I visited this site as a boy with my father (ex Royal Navy) who took one look at the curtains running the height of the building and wanted to leave. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Summerland that night - thought it was a marvellous building and facilities -people tend to forget how ahead of its time it was . I missed the year of the fire - RIP to all the souls who lost their lives there.
Yeah, using higly flammable materials and breaking several fire safety regulations is very "modern" and "ahead of it´s time" 50 People died because of greed, lazyness and negligence!
Being born over 20 years after the fire I’ve no personal connection or recollection of summerland. However summerland and the fire have become an area of fascination for me, this is the only colour video I’ve seen and I thank you for uploading it.
Me to. It’s just unbelievable that something that sounded so good and looked so good, went so horribly wrong. Architects and the planners have to shoulder a whole lot of the blame. I mean a plastic roof and windows, just sitting on the Irish Sea. What’s the worse that can happen.
Thank you for posting this video. I heard about Summerland only the other day because of a documentary about the disaster. It's really nice to see a video showing what Summerland was like before the fire. Although it is slightly creepy with no sound and knowing what was to happen a year later. R.I.P. all the people who passed away. The builders who made it and the staff that chained the fire doors shut should have been made accountable.
Believe it or not, I was on the roof of Summer land in 1970 or 1971..one could look down below through the sun window vents which were on the roof. But the whole roof was covered in tarmac... God be with the souls of all who died in the terrible fire of 1973..May they rest in peace forever 🙏🙏.!!! Herb ☘️
I was in Summerland the day it burnt down in 1973. I was fortunate enough to be in those first out before the fire took hold. I stood outside and watched it burn, horrific. The street I was staying at with friends had a church hall which was used as a temporary morgue. I have such vivid memories of the whole night. This film has vividly brought everything back to life of that awful afternoon and night. However, I feel its also helped me to remember a lot more that I've tried to just forgot. Thank You.
I was working there that day, on the roller skate rink downstairs. I recognised some of the faces. Brilliant to see and sad to think of what was to come.
You don’t hear much about this. I guess it’s faded in memory as the young then are fast dying off. Outside of UK, probably isn’t known at all. Summer land was for the working class, nobody extremely wealthy or famous performed or vacationed there. I was 18, from the U.S. but was spending a few days in London before joining my family in Virginia where Dad was stationed in the Navy. I never visited Summerland as I prefer wilderness trekking and camping for a vacation. It was really horrifying because of how easily it could have been prevented.
The young then would only be in their 50's or maybe 60's now. This was 1972 and the terrible fire happened in 1973. I don't think that the young then are fast dying off.
It's eerie to see this. What a magical place this must have been. Watching these silent film reels almost gives a ghostly feeling. It's like trying to remember a dream, but the details slowly slip away from your mind. This place was HUGE! What a tragic moment it must have been to experience that fire. Traumatic for those who survived, certainly.
the facilities at summerland actually look fantastic! like most people, i only really know about the place because of the fire. this is a wonderful archive - thanks for sharing it.
I believe that was filmed on August 2nd 1972, a year to the day before the disaster. At least that was the day of the Royal visit so I assume it was the same day or thereabouts? I can remember the horror of that tragedy so well and it's sad more don't recall what happened. Those people in the film were basically in a death trap. If the lessons of 2nd August 1973 had been taken on board perhaps Grenfell wouldn't have happened? Thank you for posting this very interesting time capsule. It's what holidays were like in the 1970s.
Remember the royal visit myself on that day I was 13 at the time this film was made.We visited summer land around the time that a film was made.The following year we decided to go to Blackpool instead,I remember everybody in the hotel watching the news about the fire with horror.We returned for a holiday in 1974 and when the boat sailed into Douglas bay the first thing we saw was the burned out shell of summer land.Very sad.
@@ladytron1724 I believe it stayed a ruin for a couple of years and then was rebuilt on a smaller scale. The video is so interesting as I've only ever seen photos of what it looked like before the fire, but it's also quite disturbing as you think of what was to happen to it and you can only imagine the terror of those caught up in it, parents frantically looking for kids and vice versa. The miracle is probably the fact so many got out unhurt because once that fire took hold the place went up like a Roman candle. It may as well have been doused in petrol really and it's shameful no one was ever convicted for its design. Not with a prison term (that wouldn't have brought back the dead) but censure at the very least. May those poor people who died rest in peace, and also don't forget those who were injured. I read a very good book by Ruth McQuillan-Wilson, who was only 5 at the time of the disaster and suffered terrible injuries that she still endures to this day, and it is harrowing at times. But I recommend anyone interested in Summerland should read it.
