Guess who owns Pontins these days...

Tikay10 · March 20

@HAYSIE @Essexphil

This should be an interesting watch.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001xx87/pontins-rundown-ruined

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68243138

green_beer · March 20

Is it Mike Ashley?

He seems to own everything else in the uk ha

Tikay10 · March 20

green_beer said:
Is it Mike Ashley?

He seems to own everything else in the uk ha

@green_beer

No matter HOW bad you might think Mike Ashley is, these people are far, far worse.

TheEdge949 · March 20

I used to regularly take my kids on The Sun £9.50 hols and the majority were at Pontins. It was noticeable that standards dropped dramatically after the acquisition by Britannia Group and very few now remain open. Ones I visited and enjoyed which are no longer there include Blackpool, Hemsby, Wall Park (Brixham), Brean Sands, Prestatyn and Camber Sands.

Absolute travesty

mumsie · March 20

Perfect opportunity to share a picture of me at Pontins 1970/71.
In the northwest somewhere.

Tarzan lookalike competition.

I didn't win.

VespaPX · March 20

https://twitter.com/AndrewJ31680521/status/1758071477079855135

Tikay10 · March 20

mumsie said:
Perfect opportunity to share a picture of me at Pontins 1970/71.
In the northwest somewhere.

Tarzan lookalike competition.

I didn't win.

@mumsie

Wow, in an almost bizarre coincidence, I was a Pontins "Mr Tarzan" too.

Maybe everyone who entered won, as I certainly never had a body to be proud of, far from it.

goldon · March 20

mumsie said:
Perfect opportunity to share a picture of me at Pontins 1970/71.
In the northwest somewhere.

Tarzan lookalike competition.

I didn't win.

"You'd a done better in the " Mister Puniverse Competition" !

Enut · March 20

mumsie said:
Perfect opportunity to share a picture of me at Pontins 1970/71.
In the northwest somewhere.

Tarzan lookalike competition.

I didn't win.

I think the black power clenched fist may have cost you the victory.

green_beer · March 20

mumsie said:
Perfect opportunity to share a picture of me at Pontins 1970/71.
In the northwest somewhere.

Tarzan lookalike competition.

I didn't win.

Pity it was Tarzan and not jungle book

)

HAYSIE · March 20

Tikay10 said:

@HAYSIE @Essexphil

This should be an interesting watch.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001xx87/pontins-rundown-ruined

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68243138

I read about this the other day, when they shut a couple down.
I have many happy memories of holidays at Barton Hall, in Torquay.
Some less than happy regarding the queues for the ferry, before they built the Severn bridge.
I won a keepy-uppy competition there one year.
Just after they gave me the prize David Beckham turned up, but he was too late.
He would have definitely won.
Well it wasnt David Beckham, but he looked just as good.
He was keeping the ball up while he was walking down to where the competition took place, which is probably why he was too late.
The guy looked an excellent footballer, but not the sharpest tool.

Essexphil · March 20

I'd forgotten all about Barton Hall. Marvellous place.

On a separate note, Britannia Hotels have improved considerably in the last few years. They are no longer far and away the worst of the chains, and are broadly comparable to the other Budget chains.

Enut · March 20

I have fond memories of going to Pontins Camber Sands in probably the late 70's I would have been about 13. During that holiday I discovered penny arcades, space invaders and girls. Girls, up to that point, had been confusing and irritating, they didn't really play sports, only netball and hockey, they couldn't ride bikes like Evel Knievel (like boys did) and couldn't be trusted as they told their friends, and probably parents, everything! I can't remember much about her now but she was very pretty, had long dark hair and thought I was funny. She's still as pretty now as she was then, in my mind anyway, as I never saw her again after that holiday.

Pontins Camber Sands wasn't exactly up market even then and I don't think it was updated from then until it closed in November last year. There were rumours that it was going to be used to house asylum seekers, along with Northeye Prison near Bexhill. It looks like neither of those plans are going ahead at the moment, possibly due to the accommodation not being of the required standard.

HAYSIE · March 20

Essexphil said:
I'd forgotten all about Barton Hall. Marvellous place.

On a separate note, Britannia Hotels have improved considerably in the last few years. They are no longer far and away the worst of the chains, and are broadly comparable to the other Budget chains.

We went there for 7 years on the trot.

HAYSIE · March 20

stokefc · March 20

I went to Prestatyn about 15 years ago on a £9.50 cheapo when i walked into the shalet i left immediately and went io Landudno instead

Essexphil · March 20

HAYSIE said:

Essexphil said:
I'd forgotten all about Barton Hall. Marvellous place.

On a separate note, Britannia Hotels have improved considerably in the last few years. They are no longer far and away the worst of the chains, and are broadly comparable to the other Budget chains.

Essexphil said:
I'd forgotten all about Barton Hall. Marvellous place.

On a separate note, Britannia Hotels have improved considerably in the last few years. They are no longer far and away the worst of the chains, and are broadly comparable to the other Budget chains.
We went there for 7 years on the trot.

Think I went there 4 or 5 times. Would have been about 7-12 years old. That picture is just as I remember it.

HAYSIE · March 20

Essexphil said:

HAYSIE said:

Essexphil said:
I'd forgotten all about Barton Hall. Marvellous place.

On a separate note, Britannia Hotels have improved considerably in the last few years. They are no longer far and away the worst of the chains, and are broadly comparable to the other Budget chains.

Essexphil said:
I'd forgotten all about Barton Hall. Marvellous place.

On a separate note, Britannia Hotels have improved considerably in the last few years. They are no longer far and away the worst of the chains, and are broadly comparable to the other Budget chains.
We went there for 7 years on the trot.
Think I went there 4 or 5 times. Would have been about 7-12 years old. That picture is just as I remember it.

I would have been a similar age, but I am older than you.

Tikay10 · March 20

Fabulous memories of wonderful times.

We went to Butlins a few times too. My main memory was of communal meal times, there were usually two or three "sittings" for each meal, breakfast, lunch & dinner, or breakfast, dinner & tea as it would have been called in these days. Each sitting would be around 30 minutes, so breakfast sittings would be 8am, 8.30am & 9am or whatever,

Each "sitting" would be about 45 minutes & every "camper" was assigned a song, when that song played over the tannoy it was time to go get your meal. We all queued outside & the moment "our" song started we all rushed to grab a table. At a preset time the waitresses would all suddenly enter the room carrying their trays of food & the entire room of x,000 people were served within minutes, each waitress would somehow carry about 8 meals. Whenever a waitress dropped a plate or whatever the entire room - everyone - cheered & clapped.

Even now, if I go to a restaurant & the waiter/waitress drops a tray, plate or drink, I have to suppress the urge to cheer...

Tikay10 · March 20

Essexphil said:
I'd forgotten all about Barton Hall. Marvellous place.

On a separate note, Britannia Hotels have improved considerably in the last few years. They are no longer far and away the worst of the chains, and are broadly comparable to the other Budget chains.

@Essexphil

Well that's good to hear, fair play to them.

Guess who owns Pontins these days...

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