Butlins

Billy Butlin receiving Filey camp back from the RAF who ran it as RAF Hunmanby Moor during the Second World War

The Butlins camp at Pwllheli in 1961

Billy Butlin's inspiration for his holiday camp empire came from an unhappy holiday on Barry Island in his youth, when he had been locked out of his bed and breakfast accommodation all day by his landlady, which was normal practice at the time.[5] The first of the Butlins holiday camps was opened by Butlin in 1936 in Skegness, following his success in developing amusement parks. A second camp quickly followed in Clacton in 1938, and construction of Filey Holiday Camp began in 1939. With the outbreak of the Second World War, building at Filey was postponed, and the camps at Skegness and Clacton were given over for military use. Wartime use of Butlins camps continued, with resorts at Ayr, Filey, and Pwllheli being completed and opened as military camps. This camp was later renamed Wonderwest World, and is now owned and run by Haven, part of Bourne Leisure, who own both brands.

In 1945, with the war over, Filey was re-opened as a holiday camp. The camps at Skegness & Clacton opened in 1946, Ayr and Pwllheli in 1947 and Mosney on the east coast of Ireland in 1948. Butlins became popular in post-war Britain, with family entertainment and activities available for the equivalent of a week's pay.

In 1948, Butlin acquired two hotels in the Bahamas, and in the 1950s Butlins began opening hotels in England and Wales: Saltdean, Brighton (1953), Blackpool (1955) and five in Cliftonville (1955–1956). Further post-war camps were opened in the 1960s at Bognor Regis (1960), Minehead (1962) and Barry Island (1966). A site was acquired and permission given for a further camp at Holme Dunes, Norfolk. However, these plans were abandoned after the devastating floods of 31 January 1953; the site was later purchased by the Norfolk Naturalists Trust in 1965.

The camps at Ayr and Skegness also had separate self-contained hotels within their grounds. In later years, they were joined by further hotels in Scarborough (1978), Llandudno (1981), London (1993), a sixth hotel at Cliftonville and one in Spain (1983). In the 1960s and 1970s, the company also operated the Top of the Tower revolving restaurant at the then-named Post Office Tower in London.

In 1968, Butlin's son Bobby took over the management of Butlins, and in 1972 the business was sold to the Rank Organisation for £43 million. The number of camps peaked at ten between 1966 and 1980, but the business experienced the problems that were being faced by the British seaside holiday industry at large, with the introduction of cheap package holidays to Mediterranean resorts from the 1960s onwards. It also had a specific image problem of being seen as providing regimented holidays, which caused it to all but abandon the Butlins name at its remaining resorts between 1987 and 1990.

The camps at Clacton and Filey closed in 1983, and the camp at Barry was sold in 1986 (eventually closing in 1996). The lease on the Top of the Tower restaurant expired in 1980. In 1998, the camps at Ayr and Pwllheli were re-branded as Haven Park. All the Butlins hotels dating from the 1950s to 1990s were sold in 1998, but most are still open today under different ownership. The art deco style Ocean Hotel at Saltdean has been redeveloped into apartments, and the hotels at Cliftonville have both been demolished.

In 1998, the "Holiday Worlds" branding was dropped for the remaining resorts in favour of returning the emphasis to the core Butlins name. Subsequently, in September 2000,[6] the resorts and brand were sold to Bourne Leisure. A new Butlins logo was eventually introduced in 1999, which has subsequently undergone several modifications and was used until 2011 when Butlins introduced a design similar to their original logo. The new logo was originally only intended to be used temporarily to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Butlins, but its use continued into 2012 and 2013 and is now the official logo.

In 2005, the new £10 million Shoreline hotel was unveiled at the Bognor Regis resort to expand on the existing variety of apartments on the site. The hotel, styled with an Art Deco theme, aimed to offer luxury accommodation in conjunction with the entertainment and facilities at the resort. Each of the 160 rooms features floor-to-ceiling windows, twin or king-size beds, leatherette chairs, televisions, DVD players and en-suite facilities. Some have sea views. A second site, Ocean Hotel, opened at Bognor in 2009, styled in a high contemporary standard.

Sorted alphabetically

In addition to these main locations known at various times as "Holiday Camps", "Holiday Centres", "Holiday Villages", "Holiday Worlds" and more recently as "Resorts", Butlins also operated numerous smaller holiday parks in England and France for several years during the late 1970s. These were known as "Freshfields holidays" and were more basic parks with far fewer facilities and little or no entertainment. They were aimed at those wanting a quieter, more relaxed holiday.[8]

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There are various entertainment venues within the resorts including two large show bars known as "Centre Stage" and "Reds". Additionally, there are ABC cinemas, "Jaks" (a nightclub), "Crazy Horse" (an older style cabaret bar), "Hotshots" 10-pin bowling centre with bar and snooker tables, "Green Baize" snooker hall (originally at all camps but now at Skegness only), and several additional bars, pubs, and cafes which vary from one Butlins resort to another. Nearly all entertainment is included in the cost of the holiday or day visitor entry. Most recently, in May 2013, the character theatre in Bognor replaced the cinema.