I disagree with your last sentence. I cycled round the IOM many times in sun and rain, and it's an amazing place. I find it inconceivable that people would want to spend time indoors in a false environment, apart from the worst months of winter? April to October how did they even get customers? It all looks really strange / staged / false.
@@cpcnw I think they were trying to compete with the package holidays to Spain and the likes. They thought if they could convince people they could have warmth whatever the weather outside they would come. I agree it would seem strange to go inside such a building if the weather outside was in the 70s or 80s, but as you know in the UK in summer it can be drab and wet. It was of its time. It looks a terrible looking building (certainly from the outside) and the materials they used to build it should have resulted in convictions. The lessons of it were largely forgotten and over 40 years later we got Grenfell.
@@harrywatson639 . I'm coming over to play the Wurlitzer at the Villa Marina Arcade on Wed 6th of July @ 1pm - Perhaps your niece would like to pop in . Maybe a selfie for Face book ??
Absolutely fabulous video showing summerland.. I remember seeing it under construction whilst on holiday in 1969 and wishing it was open as it raind every day we were there.
The shocking thing is if this was filmed a year before at the same time, some of the people in this film would have been at the fire. Because the fire happened during Wake Weeks, where factories closed in the North and people en-masse went to IOM and other places on holiday. People went to Douglas year after year.
My family (Mum, Dad, brother John and myself) had our first holiday on the island just a week after the fire. I can remember Grandma being very upset that, if we had gone a week earlier, we might have been there. Certainly it was the thought of visiting Summerland that made my parents 'push the boat out' for this holiday rather than go to the usual Scarborough or Bridlington. I have been in love with the Isle of Man ever since though
Fantastic film. I remember this disaster. I was only a child bud I remember my father talking about how the place was a death trap. We went to the Isle of Man every year. We were there when this tragedy happened. Thankfully we were not in Summerland. The footage reminds me so much of the type of people the dress sense and the atmosphere in the Isle of Man. Interesting to see again. I agree with someone’s comment above regarding the people from the industrial region of England. Quite a cultural experience for us coming from Northern Ireland in the early days of the troubles. We thought there was nowhere like the isle of Mann. Last there 1977.
To see actual footage of this is fascinating after only seeing still photos. I was 6 in 1973 when the tragic fire happened but do not remember hearing about it (and I have a good memory) in the news or from people discussing it. Whoever shot this has done it like a filmmaker, with the late afternoon light adding atmosphere. It wouldn't be my cup of tea now (I prefer the natural outdoors), but I can see back then how it must have seemed a novelty, as it would have been to me as a child. I always thought the Rhyl Sun Centre was the first indoor Summer house but obviously not..
And these are the same type of people who were terrorized, injured, and killed not too long later in this same location. I remember one description that said the organist (like the one seen here) kept playing even as the fire was becoming visible. The woman who had been a dancer and was ready to go onto this same stage described how the band members she was with had to strongly batter at a huge glass window someplace behind the stage to break it so that they all could escape the tremendous wall of flame that was threatening to kill them all.
I was there with a few girlfriends from Scotland, we were at the underground disco most nights. When the fire started though, we were still in our b&b getting ready to go out for the evening. It was the sirens which alerted us to the fire, but we never for a minute imagined the full horror we were watching from our window. Summerland was a magical place with something for everyone, and my heart goes out to all who perished within it's walls on that fateful night 50 years ago. 💔
And today we have Center parcs. This must have been quite a forward thinking concept back then. The UK has never been known for its weather (Except 1976) Had it not been from reading an article today I would never of known of Summerland or its tragedy. Sadly flammable materials were in everyone's homes back then. From 3 piece suites with PU foam to nylon fabrics (Stretch covers) and the fashions we wore were often polyester. A single spark from the open fire is sadly all it took. Old style chip pan? Still alot of that old stuff about (Including me) Sleep tight those who perished and hugs to those who survived and have lived with the tragedy daily. xxx
It's really cool to see how amazing Summerland was before the fire. After the fire the IOM tourist board destroyed all videos of Summerland before the fire so this is an incredibly rare and insightful video into what the place was like before August 1973. It looks amazing and everyone is having a load of fun. It's very sad what happened and that so many people suffered terribly because of design flaws. It's good to see Summerland not in the context of the fire but to see it alive and not just a plastic shed in flames if tht makes sense. I can see why people came even from Essex to the tiny Island. Even knowing what happened there, I'd love to have visited Summerland even though I was born nearly 20 years after the disaster and only found out about it by chance but it captivated my imagination ever since.
