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Just over 70 years ago, Billy Butlin opened his first holiday camp at Ingoldmells, near Skegness. It quickly became a favourite with Derbyshire families. Anton Rippon looks back at Butlins' heyday.

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Just like Morecambe and Wise, fish and chips, sea and sand, the names of Butlins and Skegness are almost inseparable.

Since that day in October 1935, when work began on clearing 200 acres of turnip fields to make way for the first Butlins holiday camp, the Lincolnshire resort and the original Hi-de-hi atmosphere have gone hand in hand.

For thousands of Derby families, Skegness in general was an important part of their lives as they boarded excursion trains at Friar Gate station to take them to the seaside. But it was Butlins that had a special place in their hearts.

It is 73 years since the marriage, apparently made in holiday heaven, was struck. In many ways, though, Butlin's and Skegness were always destined for each other. The burgeoning seaside town and the entrepreneurial Billy Butlin were always going to be natural partners.

From the moment the village of 500 souls was connected to the railway system in 1875, through the development of the new town with its pier, gardens, clock tower, parade and sea-front hotels in the late 19th century, Skegness ’ place as a major holiday destination was assured.

“Skeggy” soon proved the ideal place for workers looking for a respite from the factories and shops of the East Midlands and South Yorkshire. And by 1921, more than 450,000 of them were visiting Skegness on railway day-trip excursions alone. No wonder that in the following decade, the town’s development continued with formal gardens, boating lakes and swimming baths.

And by then, South African-born William “Billy” Butlin had arrived there. His father was a vicar from Gloucester; his mother was from a West Country fairground family. When his parents’ marriage broke up, young Billy accompanied his mother back to her family home in Bristol.

In 1911, she remarried and emigrated to Canada, eventually sending for her son, Billy, whose younger brother had died of infantile paralysis. Billy found a job with Toronto’s largest department

store, where one of the perks was being able to spend time at the company’s summer camp. The seed, which would eventually flower at Skegness , had been sown.

In 1921, after uneventful wartime service in the Canadian Army, Billy worked his passage across the Atlantic to Liverpool, from where he hitchhiked 170 miles to Bristol, the winter quarters of his kinsfolk’s fairground business.

When summer arrived, he bought a hoopla stall and was soon working a permanent site outside London’s Olympia. In 1925, he married his sweetheart, Dolly, and two years later, he found his way to Skegness .

The growing habit of holidaying at the seaside was making travelling fairs less of an attractive business proposition than the prospect of setting up permanently by the coast.

So, in 1927, after interrogating two fellow showmen who had set up at Skegness , Butlin rented land from the Earl of Scarborough and soon had hoopla stalls, a slide, a haunted house and a scenic railway up and running. Other Butlin's amusement parks followed across the country.

In Skegness, Butlin's Pleasure Beach, on Grand Parade, thrived but one image stuck in Billy Butlin’s mind – thousands of holidaymakers trudging around aimlessly on wet days, turfed out of their digs by Skegness landladies who did not want to see them again until the next mealtime.

His mind went back to the summer camp he had enjoyed in Canada, where there were plenty of activities to keep campers amused.

It took him two years to find the right spot. But, in October 1935, work began on what was the ideal site, at Ingoldmells, facing the sea but also on the main road.

A national newspaper advertisement, offering an all-in Butlin's holiday from between £1 15s and £3 a week, saw the local post office at Skegness swamped by mail. One camper from Nottingham, Freda Monk, was so keen that she arrived for her holiday the day before the camp opened at Easter 1936.

The world-famous aviatrix, Amy Johnson of Hull, was guest of honour at the opening ceremony. Even a late snowfall failed to dampen Butlin’s enthusiasm for his newest venture.

In all, nine Butlin's camps were built, each one of them growing into “mini-towns” with shops, bars, restaurants, hairdressers and, of course, all manner of entertainment, including the famous Red Coats, who provided a launching pad for so many post-war showbusiness stars.

During the Second World War, the Skegness camp became a naval training centre – HMS Royal Arthur. Then, in the drab years of post-war Britain, all the camps returned to providing workers and their families with a basic chalet – cold water and communal bathrooms in the early days – and a week of colourful entertainment, plenty of activities and robust menus.

There was even Radio Butlin, which famously roused campers from their beds through a system of loudspeakers.

By the late 1960s, however, the boom years for the traditional Butlin's holiday were over. People were earning more money, travelling abroad and expecting a greater degree of sophistication from their holidays.

Butlin's had to change if it was to survive. Millions were invested and the business taken over. Only three camps remain – Skegness happily one of them – and are now sophisticated family entertainment centres, just part of a much bigger leisure empire.

And Billy Butlin? Knighted in 1965, he retired in 1968 and went into tax exile in Jersey. He died in June 1980 and is buried at John’s Church cemetery on that island.

His magnificent headstone bears the legend “ Skegness is so bracing”.

Do you have fond memories of holidays at Butlin's? If so, we would love to hear them. Add your memories by going to the Discussion link above.

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County:  Derbyshire

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