HOLIDAY CAMPS

Holiday camps started booming when statutory holiday pay was introduced in 1938. At the time there were already 150 holiday camps in Britain, created by companies for their workers as an alternative to the battleaxe seaside landlady who often insisted that guests should stay out all day regardless of the British weather. Occupational camps were housed in tents, often for men only, with strict rules against alcohol and swearing. When Billy Butlin, Fred Pontin and Harry Warner set up chains of commercial camps they were following a business model established in the voluntary and philanthropic sector. In the 1930s, accommodation moved from tents to lockable chalets, giving a degree of privacy, and at night patrols of nurses kept an eye on children whose parents were enjoying the evening entertainments. Art Deco was the prevailing design style, as many photographs and posters show in this fascinating short history. Some had a nautical theme, for instance the slogan "cruising on land" at Middleton Tower camp near Morecambe. During the war the camps were requisitioned for military use, but after the war there was an explosion of development as people eagerly renewed their old holiday freedoms. Camps were now a largely a middle-class phenomenon, offering a good standard of leisure at a reasonable price. Cunningham's Isle of Man camp was able to feed 3,600 diners at a sitting with food grown and prepared on site. There were resident entertainers and the ubiquitous Redcoats helping everyone to have fun. In the 1970s the era of mass holidaying was over as camps went self-catering and then closed. 64pp, softback, colour illus.