The Bass Excursions facts for kids
The Bass Excursions were amazing summer trips organized by the Bass Brewery, a big company in Burton-on-Trent. These special outings happened every year from the 1860s until 1914. The very last trip went to Scarborough just weeks before World War I started.
At first, only the workers from Bass Brewery went on these trips. But soon, their wives and children, and even managers and suppliers, were invited too! So many people joined that on the day of the trip, almost a fifth of Burton-on-Trent's 50,000 residents would be gone!
Workers traveled for free. Their family members paid a very small fee. Everyone also got their day's pay, plus extra spending money. This money ranged from a half crown (about 2 shillings and 6 pence) to a guinea (21 shillings), depending on their job. Once they arrived at their destination, showing their trip ticket let them enter all the fun attractions for free!
Contents
How the Trips Were Organized
These trips were huge events! The company would arrange up to seventeen special trains to carry between 7,000 and 10,000 workers and their families. Trains left every ten to fifteen minutes from Burton station.
For example, in 1904, seventeen trains went to Liverpool. The first train left at 4 a.m., and the last one left at 6:50 a.m. By the time the last train was leaving Burton, the people on the 4 a.m. train had already arrived at Liverpool Central! The very last train was special. It had fancy dining cars and was only for company leaders, their friends, and guests.
Where Did They Go?
The Bass Excursions visited many different towns and cities across England. They often went to popular seaside resorts. Here are some of the places they visited:
| Year | Destination | Trains | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1877 | Liverpool | ||
| 1880 | |||
| 1881 | Scarborough | 6 | A planned trip to London was cancelled. |
| 1882 | |||
| 1883 | |||
| 1884 | Wolverhampton | ||
| 1885 | Blackpool | 8 | |
| 1886 | |||
| 1887 | |||
| 1888 | Brighton | ||
| 1889 | Blackpool | ||
| 1890 | Scarborough | ||
| 1891 | Liverpool & New Brighton | 13 | |
| 1892 | Blackpool | 15 | |
| 1893 | Great Yarmouth | ||
| 1894 | Scarborough | 15 | |
| 1895 | Liverpool & New Brighton | ||
| 1896 | Blackpool | 16 | |
| 1897 | Great Yarmouth | 15 | |
| 1898 | Scarborough | ||
| 1899 | Liverpool & New Brighton | 16 | |
| 1900 | Blackpool | 17 | |
| 1901 | Great Yarmouth | ||
| 1902 | Scarborough | ||
| 1903 | Blackpool | 17 | |
| 1904 | Liverpool & New Brighton | 17 | |
| 1905 | Great Yarmouth | ||
| 1906 | Scarborough | ||
| 1907 | Blackpool | 17 | |
| 1908 | Liverpool & New Brighton | ||
| 1909 | Great Yarmouth | ||
| 1910 | Scarborough | ||
| 1911 | Blackpool | 15 | |
| 1912 | Liverpool & New Brighton | ||
| 1913 | Great Yarmouth | ||
| 1914 | Scarborough |
Trip Brochures
Everyone going on the trip received a special brochure. These booklets had pictures and could be up to 96 pages long! They told people all about the fun things to do at their destination. They also gave advice on where to eat.
If you showed your trip ticket, you could get discounts at different places. The brochures also listed extra activities like boat trips. They even included fun facts, like how a typical trip needed 250 train carriages. This meant two miles of train tracks were needed at the destination just for parking!
The brochures also reminded passengers about good travel manners. They told people to only ride on their assigned train. They also asked people to make sure train compartments were full, with eight to ten people in each third-class section. Passengers were reminded not to throw bottles out the window or leave orange peels on the platforms.
Once all the trains arrived safely, Bass's Traffic Manager, William Walters, would send a telegram back to Burton-on-Trent to let everyone know.
A Big Day Out
Many people, both those on the trip and those living in the destination towns, would jokingly say that "Bass bought the town" for the day. One businessman in Yarmouth said, "And the town is glad to be bought by such generous people. Hundreds of them will stay for the week and are amongst our most welcome visitors." This shows how much the trips were enjoyed by everyone!
Incidents on the Trips
Even with all the careful planning, sometimes things went wrong.
- In 1901, a young worker from Bass was found near the tracks outside Melton Mowbray. It was thought he might have fallen from the train.
- Three years earlier, during the 1898 trip to Scarborough, a Bass worker had a tragic accident and drowned.
After 1914
The Bass Excursions stopped because of World War I. The trip planned for 1915 to Blackpool had to be cancelled. The railway companies were too busy moving soldiers and war supplies. They simply couldn't handle a huge trip needing twenty trains. Even though the trip was cancelled, the workers still got their holiday time. Most of them stayed at home in Burton-on-Trent that year.
The Man Behind the Trips: William Walters
The person in charge of all the Bass Excursions was William Walters. He retired at the end of 1915 when he was 74 years old. He had overseen every single annual trip since the very first one in 1865. He organized that first trip, which went to Liverpool, because William Bass himself asked him to. The first trip was only for men and boys; families were allowed to join later.
