How Pontins lost its 'razzmatazz': Brit family holiday destination helped launch Shane Ritchie, Bobby Davro and Bradley Walsh but after being taken over by 'Asylum King' with just three parks left...
is this the end as it's voted UK's worst resort? By Matt Strudwick Published: 11:25, 8 July 2024 | Updated: 12:32, 8 July 2024 e-mail 54 View comments Its world famous Bluecoats helped launch the careers of Shane Ritchie , Bobby Davro and Bradley Walsh . But having once been a much-loved British family holiday staple, Pontins is now in the midst of a deep crisis. In its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, the business was thriving with hoards of British families excitedly loading up their cars to drive off to one of its 30 parks scattered across the country.
There are now just three left clinging on for survival. If owners Britannia were left in doubt of the public's perception of Pontins, then a recent survey in which it was voted the worst holiday resort in Britain will be a startling wake-up call. The Pontins at the Spanish-style Riviera Chalet Hotel in Weymouth on a hot sunny day in 1987 The famous bluecoat cabaret entertainers at a Pontins Holiday Camp circa 1993 People watch on as a beauty contest takes place at the Middleton Tower Holiday Camp near Morecambe in the 1950s.
The Pontins site shut in 1993 A man and woman take to the dance floor during a Pontins 'Rhythm Riot Weekend' at the now closed Camber Sands site in Sussex Sir Fred Pontin first launched Pontins in 1946 offerin.
