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Encyclopedia > Holiday camp

Holiday camp, in Britain, generally refers to a resort with a boundary that includes accommodation, entertainment and other facilities. A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation. ... Accommodation is a theological principle linked to divine revelation within the Christian church. ... Entertainment is an amusement or diversion intended to hold the attention of an audience or its participants. ...


As distinct from camping, accommodation typically consisted of chalets - rather like small flats/apartments arranged in blocks of three or four storeys, and terraces of ten to twenty long. Camping is an outdoor recreational activity involving the spending of one or more nights in a tent, primitive structure, a travel trailer or recreational vehicle at a campsite with the purpose of getting away from civilization and enjoying nature. ... A chalet (pronounced ), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building in the Alpine region. ...


Holidaymakers would pay a fee for their accommodation and decide whether to go full board (all meals would also be included in the price), half board (only the main meal would be included) or self catering (no meals provided).


Included in the price would be entertainments provided on site. These would include all or some of the following:

There are usually extensive childcare facilities such as a creche and various clubs to keep youngsters occupied, enabling parents to follow their own pursuits. Ballroom dance is a style of partner dance which originated in the western world and is now enjoyed both socially and competitively around the globe. ... 50 meter indoor swimming pool For the 2003 film, see Swimming Pool. ... A travelling funfair has many attractions, run by different showmen, who all converge for the duration of the fair, then go their separate ways to set up at fairs in other towns. ... Regional competition level table tennis, showing table, net, and player getting ready to return the ball with a winning backhand topspin stroke. ... Snooker table Snooker is a billiards sport that is played on a large (12 X 6) baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long cushions. ... For the Dan Clowes comic, see Eightball Eight ball is a billiards game played with a cue ball and 15 billiard balls on a pool table with 6 pockets. ... A crèche means: in British English, a Day care center: an organisation of adults who take care of children in place of their parents. ... A club is an association of people not united together by any natural ties of kinship, real or supposed. ...


In addition there are usually other facilities for which a fee is charged: bars, restaurants, amusement arcades. Tourists sit outside a bar in Chiang Mai, Thailand A bar is an establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold to be drunk on the premises. ... A typical restaurant in uptown Manhattan A restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to be consumed on the premises. ... A video arcade (known as an amusement arcade in the United Kingdom) is a place where people play arcade video games. ...

Contents


History

Cunningham's Young Men's Holiday Camp on the Isle of Man is sometimes regarded as the first holiday camp. However, it differed from the definition above - especially as accommodation was still in tents. A tent is a temporary or semipermanent shelter, consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles. ...


Billy Butlin is generally regarded as the man who created the holiday camp as defined above, stating that he was dissatisfied with the appalling quality of facilities available to British holidaymakers. However there were already a number of camps in existence before he opened his first site at Skegness in 1936. Sir William Heygate Edmund Colborne (Billy) Butlin, (September 29, 1899 – June 12, 1980), was the founder of Butlins Holiday Camps. ... Skegness is a seaside resort town in Lincolnshire, England, with a permanent population of about 30,000. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...


What distinguished Butlin was the size of the camp and the range of entertainments available. His primary competitors were Pontins (founded by Fred Pontin, first site in 1946) and Warners (founded by Harry Warner, first site in 1931). Neither could match Butlins for sheer ambition and by the 1960s and 1970s Butlins had vastly more customers than the other camps put together. 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The WB Shield, used from 2001 to late 2003. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ...


However, by the mid 1970s the market began to decline as people began to holiday abroad taking advantage of the new, cheap package holidays. The smaller size of the Pontins camps meant that they suffered less during this period of decline than did Butlins, having less beds to fill. A package holiday or package tour consists of transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. ...


In the 1980s many camps were shut down, holiday camps seemed increasingly to represent family poverty, lack of imagination and low social standing. People wanted to be seen to be taking aspirational holidays, either in the sun or to see the cultural histories of European cities. // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ...


However in the 1990s substantial investment in the remaining camps (including Butlins original Skegness site) continued, and new entrants (such as Center Parcs) boosted the quality and popularity of the offering, especially for young families. // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ...


Colour coats

One yardstick of the relative cultural impact of the three companies is that the Butlins' Redcoats (a sort of hybrid of general staff, entertainer and steward) are remembered more vividly than Pontins' Bluecoats and Warners' Greencoats are hardly remembered at all.


Famous ex-redcoats

This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Dressed For The Occasion, Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb in Lucknow, India, on October 14, 1940) is the stage name of one of UKs most popular singers. ... Jimmy Tarbuck OBE (born 6th February 1940 , Liverpool , Merseyside ,England , UK) is a gap-toothed British comedian, emcee and compere in demand from the 1960s. ... Dads Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard in World War II, written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. ... Hi-De-Hi! was the name of a popular situation comedy which ran on BBC1 between 1980 and 1988 and was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. ...

Famous ex-bluecoats

Shane Patrick Roche (born March 11, 1964), better known by his stage name Shane Richie, is a British actor and comedian. ... Brian Conley (born 1961 in Paddington, London, United Kingdom) is an accomplished British comedian with an act fashioned in the tradition of the bow tied end of the pier entertainer and targeted at the over forties. ...

External links

Official sites

Other

Michael Joseph Pennington (born on September 11, 1971), better known as Johnny Vegas is a British comedian from the Merseyside town of St. ...

  Results from FactBites:
 
Salford Childrens Holiday Camp Homepage (72 words)
The Salford Children's Holiday Camp is a Registered Charity funded by public and private subscriptions.
The purpose of the camp is to provide a residential experience for Salford children who for financial or social reasons might otherwise be deprived of such an experience.
A small staff is maintained at the camp during the summer period and these are assisted by teachers and voluntary supervisors who accompany each party of upto 60 children.
Holiday Camps (2798 words)
The golden age of the holiday camp was in the 'fifties and 'sixties.
Many holiday camps had, in fact, been taken over for military use and once again opened their doors to holiday makers.
It was felt that if people were to spread their holidays over the period from June to September, there would be less stress on the holiday industry and it might be better able to cope with the increasing numbers.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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