I am so pleased that you enjoyed the film . It was a very happy place . I'd have loved to have had sound but the tech of the time was very limited . The phones we have today would have been unimaginable back then . We kept our precious memories in our heads. We engaged with the people around us and sent letters through the post .
Yes that's the thing about phones, nowadays everyone would sit around on their phone totally ignoring everyone and everything around them. I'm starting to sound like a luddite now, but it is true. It must have been amazing to work there and even now I would love to go back in time and visit Summerland (obviously before August 1973!) and it does remind me of my childhood holidays (Haven/Park Dean I think it was called before Haven and of course, Butlins). The video quality is excellent for what is now "basic" equipment but was likely high-end at the time. Thanks for sharing the video, it's great
that's interesting. are you sure there's absolutely no official / commercial summerland footage left, from 1971/72, in all its glory? anyway there must be more Super-8 etc in private archives. but not on YT, as far as i can tell
Thanks for this upload. It was interesting to see how they created a type of indoor seaside theme park (with the deckchairs). Even included a police Dr Who Tardis phone box. So a lot of effort went into creating the interior. Tragically the same cannot be said about the exterior which was made with flammable materials - a disgrace how planning approval was ever give. A disgrace. RIP all the many people who were killed next year in the terrible inferno. It must have been a horrific way to die. RIP
Me and my family went to the I.O.M. in 1973 we went to see a show in summerland a week after we came home the disaster happened when we were in summerland my dad mentioned the lack of fire Escapes
Hi Chris, Many thanks for uploading this video. I remember the fire, i was 10 at the time. This vid gives me an idea of what it must have been like seeing this new concept in holidays...It was so so sad at what happened...
Yes very sad at the time but also because the Isle of Man -- as a holiday resort was never the same . I've just come back from my week there to play the Wurlitzer at the Villa Arcade. There is so much potential for the Isle . It is such a beautiful place with it's unique heritage transport .
A fascinating video that gives a superb insight into what life was like at the centre before the blaze, unaware that they were spending their holiday inside a deathtrap. I was just wondering, would it be possible for me to use this footage as part of an upcoming documentary I'm creating about the Summerland disaster? I will provide you will full accreditation and send you a link to the video before its release so you can review the use of your footage. :)
Just happened to watch your excellent YT video tonight. Used to spend hols in IOM each summer 1979-84 and was a frequent visitor to both Summerland and The Aquadrome. Brought back a lot of happy memories. I heard a lot of stuff over the years-when there-about the fire though had never seen film of it. The inside of Summerland doesn’t look too different on the face of it to what I remembered it as, though the sense of concrete structures which came later and strong safety aspects were something I always used to associate with the place. Sad seeing it gone.
Fascinating to see this for no other reason that I have only been to the island once, I think 1973, and that guy who is introducing the acts, if my memory for faces serves me well, used to work where I stayed, which was the Howstrake Holiday camp. The bloke I remember was called Ricky and i notice this clip was filmed by somebody called Ricky, coincidence? If anybody knows I'd be interested to find out if my grey matter still serves me well for trivia. An absolute tragedy the fire and never seems to get any mention.
This wasn't a particularly busy day as the weather was good and people were out seeing the Queen etc. It used to get very crowded and particularly in the evenings, which is when the fire occurred.
That yellow plastic kiosk on the terrace was where some teenage kids broke into and accidentally started a fire whilst having a crafty smoke. It melted and fell against the plastic sheet wall , and the tragedy started from there.
A fascinating insight to the simplistic holidays if yester-year. Can anyone shed any light on any of the groups/musicians who are performing on stage? Maybe some of these musicians are watching this video.
Does anybody know the musicians playing on stage? Also, on a side note, what in blazes is going on from 9:30 - 10:10? Wow, that's just so bizarre and disturbing.
''What the blazes'' - ( unfortunate turn of phrase in hindsight ) .. Heading the ball competition . Then we asked for any couple who thought that they may have been married for the longest time . They were asked up on the stage . They were asked if they remembered how to change a babies nappy and then a pretty old baby appears to get a nappy change . It always caused hilarity . Without sound the atmosphere isn't conveyed . The same goes for the music . On the organ I played the hits of the day and show tunes etc. . The band with the sax were playing Al green '' Lets stay together '' . The folk group played The seekers songs . The guy on the stool in the show bar was playing '' The day the Music Died '' . In later years he was the front man in the group RACEY and they had chart success . He now lives in Australia
There's a poor performer being inadvertently (I assume) assaulted from 09:40 - the lady tasked with changing his nappy is being far too efficient (and goes beneath his flesh coloured pants). I feel like we could perhaps be "covering his shame" please?
