Great War in 1918 and the start of WW2 in 1939, saw many changes in Britain. Unemployment was often high and the Great Depression caused much hardship. But for those in work and who could afford it, there was more leisure time and more ways to spend it. Seaside holidays, hiking and camping all grew in popularity. Sports clubs were founded and Keep Fit classes had already begun in some towns.

The government saw that problems continued to exist in some areas. The war had left many men disabled with some unable to work. There was also concern about the country’s poor results in the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin and the prospect of another war added to fears that men would not be fit enough to fight when it came.

It was decided that the Board of Education and the Ministry of Health would take the lead in the campaign, although as there was some uncertainty about how the objectives were to be achieved, a secret mission was despatched to Germany to see how it could be done. The members returned with no real answers; they concluded that under a dictatorship in Germany such things could be controlled by the state. In democratic Britain, they would have to rely on persuasion to encourage participation.

At the State Opening of Parliament in November 1936, the King’s Speech included the message that efforts would be made to improve the physical activity of the nation, and especially young people. More open spaces, sports fields and swimming pools would be provided. There would also be slum clearance and improvement to housing.

The following year, the Physical Training and Recreation Act was passed. This allowed local authorities to provide facilities such as community centres and campsites. it also set up a National Fitness Council which could offer grants to statutory and voluntary organisations. The “National Fitness Campaign” was officially launched by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in September 1937.

So how did this affect the residents of Westbury?

The town already had a swimming pool and men played cricket regularly in the summer against teams from the locality. Some employers provided sports activities for their workers, but one thing the town lacked was a public recreation area. It was reported that the council had been debating the matter for the best part of the previous forty years! Finally in 1938, the matter was resolved. Mrs Jane Pinniger, the widow of Thomas and a member of the council, purchased a piece of land in Eden Vale and donated it to the town in memory of her husband, his father and grandfather who had all been solicitors in Westbury. She also gave a flagpole and flag and asked that the new open space should be called the Grassacres Playing Field. The council launched an appeal to provide money for laying out the field and buying equipment with a target of £600, and by the start of the school summer holidays that year, a children’s playground had been opened there. The rest of the field was then completed and was officially opened by Lord Bath in May 1939 which it included tennis courts, a bowling green and garden.

Scouts doing gymnastics at Westbury House

According the press reports, getting and keeping fit became a national talking point and Westbury was no exception. In the autumn of 1937, Wiltshire County Council’s education committee set up evening classes to provide recreational physical training. Men and youths met at the baths for gymnastics with and without apparatus, while women and girls over 14 had sessions which included “Keep Fit” exercises to music at the Labour Hall in Haynes Road (incidentally not where the Labour Club is now, but that’s another story). In April 1938, both classes put on a display at the baths to encourage others. It was reported that the movement had gained much popularity in the town during the winter months.

Of course the British sense of humour had its own take on all of this. An advertisement for William Younger’s beer provided an alternative set of physical exercises and George Formby starred in Keep Fit where he played an inept barber’s assistant who was mistaken for a top athlete and demonstrated his prowess – or lack of it – in various activities including swimming, rowing, boxing and the flying trapeze. In 1938, at the Palace Theatre in Bath, a show called Young and Healthy featured a comedian and a “bevy of Physical Culture Girls“.

But by September 1939, minds were on more serious matters. The National Fitness Council, in existence for only two years, was suspended when war started. Men and women joined up, children were evacuated from large towns and cities and it seems that the national fitness campaign was largely forgotten.