Butlins resorts offer a variety of sports sessions and coaching, for example, archery, fencing, tennis (Skegness only), table tennis, and football. Most of these sessions are included in the cost of holiday or day visitor entry price.

For general recreation, facilities include multi-sports courts, adventure golf, adventure playgrounds, water zorbing, high ropes courses, funfair, inflatable castles/pillows, and go-karts. Minehead resort also offers bumper boats, donkey rides, use of the adjacent golf course, and "Exmoor Adventures" country leisure pursuits. An additional charge usually applies for most of these activities, although the funfair is free.

Skegness and Bognor resorts each have a spa complex for massage, swimming, facials and other popular spa treatments.

Butlins Bognor Regis in 1962

Butlins Bognor opened in 1960. The camp later became known as Southcoast World until 1998 and is now known as Butlins Bognor Regis Resort. In 1999 it was renovated again with the construction of a Skyline Pavilion. In 2005, a new £10m hotel called "The Shoreline" was unveiled at the Bognor Regis resort.[18] A second hotel "The Ocean" opened on the site in Summer 2009 and general landscaping and upgrading also took place. In July 2012 a third hotel "The Wave" hotel was opened to guests.

A typical scene at Butlins Minehead, October 2010

Butlins Minehead was opened to the public on 26 May 1962. It underwent substantial renovation in the 1980s, being renamed Somerwest World. In 1998 it was renovated again with the construction of a Skyline Pavilion. Since 1999 the Minehead resort has undergone further aesthetic upgrades. However, most of the original buildings remain, including almost all the original chalets. As such Minehead is now the last remaining Butlins camp that is still largely as Sir Billy designed it. Minehead is the largest resort out of the three remaining open parks, and can hold up to 10,000 guests.

Butlins Mosney, County Meath, Ireland was the first camp to be built outside Great Britain. It was sold in 1982.

Mosney was the first Butlins camp outside the UK. The camp opened in 1948, occupying some 200 acres (0.81 km2) of a former country estate. In 1982, Butlins sold the camp, which was renamed Mosney Holiday Centre. The camp continued without substantive changes, however, the last season for Mosney was 2000. Dwindling visitor numbers and problems finding staff for the short 12-week season eventually led to the camp's closure. In December 2000 a five-year deal was signed with the government to turn Mosney into a refugee centre. Mosney is now home to 700 refugees from over 20 different countries. Like Minehead, most of the original buildings remain, including all the original chalets. Mosney is the only camp that has changed little since it was opened.

Butlins Skegness funpool 1987

Butlins Skegness was the first of Billy Butlin's holiday camps. The camp opened in 1936 but was taken over for military use in 1939, and known as HMS Royal Arthur. The camp reopened to holidaymakers in 1946. In 1987 the site underwent renovation with the construction of a modern fun pool and modernised accommodation, at this time the site was renamed Funcoast World. In 1998 it was renovated again with the construction of a Skyline Pavilion and since that time has undergone further improvements and maintenance in 2011 the resort underwent more development with the introduction of a new guest catering restaurant called The Deck, a new Italian styled restaurant called Ludo's (named after the dinosaur that appeared in the 2010/11 TV adverts), in 2013 the new Splash Waterworld opened adding a new £16 million state of the art pool area to the resort and plans have recently been submitted to modernise the resort once again with further investment into new restaurants and stores.

View from beach at Barry Island showing chalets.

Butlins Barry Island was the last of Billy Butlin's holiday camps. The camp opened in 1966 and was sold to Majestic Holidays in 1987.

Butlins Ayr, seen during the mid-1980s before refurbishment.

Butlins Ayr was built by Billy Butlin as a naval training camp in 1940. The camp opened to the public in 1946.

In 1948 Butlin also opened a hotel on the site and a railway station serving the camp. In 1987 a refurbishment saw the camp re-branded Wonderwest World and the creation of a new indoor fun-pool along with modernised accommodation.

The site was re-branded to sister company Haven Holidays in 1999 and renamed Craig Tara. Since then, the focus has moved to replacing the original chalets with static caravans.

View across boating pond at Butlins Pwllheli.

Butlins Pwllheli was built by Billy Butlin as a naval training camp in 1940. After the war, the camp opened to the public in 1947. In 1987 a refurbishment saw the camp renamed Starcoast World and the creation of a new indoor fun-pool along with modernised accommodation. In 1999 the site was re-branded to sister company Haven Holidays and renamed Hafan Y Môr..

