Back to the future for holidays? Photographs from Butlin’s hey-day reveal Britons enjoying glamorous granny and knobbly knees competition just as millions are told there will be no breaks abroad this year
- Photographer Barry Lewis captures British holidaymakers at Skegness Butlin’s holiday camp in summer 1982
- Images included ‘Knobbly Knees’ competitions and Redcoat entertainers in a blast of 1980s nostalgia
- Resorts were founded by Billy Butlin in April 1936 as he aimed to make the British seaside break ‘accessible’
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Throwback photographs from Butlin’s hey-day have captured the essence of a quintessentially British holiday in the 1980s – as millions were told there will be no breaks abroad this summer.
The ‘particularly wet summer’ of 1982 was photographed by Barry Lewis at a seaside resort in Skegness, Lincolnshire, with images of ‘Knobbly Knees’ competitions and Redcoat entertainers bringing a blast of nostalgia.
The first of nine resorts, designed to be fun whatever the weather, was opened by Billy Butlin in April 1936 as he aimed to make the British seaside break ‘accessible to all’, and within a year it had doubled in size.
The photographs, compiled in a new book by Hoxton Press, capture guests as they relax in a sports field, jump in a heated swimming pool and enjoy live shows put on by Redcoat entertainers within an impressive holiday village.
They offer a rare glimpse of the British holiday experience in past decades – a style of break which could see a resurgence this summer as Britons were today told holidays abroad will ‘not be possible this year.’
Matt Hancock said it will ‘not be possible’ for millions to head overseas in the coming months as ministers urged Britons not to holiday in France despite its exception from quarantine.
Speaking on This Morning, the Health Secretary poured cold water over some Britons’ plans to fly abroad later in the year as holiday companies revealed a spike in interest for trips overseas.
Asked whether ‘summer was cancelled’, Mr Hancock said: ‘I think that’s likely to be the case. It is unlikely that big, lavish international holidays are going to be possible for this summer. I just think that’s a reality of life.’
A holidaymaker jumps into a swimming pool at the Bultin’s seaside resort in Skegness in 1982 in images shared by award-winning photographer Barry Lewis. Above him, a pavilion is emblazoned with a quote from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: ‘Our true intent is all for your delight’
Pictured: Campers relax in deck chairs on a sports field in the Skegness holiday camp on a warm day in 1982, as a chair lift, which were installed at many of the nine resorts, passes overhead. Two of the holiday camps, in Skegness and Minehead, also had monorail facilities by 1965
Redcoat entertainers perform the Rooster Rock, a novelty dance sponsored by Paxo stuffing, in the Empress Ballroom in Skegness. Redcoats were frontline staff at the resorts, and were required to act as holiday reps and form part of the evening entertainment team after undergoing a ‘tough selection process’. Famous faces who were once seen in the bright blazers include Paul and Barry Elliot, best known as the Chuckle Brothers, and presenter Stephen Mulhern
Pictured: Chambermaids laugh together as they enjoy a few hours off duty at the busy holiday camps. To their left, a young boy runs past dressed in a Spider-Man mask while other holidaymakers gather on benches to their right
Pictured: Two Redcoats pose for a photograph in front of the entrance to a Butlin’s building. Former Redcoats include Benny Hill and Cliff Richard. Their role was fictionalised in the television show Hi-de-hi, which was written former Butlin’s employees Jimmy Perry and David Croft
Guests compete in a space-hopper championship, as another carries a traffic cone through the field on their head. Each of the nine British seaside resorts was transformed into a holiday village, with hair salons, shopping arcades, boating lakes, newsagents, fairgrounds and even bars and discos
Pictured: A Butlin’s Redcoat employee takes a nap in the lobby on a Saturday morning during the busy summer, during which a multitude of evening entertainment performances would have taken place
Pictured: The Most Knobbly Knees competition, which was once judged by comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. Other wacky contests to take place in Butlin’s resorts included ‘glamorous grandmother’ contests
Stan Walker, known as Baron Wolfgang, plays an instrument as he leads a conga line through the camp. In 1962, the Skegness resort played a part in the formation of the Beatles, when Paul McCartney and John Lennon visited to meet Ringo Starr who was drumming in the resident band, to ask if he would like to join their group
A guest at the Skegness Butlin’s resort watches swimmers through a window to the swimming pool. Activities at the resort were playful and varied, Mr Lewis wrote in the nostalgic book, ranging from group sports days to the famous human aquarium