Butlin's moved with the times in the 60s. The camps boasted a host of decidedly modern features, such as monorails and glass sided swimming pools. This postcard shows the glass sided swimming pool at Filey.
Skiing at Butlin's! It might seem strange, but you could even go skiing at Butlin's; Minehead had this dry ski slope. Winter sports did not have the popularity that they enjoy today, for the majority of people in the UK, a holiday in Spain was adventurous. The ski slope at Butlin's would have been the nearest most people would ever get to a skiing holiday. Butlin's Bognor Regis left was a new addition to the Billy Butlin empire in the 60s.
A long protracted negotiation with Bognor Regis Town Council finally resulted in Billy Butlin moving from a fairground close to the town centre to a fully fledged holiday camp close to the seafront. This shot of the pool left shows the coloured umbrellas that were part of the Butlin trade mark.
Holidaymakers enjoy the gardens at Skegness right. A good percentage went towards the construction of some new entertainment venues along with the improvement of some older buildings. Each camp featured a wide selection of different bars and entertainment venues, each with its own unique atmosphere.
Probably the most famous were the Beachcomber Bars which started appearing at all the camps during the early s. The layout was based around a Hawaiian beach scene with waterfalls and bridges and a "volcano" which erupted once an hour. In fact the bar counter in the French Bar at Filey was once the longest in the UK, measuring nearly feet and requiring up to 70 staff to operate.
These statistics held pride of place in the Guinness Book of Records for many years. Although different from the past, Butlins still have a good selection of different themed pubs and bars. These were simply rooms were people could go for a quiet read or chat.
Some of the walls were adorned with paintings which had been purchased over the years by Billy Butlin, usually at knock down prices. However this art collection gradually increased in value and eventually became valued at several million pounds! At the time chalets did not have their own televisions so people would flock to their favourite room to catch up on the latest news and entertainment. Each camp had one or two theatres along with smaller venues hosting children's shows, film shows and talent competitions.
Some of the main theatres were huge, seating 2, or more people, and boasted superb 'West End' style facilities. Infact, the Gaiety Theatre at Filey, built in around , was the largest theatre in Europe seating 3, on one floor. A lot of the shows were highly professional and many later stars of TV and stage had their first taste of fame here. Shows were run throughout the day although the main events were always scheduled for the evenings.
The 'Sunday Night Showtime' became one of the big events with top line stars brought in to entertain. Other shows included those by the resident repertory company, Redcoat shows, talent contests and even some highbrow entertainment in the form of visiting operatic and ballet companies. All the traditional old Butlin theatres have now gone but their place has been taken with huge cabaret type venues with highly professional lighting and sound systems and able to accommodate up to 2, people.
Each camp also has its own cinema showing the latest releases. Ballrooms were always a major part of Butlin life and each camp had a good selection to choose from. Various interests were catered for in the form of Modern, Old Time or Jive and each had it's own separate facility. Each ballroom also had it's own resident band and competitions were held throughout the summer with grand finals being held at the end of the season, usually in London at the Royal Albert Hall.
The largest event was the Butlin's Dance Festival which was recognised as the biggest in the world, would take-over a camp as an exclusive booking at the end of season and enjoy up to 10, dancers, supporters and officials for a week with different types of dance taking place simultaneously in the various ballrooms and theatres on the camp.
What's all this about the loudspeakers and that infamous 'wakey-wakey' call? All of the camps and hotels had an extensive network of loudspeakers supplied by the London company of Tannoy Ltd. They were operated by staff from Radio Butlin and were used to broadcast both announcements and music. But probably their most memorable purpose was to wake the campers every morning. At a certain time the loudspeakers would suddenly burst into life with the famous 'wakey-wakey' call and music would be played to let everyone know that the first sitting for breakfast was coming up.
The early campers at Ayr probably had the worse deal as they endured a wake-up call in the form of a local bagpipist! The Tannoy system was toned down in the s and later scrapped altogether.
