Wallis’s Cayton Bay got its start in the 1930s as the Sunshine Holiday Camp, a quirky site made up of converted buses, trams, old railway carriages, and sheds. It was one of several similar camps that dotted the Yorkshire coastline, with a local newspaper remarking at the time that “most had the general air of a mining camp where the strike is uncertain and nobody cares.”
In 1933, a more ambitious development arrived when the NALGO Union opened a new £25,000 luxury camp at Cayton Bay. The union, which had already established a successful camp in Croyde Bay, Devon, aimed to provide affordable holidays for its members.
In the late 1930s, a proposal was put forward to build a new coastal bypass to relieve traffic congestion in the area. The council purchased a three-mile stretch of land, wide enough for a dual carriageway, part of which cut through the edge of the Sunshine Holiday Camp. However, the outbreak of war brought all plans to a halt, and the scheme was shelved and forgotten for six decades.
Wallis’s Cayton Bay Holiday Camp
In 1946, the Wallis family purchased the Sunshine Holiday Camp for £40,000 and immediately set about revitalizing the site. They acquired additional land and rebranded the camp as Wallis’s Cayton Bay. The old shanty town structures were cleared away, and modern touring caravan spaces were introduced, available for rent at £15 per year.
By 1947, 200 new chalets had been constructed, and within two years this number had risen to 450. Built during a period of post-war shortages, the chalets were mostly constructed “on the cheap” using whatever materials were available. They were never intended to be permanent, but rather to meet the urgent demand for holiday accommodation in the immediate post-war years.
By 1950, the touring caravans at Wallis’s Cayton Bay had mostly been replaced with 200 static vans, and all accommodation was available to rent “with or without full board.” By this time, the camp was advertising a total of 600 caravans and chalets. Facilities included a dance hall, restaurant, fish and chip shop, cinema, bicycle rental, and a general store, providing a full-service holiday experience for visitors.
In June 1954, construction began on an ambitious new entertainment pavilion, designed by Scarborough architect Mr. W. Gray. Costing £34,000, the building was capable of accommodating 1,000 people and featured a large stage, a film projection room, and a Maple wood ballroom floor. Upon completion in December of the same year, the pavilion would house the popular Rendezvous Club, Mullarcy’s pub, and the Bamboo Lounge, quickly becoming the social and entertainment hub of the camp.
During the early 1960s, the camp introduced a new range of “architect-designed” brick chalets, known as the Bungalows, offering a more modern alternative to the older wooden huts.
In 1964, the camp unveiled a 68-room motel, touted as the first purpose-built resort motel in the country. Inspired by contemporary American designs, “similar to those in Miami,” the apartments featured all-electric kitchens, lounges, dining areas, televisions, sun decks, and one or two bedrooms, providing visitors with a level of comfort and convenience that was revolutionary for British holiday camps at the time.
By the late 1960s, Dudley Wallis, the son of the founder, had taken the reins of the camp and quickly became a well-known and popular local figure. He often welcomed celebrity visitors, adding glamour to the camp’s reputation; in 1969 British actress Alexandra Bastedo made a personal appearance, delighting fans and signing autographs.
During the 1970s, the camp began a major modernization program. Many of the older post-war chalets were demolished and replaced with static caravans, eventually increasing the total number of units to around 550. The traditional full board arrangement was abandoned, with all accommodation converted to self-catering. In 1974, the nearby NALGO camp closed due to mounting financial losses, leaving Wallis’s as the dominant holiday site in the area. That same year, the camp expanded its entertainment offerings with the opening of a new venue known as ‘Stage 3’.
In 1981, the camp was sold to Ladbrokes for £1.89 million. The new owners retained the established name, and it continued to trade as Wallis’s Supercentre. The 68-room motel remained in use, though the “motel” branding was dropped, and the apartments were rebranded as Villas, marketed at a premium to appeal to a more upscale clientele.
In January 1988, Ladbrokes sold all their holiday parks to Mecca Leisure, owners of Warners Holiday Camps, for £55 million. The following year, most of the camps were rebranded under the Warners name, and a major refurbishment of Cayton Bay was announced.
In 1990, Mecca Leisure was acquired by Rank, the parent company of Butlins and Haven, leading to another rebranding of the parks, this time under the Haven banner.
By 1993, the long-delayed coastal bypass project was resurrected by the council, much to the dismay of local residents. It was discovered that the main pavilion and the former motel had been constructed on land acquired by the council in the 1930s, meaning both buildings would need to be demolished. With both structures already in need of costly renovations, Haven opted to close them down. The abandoned buildings quickly fell into disrepair, becoming a derelict eyesore along the coastline for many years.
In 1998, Cayton Bay briefly returned to the spotlight when actors Michael Caine, Jane Horrocks, Ewan McGregor, and Jim Broadbent visited the site while filming the movie Little Voice. The derelict Rendezvous nightclub inside the old pavilion was refurbished and temporarily renamed “Mr Boo’s” for its role in the film. Despite this brief moment of fame, the building was demolished the following year.
The council continued to press ahead with the long-planned bypass, despite facing strong local opposition. Several concessions were made, including reducing the road from a dual carriageway to a single lane in each direction. The bypass finally opened in 2008, cutting through the northern edge of the former caravan area. A pedestrian subway was installed to maintain access from the camp to the beach, and a new roundabout was constructed to provide entry to the site.
In 2000 Haven sold the camp to Park Resorts. In 2015 Park Resorts merged with Parkdean. The park is still open today and continues to be as popular as ever. Most of the old chalets/bungalows are gone and it’s mostly now all caravans, with a handful of luxury lodges.
What happened to Dudley Wallis?
In 1985, Dudley Wallis, together with his brother and sister, opened a 6-acre children’s fun park in Scarborough called Kinderland. Despite facing initial local opposition, the park quickly became a beloved attraction. In 1999, at the age of 73, Wallis put the site up for sale as he planned to retire, but no buyers came forward. He passed away the following year, and his family closed Kinderland, returning the lease to the council. The site was briefly taken over by the Sykes family but ultimately closed permanently in 2007 and was later demolished.
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