A picture speaks a thousand words and i instantly recognised The Dream Weavers the group at 10.30section A top Harmony line up of the 70's thanks for the memory.
Thanks Victor - they really were great . The man who took the cine film is staying with me for two days and I will show him ( Ricky Newbry ) your comment. Please tell me more about how you knew the act and do you know what they did after Summerland ?
wow this is exactly what i was looking for after hearing about the fires... and yep... is about as creepy as I imagined it to look. What is wrong us Brits? Why can't we just not be weird.
Well, ..Butlins had a similar atmosphere to it...just the way it was back then. I enjoyed my holidays n Douglas back then. I found the British people I met there to be very friendly. I hated having to go back to Dublin...
I was paid because I was the organist - however the public paid to go in , and were happy to do so . All people have different tastes - ok for you to snipe at happy families enjoying their holidays 50 years ago . I reckon that it was a happier and more sane society then than today .
@@chrismannion1 I was being a tad flippant as in SL paying holidaymakers to stay there, as in desperation. As you say, people liked a simpler, no frills holiday back in the day.
@Susan McLoughlin ---- . There is nothing sinister about people having a good time on holidays . Fifty years ago people enjoyed the people around them . There weren't outside distractions such as phones that numb people's awareness of the reality of the moment .
@@ryanOGab -- The Isle of man is a beautiful Island with beaches , coves, a mountain - vintage transport from horse drawn trams, steam and electric railways. I'm going for a holiday in July . But families in the early seventies loved the entertainment and amenities of the ill fated Summerland . Maybe now they wouldn't but then they did .
I visited this site as a boy with my father (ex Royal Navy) who took one look at the curtains running the height of the building and wanted to leave.
I must say I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Summerland that night - thought it was a marvellous building and facilities -people tend to forget how ahead of its time it was .
I missed the year of the fire - RIP to all the souls who lost their lives there.
Yeah, using higly flammable materials and breaking several fire safety regulations is very "modern" and "ahead of it´s time" 50 People died because of greed, lazyness and negligence!
Being born over 20 years after the fire I’ve no personal connection or recollection of summerland. However summerland and the fire have become an area of fascination for me, this is the only colour video I’ve seen and I thank you for uploading it.
Same - I never expected to see footage as good as this either
Me to. It’s just unbelievable that something that sounded so good and looked so good, went so horribly wrong. Architects and the planners have to shoulder a whole lot of the blame. I mean a plastic roof and windows, just sitting on the Irish Sea. What’s the worse that can happen.
Thank you for posting this video. I heard about Summerland only the other day because of a documentary about the disaster. It's really nice to see a video showing what Summerland was like before the fire. Although it is slightly creepy with no sound and knowing what was to happen a year later. R.I.P. all the people who passed away. The builders who made it and the staff that chained the fire doors shut should have been made accountable.
Believe it or not, I was on the roof of Summer land in 1970 or 1971..one could look down below through the sun window vents which were on the roof. But the whole roof was covered in tarmac... God be with the souls of all who died in the terrible fire of 1973..May they rest in peace forever 🙏🙏.!!! Herb ☘️
I was in Summerland the day it burnt down in 1973. I was fortunate enough to be in those first out before the fire took hold. I stood outside and watched it burn, horrific. The street I was staying at with friends had a church hall which was used as a temporary morgue. I have such vivid memories of the whole night. This film has vividly brought everything back to life of that awful afternoon and night. However, I feel its also helped me to remember a lot more that I've tried to just forgot. Thank You.
Such a blessing you got out in time. That's incredible but nevertheless I imagine no less traumatic for you.
Thanks for the upload. It's good to see film of Summerland, instead of a few photos.
I was working there that day, on the roller skate rink downstairs. I recognised some of the faces. Brilliant to see and sad to think of what was to come.
You don’t hear much about this. I guess it’s faded in memory as the young then are fast dying off. Outside of UK, probably isn’t known at all. Summer land was for the working class, nobody extremely wealthy or famous performed or vacationed there. I was 18, from the U.S. but was spending a few days in London before joining my family in Virginia where Dad was stationed in the Navy. I never visited Summerland as I prefer wilderness trekking and camping for a vacation. It was really horrifying because of how easily it could have been prevented.
The young then would only be in their 50's or maybe 60's now. This was 1972 and the terrible fire happened in 1973. I don't think that the young then are fast dying off.
It's eerie to see this. What a magical place this must have been. Watching these silent film reels almost gives a ghostly feeling. It's like trying to remember a dream, but the details slowly slip away from your mind.
