Pontin's

[onthebusesfan]

Pontins is a British holiday business which was originally founded in 1946 by fred pontin. It specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays with regular entertainment on offer. Accommodation is usually in the form of chalets. The company once grew to be a major operator of seaside holiday accommodation, but has now shrunk considerably. Their slogan was "All your want-ins at Pontins

On 12 November 2010, Pontin's Limited entered administrationbut was bought in January 2011 by Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd, a Jersey-based investment vehicle with links to the Britannia Hotels Ltd group.
Fred Pontin opened the first holiday camp in 1946 on the site of a former US World War II army base at Brean Sands in Somerset, gradually Pontins currently owns and operates five resorts (known as "parks") in the United Kingdom

• Camber Sands, East Sussex
• Ainsdale Southport, Merseyside
• Prestatyn Sands, Denbighshire, North Wales
• Brean Sands, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset
• Pakefield, Lowestoft, Suffolk,These are a list of former Pontins resorts in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland that have either closed or been sold off.
  • Barton Hall, Torquay, Devon now a PGL site (children's activity holidays) (formerly 3D Education)
  • Bay View, Brixham, Devon
  • Blackpool, Lancashire – Closed 2 October 2009 and currently under demolition. Site will be developed as housing
  • Bracklesham Bay, Chichester, West Sussex
  • Broadreeds, Selsey, West Sussex
  • Buckleigh Place, Westward Ho!, Devon
  • Dolphin Holiday Village, Brixham, Devon
  • Homelea Holiday Camp, Brixham, Devon
  • Hemsby, Norfolk – Closed January 2009
  • Jersey Holiday Village, Portelet Bay, Jersey
  • Little Canada, Wooton, Isle of Wight now a PGL site (children's activity holidays) (formerly 3D Education)
  • Middleton Tower, Heysham, Lancashire
  • Osmington Bay, Weymouth, Dorset now a PGL site (children's activity holidays) (formerly 3D Education)
  • Plemont Bay, Jersey
  • Riviera Chalet Hotel, Bowleaze Cove, near Preston, Weymouth, Dorset
  • Sand Bay, Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, now operating as a private concern, almost exactly 'as was', focus on older couples rather than family holidays.
  • Sands Hotel, Prestatyn, Denbighshire, North Wales
  • Seacroft, Hemsby, Norfolk
  • South Devon, Paignton, Devon
  • South Downs, Bracklesham Bay, near Chichester
  • St Mary's Bay, Brixham, Devon now a Park Holidays UK site
  • Torbay Chalet Hotel, Paignton, Devon
  • Tower Beach, Prestatyn, Denbighshire, North Wales
  • Trabolgan, County Cork, Republic of Ireland (still opened as "Trabolgan Holiday Village")
  • Wick Ferry, Christchurch, Dorset
  • Wall Park, Brixham, Devon.
    • The 1973 British film Holiday On The Buses was filmed at and set in the Pontins Prestatyn resort. The same venue hosts professional snooker each year. Prestatyn Sands also hosts the Pontin's annual Brass Band Festival [1]; the finals have always been held in this location, historically the qualifying rounds were held in other Pontin's centres.
    • Carol Lee Scott A.K.A Grotbags used to perform cabaret throughout different Pontins sites in the 1960s and 70's.
    • Pontin's are long-term sponsors of reserve football leagues in England.
    • Pontin's at Hemsby was host to the annual Bloc Weekend music festival.
    • Princes Theatre at Pontin's Blackpool was used as the base for Most Haunted Live 12, in December 2004.. but if your a chav you love it

[80sChav]

Re: pontins

Thank-you for the details about Pontins Onthebusescrazy. It is a crying shame to know about their ex-site in Blackpool, as it is that the Company is itself not what it once was as well, as the Blackpool site in-particular, this is the one I spent most of my holidays at as a kid and holds the most memories to too. I do recall it was looking a bit un-well in the early to mid 2000s, 2004 being possibly the last time I was down that "neck of the woods"

I doubt i'll ever pass Pontins in Blackpool in the near future, but if and when I do in any future time, as is now typing about it, i'll have quite a tinge of sadness thinking yet again about something else that has now been lost as has so many other thing's that hold many simnilar memories to many other people as well as me, too.

80sChav

[onthebusesfan]

Re: pontins

i think they delomished it 2 years ago i belive there is a shop or hotel there now not 100% sure .

[Marine Boy]

Re: pontins

As a kid, I went to Pontins, Brackelsham Bay and also Pontins Southleigh, (Hayling Island?). I have very happy memories of both.

[Richard1978]

Re: pontins

I stayed at a holiday at Brackelsham Bay in 1987 but it wasn't a Pontins, possibly it have been sold off by then.

[Marine Boy]

Re: pontins

I stayed at a holiday at Brackelsham Bay in 1987 but it wasn't a Pontins, possibly it have been sold off by then.

Yes, that centre did become something else. I read about it on the Internet but I can't recall where. I expect there is info if you do a search. I recall the swimming pool. I think it was here. Where there were windows in the sides and you could sit in the café and watch the legs of the swimmers! Very strange.

[onthebusesfan]

Re: pontins

when i visted the prestatyn camp in august last year i only went cause i love holiday on the buses and done the locations . i loved the locations but the camp was an utter *****hole i mean there was pubes around the bath wen we arrived i said to my dad and my mum and sister what a complete ****hole the rooms looked like a bomb had hit it it the sofa beds dirty the doors with massive cracks in it also the cooker had dirt and the windows covered in god knows what also the beds are distusting we only stayed 2 we booked 7 nights but we didn't do that because it was like living in a prison cell . the best meal we had was cheese on toast that mum made has before we left . we left the camp at 7.30 got back home at midnight were in cambridgeshire . we Played £370. for the 7 nights next door to us only paid £ 27 . i mean what a total rip off . Come pontins please do something to the rooms and the food . also pull your finger out . new beds chairs baths doors pillows tv shelfs oven sink windows . also make holiday on the buses tours round the camp and the bridge . hire old lodekka buses . the ballroom everything make it a lovely place to stay not a bombsite . it will a shame if it closed for good . pull your fingers out .
ps if your a chav you would love it there

[n3llyo]

Re: pontins

i had a week at the one in pakefield four years ago it was a free holiday so i shouldnt complain but i will

it was boring,
ugly dirty buildings that looked like prison blocks rather then challets,
evening entertainment was 2 hours of kids songs and party dances (agga-bloody-doo etc)
on site swimming pool was small and very dirty,
food was hospital catering standard but ten times worse ,
bed linen was so old i think the dirt kept it from falling apart and im sure it crawled when you took your duvet off.
the complementary tea,sugar and coffee had been put in to a wet cup so it had become a case of one lump or two for everything ,
as it rained all week it ment all the day time activities were cancelled and the crazy golf course was now an out side paddling pool
it was the year of the last olympics so watching that on the chalets tv atleast gave us something to do

[Heather74]

Re: Pontin's

Moved to member lounge as people are just doing reviews of the camps today!

[Richard1978]

Re: Pontin's

I remembering going to the Minehead Butlins in 1985 & some of the cheaper chalets were still in the Hi-De-Hi era.

A few years later we went to a Haven holiday camp where we stayed in a caravan, which was ok, but the evening entertainment was very tacky.

My Mum wasn't impressed that most people seemed to be on a smoke & drink a-thon.

[onthebusesfan]

Re: Pontin's

You have to pay for the leccy

[Richard1978]

Re: Pontin's

http://www.opacity.us/image40_wing.htm

In these comments are some memories of some down-market holidays in the UK.