Captain Harry Warner moved to Hayling Island in 1928 and established the successful Grotto Cafe which was located on the seafront just east of the Grand Hotel. In 1931 he opened Northney holiday camp in the north end of the island.
Billy Butlin had become interested in the holiday camp business and paid a visit to the island where he struck up a friendship with Warner. The two decided to go into business together and built three camps under a 50/50 partnership – Seaton (1934), Dovercourt (1937) and Puckpool doverco(1939). In addition, Butlin also opened his own camps at Skegness (1936) and Clacton (1938).
The Warners company went public in 1939 with Butlin acting as Chairman. After the war Butlin decided to step away so he could focus more on his own growing empire. Over the years Butlins sold off most of their Warner shares but retained a 10% stake right up until the company was sold.
Dovercourt Bay Holiday Camp
This 40-acre camp opened on 7th July 1937, just 16 weeks after construction began. Costing £50,000 it was opened by the mayor of Harwich with both Billy Butlin and Harry Warner in attendance. It was described as “The ultra modern conception of a seaside hotel. Here is the perfect change of holiday for which you are looking. Beautifully appointed brick chalets overlooking the sea. Hot baths and all the comforts. All the bathing, sports, tennis etc. A lovely sandy beach. Your meals, your bathing, your dancing everything included from just 45s a week”.
Other facilities included a large outdoor swimming pool, dance hall, bowling green and miniature golf. Over 4000 rose bushes were planted.
The Camp was full board with all meals included and taken in the large communal dining hall. Breakfast was at 8am, lunch at 1pm, tea at 4pm and supper at 7pm. The brick chalets consisted of nothing more than a bedroom and a sink. Communal bath/toilet blocks were dotted around the site. It could accommodate 550 people at a weekly rate of 45 to 55 shillings per person.
IIn December 1938, around 200 Jewish child refugees arrived from Germany as part of the first phase of the Kindertransport rescue scheme. In total, some 10,000 children—mostly Jewish, ranging from infants to teenagers—were evacuated from Germany and Nazi-occupied territories in the months leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War.
For many, the Kindertransport offered the only chance of survival, as countless parents and relatives were later lost in the Holocaust. The children were initially accommodated at various holiday camps along the east coast of Britain, before being placed in foster homes, schools, and farms across Britain. Dovercourt played an important role in this effort, with several hundred children passing through the camp in the months that followed.
The camp reopened to the public in June 1946. It had survived the war relatively unscathed.
During the 1960s, the camp was expanded with the addition of new chalets, increasing its total capacity by around 300 guests. In time, some of the older chalets were also rebuilt to include the long-awaited convenience of private toilets.
By the 1970s the camp had become a little rundown with one customer complaining in 1973 of the “appalling service and conditions”. This included “filthy and unusable toilets, waiters working in jeans and without shirts, damp bed linen and a fly in the trifle.”
By the 1980s, the camp was really showing its age. Most chalets still had no private bathrooms, and there were no self-catering facilities, with guests limited to the traditional meal plan – by then reduced to just breakfast and dinner. Its outdated appearance made it seem like a relic from another era, which is precisely why the BBC chose it in 1981 as the setting for exterior scenes in the 1950s comedy Hi-de-Hi!. The camp went on to feature regularly in the series, with most filming taking place out of season when it was closed to holidaymakers.
The Hi-de-Hi show lasted until 1987 and the camp finally closed for good at the end of the 1990 season. By August 1992 everything had been demolished to make way for housing. Where was it located? Search out Louvain Road.
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