The Gibson’s Holiday Camp was opened in Bracklesham Bay in the 1930s by a Miss Janet Gibson. This small 4-acre camp could accommodate 300 guests and consisted of a hotel with chalets in the grounds.
The camp made headlines in the spring of 1975 after being accused of giving “second-class” treatment to a large group of visitors with learning disabilities. The organiser of the trip complained that “the food was poor, service was bad and the chalets were cold and overcrowded,” adding that the group had also been refused bookings during the main summer season. In response, the camp manager insisted that all customers were treated the same, explaining that the chalets were cold simply because none were fitted with heating. However, he did admit the group had been excluded from the peak season, remarking: “Imagine how you would feel if there was a very badly handicapped person sitting next to you at dinner.”
A few months later the camp suffered a major fire which destroyed the main building and caused it to close for the remainder of the season. All of the holidaymakers were forced to leave as the kitchen facilities had been “wiped out.”
After an extensive 18-month rebuilding programme, the camp reopened in 1977 under the new name Pine Court. The site had been completely modernised, now boasting 51 bedrooms in the main hotel and 121 apartments in flat-roofed, single-storey blocks.
All accommodation was still full board, with 3 meals a day provided and all taken in the large communal dining hall. Rooms were hotel-style, basically just a bed and bathroom. Guests could enjoy a wide range of facilities, including a ballroom, dining room, games room, arcade, and a swimming pool, with parking for 84 cars. Importantly, all chalets were now fitted with heating, marking a major upgrade from the previous accommodation.
During the 1970s, diversification became the buzzword for many established companies, and several turned their attention to the leisure industry. One of the more surprising entrants was Godfrey Davis, then the country’s largest Ford dealer and best known for its nationwide car hire business. They first stepped into the holiday camp market in 1972 by purchasing the Torbay Chalet Hotel and in 1979 they added the South Downs camp to their roster. They also owned a caravan park in Teignmouth.
But by the early 1980s their little experiment was over. In 1983 Godfrey Davis decided to exit the leisure market altogether, selling its three holiday parks to Pontins for £1.8 million.
Pontins already owned another camp in Bracklesham Bay, their much larger site about a mile to the south. This was closed in 1985 and the land sold for redevelopment. But Pontins continued to operate South Downs for the next 20 years. In 1984 a weeks stay at South Downs (for an adult in August) was £95 which included all food. In 1989 the camp was converted to adults-only and specialised in holidays for the over 50s.
In 1999 South Downs was sold to the Richardson Group and everything continued much as before.
In a shock move it was announced that the site would close at the end of the 2016 season. One local resident admitted she did not know who had purchased the land, but said the thought of a developer demolishing “a piece of social history” left her devastated. “I am gutted for Bracklesham,” she added. Another holidaymaker remarked, “A lot of people have been saying it’s a real shame that it’s closing. We’ve only been here for a few days, but it’s a lovely place.”
The site was sold in January 2017 for £2.5 million. The following year, the new owners converted the site into a residential housing complex, renting out rooms to migrant fruit pickers. However, the local council soon intervened, ruling that the residential use was a breach of planning control, and the accommodation was shut down forcing 160 workers to leave. This decision was later overturned, allowing the workers to return, and the site subsequently became known as South Downs Worker Village.
It was demolished in 2021 and a development of 85 houses was built known as Bracklesham Grove.
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 camp. Please feel free to leave a comment below.
