Leisure time was increasing. This resulted in the growth of sport and leisure pursuits.

Athletics was a popular form of recreation, especially running. Here, an athlete leaps over the bar while a crowd watch from the terracing. The women wear hats but many men are bareheaded.

The origins of golf are unclear. The first detailed records appear from the mid-Eighteenth century, when the first golf clubs were formed. From that time, golf became increasingly popular, with many new golf courses built.This is one of a set of cards that comprise the 'Kargo' Card Golf Game. There were 52 cards in a presentation box containing an instruction booklet with the rules of the game. It was probably designed for golfers unable to play the real version of the sport.

It was common for workplaces to have their own sports teams. Some also provided leisure facilities for their staff.The Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd was part of the Co-operative movement. It established a soap and glycerine works in 1897. For the first 20 years it was thought the best works in the town for wages and the employment of female labour.The soap works had their own football team. Here they pose for the camera with officials and shield. One official is wearing a wing collar, a style still worn by some men in the 1930s.

Recreation and sports facilities were provided at many hospitals for the long-term ill. They were considered to have a significant therapeutic value.Hartwood Hospital was built as the District Asylum for Lanark and opened in 1895 with accommodation for 500 patients. Over the years, various additions were made including a new site developed in 1935 to house mentally handicapped adults.The square bowling green was laid out in 1898. A tennis court, croquet lawn, curling rink, cricket pitch, football pitch and nine-hole golf course were also constructed for the use of staff and patients. The Saturday cricket match was a regular feature from 1901 until 1938. In the winter months, leisure hours were occupied with a variety of indoor games, including indoor bowls and billiards.

Many types of clubs and societies were becoming more popular.

Sporting Societies were also set up. The Scottish Bowling Association was founded in 1892, although it was a popular sport before then. Many clubs were established in the years before the First World War.A group of ladies are gathered behind a lady who is about to bowl the jack.

Agnes Baden-Powell formed the first Girl Guide companies in 1910. At a time when the demand for female autonomy was growing, there was a vast interest in the movement, which saw its membership grow to over 600,000 by 1933.Field trips were a fun way for the Guide company leaders to provide education for the girls under their charge. Ruined castles or abbeys, where they could learn of Scotland's history, were popular destinations. In this photograph, the 1st Loanhead Guide Company are on a day trip from their annual camp. They pose within a ruined castle, probably at Moffat.

Cinemas became more popular and many new ones were built. They attracted audiences from across the social classes.

The Regal Picture House, owned by Stranraer Picture House Ltd., had a capacity of 1174 seats. It opened for business in December 1931. A night club and restaurant known as the Ritz adjoined the cinema forming a leisure complex. The Ritz closed with the onslaught of rationing in World War II but the Regal continued in business until August 1976.

This shows children standing outside the BB Cinerama in Perth. They are wearing paper 'admiral's' hats in the pattern of the Union flag and some carry bags of souvenir goodies. The paper hats were presented to children at the BB Cinerama, to commemorate the jubilee celebrations of King George V in 1935.

Other sorts of shows also continued to be popular.

Chapman's Great London Circus was one of the largest and most successful tenting circuses to tour Britain. It was a frequent visitor to Scotland between 1929 and the start of World War II. Its visit to Lanark in 1937 coincided with the old local holiday of St. James' Horse Fair.Chapman's was one of a number of touring circuses that ceased because of the war and never re-started.

The shows visited Dalkeith ever year and set up their stalls in the High Street. This photograph was taken about 1934. The Fair was a major event. Workers had their holidays, and farm labourers came for the Hiring Fair, to strike a bargain with a farmer for a 6-month or yearly term. This was still an important form of recruitment in the 1920s. Fair day was also a time for people to meet and talk or drink together. Young men would take their sweethearts to the stalls, and games.

Trips and holidays were also increasing. By the 1930s, holiday pay had made it easier for families to take a one or two week holiday at the seaside.

A group of passengers await a train on the Glasgow bound platform at Polmont Station. Some children have buckets and spades. The suitcase, bucket and spades suggest the group is making for a beach resort, probably on the Firth of Clyde.