Many of today’s outdoor centres trace their ideas back to a small sea school on the Welsh coast. It opened during the Second World War and the idea spread worldwide.
The founders
Outward Bound was started in 1941 by Kurt Hahn and Lawrence Holt. Holt was a shipping businessman whose company, the Blue Funnel Line, backed the project. Hahn was an educator who had already founded Gordonstoun school and whose ideas also fed into what became the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
The sea school
The Outward Bound Sea School opened at Aberdovey in Wales, also spelled Aberdyfi. The name comes from the sailing term for a ship leaving the safety of harbour. Early courses lasted about four weeks and mixed physical challenge, seamanship and service to others.
Why it began
The standard account says the school aimed to improve the survival chances of young merchant seamen whose ships were torpedoed. One version says younger men did worse than older sailors in lifeboats, which pushed Holt and Hahn to build confidence and resilience in the young. Some writers note that this is a founding story repeated across the schools, so it reads as both tradition and record.
Growth
The school soon took students from industry, the police and cadets, as well as seamen. The Outward Bound Trust was set up in 1946 and runs UK centres, and the idea spread to many countries. Aberdovey is described by the Trust as one of its biggest and busiest centres.
Its influence
Hahn’s thinking, with its focus on character, service and learning by doing, influenced later ideas about outdoor education in Britain. Many of the centres and corporate providers in our directory work in that tradition. See our corporate events page and our guide on how to plan a corporate adventure day.
Sources
Opening dates and figures differ between sources, so we have kept them general.