This was a service run by the nursery department and designed to allow parents to go out in the evening whilst the kids remained asleep in the chalets. Teams of staff would patrol the chalets sometimes on cycles and make a note of any from which crying babies or children could be heard. This information was then relayed on the Tannoy or back to the main entertainment buildings where a sign would flash to alert the parents.
Yes in the s they began acquiring hotels in Brighton, Blackpool and several in Cliftonville. In later years they were joined by further hotels in Scarborough, Llandudno, London and even Spain. The camps at Ayr and Skegness also had separate self-contained hotels within the grounds. The hotels obviously didn't have the same huge range of activities as the camps but most of them still offered a selection of bars, a theatre, swimming pool, competitions and of course the Redcoats.
All the hotels were sold in but most are still open today under new ownership. In the company announced plans to build a brand new luxury hotel at the Bognor resort, which was opened in and known as the Shoreline Hotel.
This was followed in by the Ocean Hotel, with some of the old chalets being demolished as a result. The attractive little metal pin badges were introduced as a kind of ID tag to show that you were a paid-up holidaymaker. They were worn for the duration of the holiday and allowed you admission into the various entertainment venues. They first appeared in and each year except for the war period different badges were produced for each camp and hotel.
The badges changed colour each week. For instance, on the Pwllheli badge pictured , the outer ring could be either red, blue, green, black or yellow and for five weeks the new arrivals would have a different colour badge to the previous week's campers.
This helped on two counts, Security could see whether anyone had outstayed their welcome and Bar staff could refuse to serve you if not wearing the right colour badge, helping with the Licensing Laws.
Badges were also produced for a whole range of other activities including the children's clubs, the Winter reunions, sports festivals and Christmas. Badges were also given to day visitors, to those staying for a 2nd week and to members of the different social clubs and committees. They were last produced at the end of The exact number of different badges is not known but a rough estimate is around 1, Most can be picked up relatively cheaply today although certain rarities command a higher price.
Yes, in pin badges were launched, the idea being that guests buy badges and then attach them to a lanyard which they wear around their neck.
The badges feature a variety of images including Butlins characters and old logos. Staff also wear lanyards and guests can swap their badges with staff, thereby encouraging guests and staff to interact with each other.
Some of the badges are available to buy on resort whilst others can only be obtained from swapping with staff. Special badges are also available including annual "Premier Club" badges, which are available to guests who visit Butlins more than a certain number of times, "Eat Well" and "Discovery" badges, both of which are available to guests who get cards stamped for eating certain healthy food or completing certain activities.
By the late s the camps had experienced several boom years and things were looking good for the future. Billy Butlin retired in and moved to Jersey for tax reasons and the company was taken over by his son Bobby. But the entire British holiday industry was about to see some major competition from foreign destinations. People began flocking abroad in record numbers and the heady days of the British seaside resort were coming to an end.
In common with most other holiday companies Butlins began seeing some major declines in bookings. Yes, what was fine for the post-war years was now looking very dated. The chalets in straight lines, the blaring loud speakers, the barbed wire fences, the communal bathrooms and the general air of regimentation reminded people more of a military camp than of a place of fun. Butlins began losing some of it's valued family custom and in their place came hordes of unruly teenagers.
The camps also took on a rundown appearance and references to them being the 'Stag party capital of the world' certainly didn't help. The whole Butlins family image had become severely dented. The camps became known as 'centres' and changes were made to ban the single-sex bookings, to scrap the Tannoy system, to tone down the regimentation and to boost the self catering facilities.
They also diversified into other holiday markets with the acquisition of some smaller holiday camps and caravan parks which they operated under the banner of Freshfield Holidays. To try and cash in on the foreign holiday craze they even bought a large room hotel in Torremolinos Spain. But low bookings resulted in low investment. Reports came in of leaking and damp chalets, of cold swimming pools, peeling paint, closed facilities, poor food and indifferent staff.
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