In an early use of the name, in 1932 Billy Butlin opened an amusement park called Butlins Park at Littlehampton on the site of the old east bank fort and windmill. It is currently known as Harbour Park.

Butlins music weekends are over 18s only and are offered regularly across all of the three resorts. Each weekend has a different musical theme, including soul music, alternative, folk, disco, and rock and blues. They also have decade themed weekends from the 1960s to the 2000s. Butlins Music Weekends have played host to big-name acts such as Beverley Knight, Brand New Heavies, Toyah, Buzzcocks, Rick Astley, David Gest & Friends and many more. Madness have also held three weekends in Minehead on their House of Fun tour, taking over the whole resort for the weekend.

Dodgem Cars, a brand of bumper cars, were manufactured in the US by Dodgem Cars Ltd. Billy Butlin saw them and obtained the UK franchise. As a result, a Skegness funfair owned by Billy Butlin saw the first Dodgems cars in the UK in 1923.

In 1956 Butlins Beaver Club – with Uncle Eric Winstrone was heard in the United Kingdom and much of continental Europe on Sunday nights at 6:00 pm over the 208 m wavelength of Radio Luxembourg.

The origins of the in-house TV system began in 1995 when Butlins decided to make use of the then 'empty' fifth channel (Channel 5 was still two years away from its launch). A teletext system was installed, together with a backing of incidental music, overseen by Redcoat/Stage Manager Tony Filer – and piped through to the guests' chalets to provide first an alternative, then an accompaniment to the printed programme of events. Filer (now a successful radio producer) installed a video camera in the new 'studio' to enable visiting celebrity interviews and 'Know your Redcoats' discussions to be shown. The Butlins 'Channel 5' name was changed to 'BTV' a year before the new fifth terrestrial TV channel emerged – and later became known as 'Reds TV'.

Butlins has appeared in popular culture too many times to list here. However, below are a few notable examples.

The 1947 film Holiday Camp was filmed mainly on location at Butlins Filey, although the establishing shot was of Butlins Skegness.

On the show The Two Ronnies (series 3, episode 1, first broadcast on 27 September 1973) there was a sketch parodying the BBC war drama Colditz. The two main characters finally escape over the wall of the infamous POW camp, only to wake up in a worse one – a dreary place called "Butlitz", a spoof of Butlins, where the German guards are dressed like Redcoats.

During the 1980s the BBC produced a satirical sitcom called Hi-de-Hi! set in "Maplin's", a farcical holiday camp loosely styled on Butlins in its early days. Its producers and writers (Jimmy Perry and David Croft) had themselves been Redcoats at Butlins. More recently a documentary series called Redcoats followed Redcoats through their seasons at Butlins.

In the film version of The Who's Tommy (1975) there is a 'Bernie's Holiday Camp' where Tommy's mother meets her new husband.

In the Fawlty Towers episode "The Kipper and the Corpse" (1979), Basil suggests strike-prone British autoworkers spend so little time on the job " ... we ought to get Butlins to run our car factories."

In the television show Lost the character of Charlie Pace learns to swim with his father at a Butlins camp.

The 1987 Doctor Who TV serial "Delta and the Bannermen" was filmed mainly at the Butlins camp on Barry Island, Wales. The camp is referred to as the 'Shangri-La' holiday camp, run by 'Burton'.

Many books have been written about Butlins and its history, and about the life of Sir Billy Butlin. Some of the best known of these are:

• Read, Sue (1986). Hello Campers!. Bantam Press. ISBN 0-593-01039-6.
• Butlin, Sir Billy (1993). The Billy Butlin Story – A Showman to the End. Robson Books. ISBN 0-86051-864-7.
• North, Rex (1962). The Butlin Story. Jarrolds.
• May, James (2010). How to Land an Airbus A330 (In his book, May describes how one would go about escaping from a Butlins Holiday Camp). Hodder Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-340-99458-0.

There have also been a number of children's fiction books which include Butlins as a location or an integral part of the story. For example:

• Richards, Frank (1961). Billy Bunter at Butlins. Cassell.[23]
• Creasey, John (1954). The Toff at Butlins. London: Hodder and Stoughton.[24]

Butlins is mentioned in the lyrics of "Stay Free", an autobiographical song on the Clash's second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope.

• Haven Holidays
• HIT Entertainment
• Holiday camp
• Pontin's
• Redcoats (Butlins)
• Resort

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Butlins.

• Official website
• BygoneButlins Butlins History
• bbc.co.uk/somerset: The Minehead Meander
• South Wales Echo story about Butlins early career and first holiday camp
• Bognor Regis Regeneration at Butlins
• Butlins Memories