Pontins Holiday Camp – Jersey – Aug 2011
A Brief History
First opened in the 1920s and occupied during the war by the Nazis, this was the first of two holiday camps acquired by Pontins in Jersey. It was purchased in 1961 for £375,000 (equivalent to over £6 million in today's money!) and was completely rebuilt with all new chalets and buildings. Billy Butlin was a board member here after his retirement. The camp closed at the end of 2000 and is now lying abandoned and derelict.
Detailed History
The first holiday camp to be built at Plemont was the Jersey Jubilee Holiday camp, built in the early 1920s. Constructed mostly of wood, it housed a very basic level of accommodation but, more importantly, gave people what they wanted, which was a hassle free, all inclusive holiday. When war broke out in 1939, the camp closed, and when Jersey became occupied by the Nazis it was taken over by them. The camp was used as a base for the forces, who damaged the camp to the extent that it was going to cost a fair amount of money to restore. The solution was obvious, the camp had to be put up for sale.
It was bought by Fred Pontin, who desperately wanted a holiday camp in the Channel Islands. His want came true when the States of Jersey (Local Council) agreed that having a Pontins Holiday Camp would be a fantastic boost for the Jerseys tourism industry. Fred demolished most of the original camp and constructed a new one within the footprints of the old. He constructed new chalets and a new entertainment building, and re-opened under the Pontins name in the 1960's. The camp ran like this up until the end of the 2000 season, when the owners of Pontins, then Scotish and Newcastle decided they wanted to invest thier money in the camps in the uk. Plemont, along with Portelet, closed and were left empty.
Plemont was the home to a few members of staff from when it was open up until recent years, when they left and boarded up their chalets. The site today is looking in pretty bad shape, broken windows,a few broken locks and rotting window frames and doors. Much of the equipment, such as footballs, tabe tennis tables etc are still there, though furniture and air conditioning systems have been taken out and moved to other sites.
Currently, the future is unknown for the site. Demolition signs are up, though it looks like nothing will happen any time soon. Trevor Hemmings, the current site owner, had applied to build homes on the land, but this was turned down in 2008. The local government are under constant pressure from local organisations to purchase the site and return it to nature, a lot of the surrounding land has been purchased for the people of Jersey. However, Mr. Hemmings is believed to be currently drawing up plans for self catering apartments on the site, which should be accepted as the site is still listed for tourism use.
My Visit
Being in Jersey for a few days this was the obvious place to visit; the whole site is slowly returning to nature; much of the interesting features seen in previous reports have been trashed and the local poetic graffiti artists have left their mark.
Thankfully I never had the pleasure of staying at a Pontins or Butlins; they remind me of an Eastern Block prison complex, the rise of cheap flights closed many of these holiday camps. The site is well worth a visit if you end up on Jersey.
Report
Entering the holiday camp I was looking forward to a quick dip, a pint and a bit of entertainment.
My accommodation block was sorted
A tasteful lounge with air conditioning
:
And a nice open bedroom
Time for my dip in the open air pool
Unfortunately the lifeguard was on his break so had to give it a miss, so headed to check the laundrette
The local poet had left his mark
The tumbled driers were a bit bombed out!
Time to hit the bar and restaurant for a bit of entertainment and a pint
Not much of a queue at the bar!
Time to enjoy my pint and relax, after all I was on holiday :tumbleweed
A bit of music to pass the time
I didn’t think much of the pianist (I had to spell check that word
)
I bombed out on the dance floor, story of my life!
Well that was my holiday at Pontins, think I’ll book in again for next year.
Cheers
TLR
A Brief History
First opened in the 1920s and occupied during the war by the Nazis, this was the first of two holiday camps acquired by Pontins in Jersey. It was purchased in 1961 for £375,000 (equivalent to over £6 million in today's money!) and was completely rebuilt with all new chalets and buildings. Billy Butlin was a board member here after his retirement. The camp closed at the end of 2000 and is now lying abandoned and derelict.
Detailed History
The first holiday camp to be built at Plemont was the Jersey Jubilee Holiday camp, built in the early 1920s. Constructed mostly of wood, it housed a very basic level of accommodation but, more importantly, gave people what they wanted, which was a hassle free, all inclusive holiday. When war broke out in 1939, the camp closed, and when Jersey became occupied by the Nazis it was taken over by them. The camp was used as a base for the forces, who damaged the camp to the extent that it was going to cost a fair amount of money to restore. The solution was obvious, the camp had to be put up for sale.
It was bought by Fred Pontin, who desperately wanted a holiday camp in the Channel Islands. His want came true when the States of Jersey (Local Council) agreed that having a Pontins Holiday Camp would be a fantastic boost for the Jerseys tourism industry. Fred demolished most of the original camp and constructed a new one within the footprints of the old. He constructed new chalets and a new entertainment building, and re-opened under the Pontins name in the 1960's. The camp ran like this up until the end of the 2000 season, when the owners of Pontins, then Scotish and Newcastle decided they wanted to invest thier money in the camps in the uk. Plemont, along with Portelet, closed and were left empty.
Plemont was the home to a few members of staff from when it was open up until recent years, when they left and boarded up their chalets. The site today is looking in pretty bad shape, broken windows,a few broken locks and rotting window frames and doors. Much of the equipment, such as footballs, tabe tennis tables etc are still there, though furniture and air conditioning systems have been taken out and moved to other sites.
Currently, the future is unknown for the site. Demolition signs are up, though it looks like nothing will happen any time soon. Trevor Hemmings, the current site owner, had applied to build homes on the land, but this was turned down in 2008. The local government are under constant pressure from local organisations to purchase the site and return it to nature, a lot of the surrounding land has been purchased for the people of Jersey. However, Mr. Hemmings is believed to be currently drawing up plans for self catering apartments on the site, which should be accepted as the site is still listed for tourism use.
My Visit
Being in Jersey for a few days this was the obvious place to visit; the whole site is slowly returning to nature; much of the interesting features seen in previous reports have been trashed and the local poetic graffiti artists have left their mark.
Thankfully I never had the pleasure of staying at a Pontins or Butlins; they remind me of an Eastern Block prison complex, the rise of cheap flights closed many of these holiday camps. The site is well worth a visit if you end up on Jersey.
Report
Entering the holiday camp I was looking forward to a quick dip, a pint and a bit of entertainment.
My accommodation block was sorted
A tasteful lounge with air conditioning
:
And a nice open bedroom
Time for my dip in the open air pool
Unfortunately the lifeguard was on his break so had to give it a miss, so headed to check the laundrette
The local poet had left his mark
The tumbled driers were a bit bombed out!
Time to hit the bar and restaurant for a bit of entertainment and a pint
Not much of a queue at the bar!
Time to enjoy my pint and relax, after all I was on holiday :tumbleweed
A bit of music to pass the time
I didn’t think much of the pianist (I had to spell check that word
)
I bombed out on the dance floor, story of my life!
Well that was my holiday at Pontins, think I’ll book in again for next year.
Cheers
TLR
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