The camp first opened in 1932 under the name Sussex Ideal Holiday Chalets. In 1947, just a year after founding his holiday camp business, Fred Pontin purchased the site for £38,600 and appointed his brother Harry as general manager.
In 1954 Pontins added 40 caravans to the site and two years later they applied to build a new caravan park next door, describing the plot as a “derelict rat-infested piece of waste ground” that could be transformed into a model site built to the “highest standards of neatness.” The local council, however, turned down the proposal, arguing that “the district already suffered from a surfeit of caravans.”
In 1960 a new entertainment building was added, featuring a large ballroom upstairs – with Pontins admitting that “people who find it hard to get about may unfortunately have to give this venue a miss.” Two years later, additional land was acquired, and during the mid-1960s the camp underwent a major rebuilding programme with new blocks of single-storey chalets.
It could accommodate around 1300 people and was a full board facility which meant that all meals were included and were taken in the huge communal dining room. Chalets were hotel-style, basically just a bed and bathroom. All chalets had electric heaters which were operated via coin meters.
The camp had all the usual Pontin facilities including an indoor swimming pool, boating lake, tennis courts, trampolines, and snooker tables. It also had its own launderette and hairdressers.
In 1966 the camp hit the headlines when comedian Tony Dennis was suspended for using the f-word during his music-hall act. His ban was short-lived, however, after 800 campers signed a petition calling for his reinstatement.
The following year, Pontins faced a High Court battle when Phonographic Performance Ltd accused the company of playing copyrighted music illegally at the Bracklesham Bay camp. Mr Justice Cross heard the case, with the plaintiffs arguing that a holiday camp was comparable to a village, and that broadcasting music to the whole camp therefore breached the Copyright Act. The judge disagreed, ruling that a camp was more akin to a hostel, and dismissed the claim with costs.
In 1983 Pontins expanded its presence in Bracklesham Bay by acquiring the small South Downs camp from Godfrey Davis. Just two years later, however, the company announced that its main Bracklesham Bay camp would close at the end of the 1985 season, with the land sold for housing. The site was demolished soon after, but redevelopment stalled for almost a decade; little progress was made until the mid-1990s, and the first residents of the new estate did not move in until 1997. Pontins continued operating the South Downs camp until 1999.
During the dismantling of the camp, thieves managed to steal seven full-sized snooker tables that were being stored on site and due to be transferred to another camp. Each table weighed around one and a half tons, prompting police to remark that “the thieves must have needed a good-sized lorry.”
Where was it located exactly? Look for the roads Shalbourne Crescent, Elcombe Close and Woodborough Close as these are all built on the old camp.
To read more about Sir Fred Pontin and the history of Pontins Holiday Camps read our blog post here. We’ve also covered the history of several other Pontin camps which can be seen in our A-Z blog index.
We’d love to hear your memories and stories of the Bracklesham Bay camp. Please feel free to leave a comment below
