Pontins say ‘Hi De Hi’ to child-free campers
PONTINS have made two of their six holiday entertainment centres child-free. From this year, Bluecoats at Lowestoft, Suffolk, and Sand Bay, North Somerset, will be welcoming adults only. Captain Croc and his crew will still be looking after children at the other four Pontins camps with ball parks, bouncy castles and Adventureland for the under eights.
My annual childhood ambition was to go to a holiday camp but we never did.
My mother was fiercely upper working class. Her family background had been so harsh she had developed an odd sense of snobbery.
Rather than tell the neighbours we were going to a holiday camp, she preferred a boarding house with a posh name and your own cruet.
So I missed out on the joys provided by Fred Pontin and Billy Butlin who both took advantage of the post-war holiday boom to build empires catering for happy campers.
My mother’s genteel snobbery did not stop us going away for a week to a site next to the river at
Knaresborough with an aunt and uncle and two cousins, where we stayed in a converted double decker bus. Bedrooms upstairs. Hold tight, please.
Cliff and the Shadows would never have driven this across Europe for their Summer holiday in 1963 because it had no engine. Conditions were basic but my mother could at least tell the neighbours we’d stayed in a beautiful countryside location next to the River Nidd.
My first and only visit to a holiday camp was about 35 years ago when we took our daughters for a week to Primrose Valley near Filey. I got a last-minute deal on a caravan and found it was surprisingly luxurious.
This was the first experience for any of us in a caravan, which is why we all ended up in the same bed in the middle of the night when someone started machinegunning the roof. Well, that’s what heavy rain sounded like. The week was good fun, the site excellent, the beach a few yards away and the sun shone.
Fred and Billy made a week’s
We all ended up in the
same bed... when someone started machinegunning the roof. Well, that’s what heavy rain sounded
like. break affordable for ordinary families all those years ago and the concept has been adapted to changing demand, with traditional to adventurous to luxurious stays now available, catering for all ages.
The TV comedy show Hi De Hi captured their fun and spirit. Nine series with 60 episodes ran from 1980 to 1988 and the antics of Ted, Gladys and Peggy Ollerenshaw still raise a laugh when they are re-run today. They prove the enduring popularity of holiday camps that contributed to many happy memories over the decades.
Do you have any memories to share?