This place was HUGE! What a tragic moment it must have been to experience that fire. Traumatic for those who survived, certainly.
Thanks for understanding the spirit of the film . Your comments are correct.
the facilities at summerland actually look fantastic! like most people, i only really know about the place because of the fire. this is a wonderful archive - thanks for sharing it.
I believe that was filmed on August 2nd 1972, a year to the day before the disaster. At least that was the day of the Royal visit so I assume it was the same day or thereabouts? I can remember the horror of that tragedy so well and it's sad more don't recall what happened. Those people in the film were basically in a death trap. If the lessons of 2nd August 1973 had been taken on board perhaps Grenfell wouldn't have happened? Thank you for posting this very interesting time capsule. It's what holidays were like in the 1970s.
Remember the royal visit myself on that day I was 13 at the time this film was made.We visited summer land around the time that a film was made.The following year we decided to go to Blackpool instead,I remember everybody in the hotel watching the news about the fire with horror.We returned for a holiday in 1974 and when the boat sailed into Douglas bay the first thing we saw was the burned out shell of summer land.Very sad.
@@ladytron1724 I believe it stayed a ruin for a couple of years and then was rebuilt on a smaller scale. The video is so interesting as I've only ever seen photos of what it looked like before the fire, but it's also quite disturbing as you think of what was to happen to it and you can only imagine the terror of those caught up in it, parents frantically looking for kids and vice versa. The miracle is probably the fact so many got out unhurt because once that fire took hold the place went up like a Roman candle. It may as well have been doused in petrol really and it's shameful no one was ever convicted for its design. Not with a prison term (that wouldn't have brought back the dead) but censure at the very least. May those poor people who died rest in peace, and also don't forget those who were injured. I read a very good book by Ruth McQuillan-Wilson, who was only 5 at the time of the disaster and suffered terrible injuries that she still endures to this day, and it is harrowing at times. But I recommend anyone interested in Summerland should read it.
I disagree with your last sentence. I cycled round the IOM many times in sun and rain, and it's an amazing place. I find it inconceivable that people would want to spend time indoors in a false environment, apart from the worst months of winter? April to October how did they even get customers? It all looks really strange / staged / false.
@@cpcnw I think they were trying to compete with the package holidays to Spain and the likes. They thought if they could convince people they could have warmth whatever the weather outside they would come. I agree it would seem strange to go inside such a building if the weather outside was in the 70s or 80s, but as you know in the UK in summer it can be drab and wet. It was of its time. It looks a terrible looking building (certainly from the outside) and the materials they used to build it should have resulted in convictions. The lessons of it were largely forgotten and over 40 years later we got Grenfell.
@@cpcnw The iom was a different place in the 70s.It catered for families back then for seaside holidays.It’s a beatiful Island.
I was there in 1972 during the Royal visit.This brings it all back to me.Can't bear to think of the tragedy.
How old were you when the tragedy struck
and the 70s were 51 years ago
Thanks for posting........That was my mother and father on stage changing the Nappy,,,,,50 year ago this coming {August 1972}
Wow - I am so pleased that you saw this . Were you there on that day ?
@@chrismannion1 I was ! In fact i picked out my Brother in Law, my Daughter and ex wife....My niece who lives in Peel pointed the film to me
@@harrywatson639 . I'm coming over to play the Wurlitzer at the Villa Marina Arcade on Wed 6th of July @ 1pm - Perhaps your niece would like to pop in . Maybe a selfie for Face book ??
Absolutely fabulous video showing summerland.. I remember seeing it under construction whilst on holiday in 1969 and wishing it was open as it raind every day we were there.
The shocking thing is if this was filmed a year before at the same time, some of the people in this film would have been at the fire. Because the fire happened during Wake Weeks, where factories closed in the North and people en-masse went to IOM and other places on holiday. People went to Douglas year after year.
My family (Mum, Dad, brother John and myself) had our first holiday on the island just a week after the fire. I can remember Grandma being very upset that, if we had gone a week earlier, we might have been there. Certainly it was the thought of visiting Summerland that made my parents 'push the boat out' for this holiday rather than go to the usual Scarborough or Bridlington. I have been in love with the Isle of Man ever since though
Thanks Neill - The Island is a beautiful place . I'm pleased that it has a place in your heart
Fantastic film. I remember this disaster. I was only a child bud I remember my father talking about how the place was a death trap. We went to the Isle of Man every year. We were there when this tragedy happened. Thankfully we were not in Summerland. The footage reminds me so much of the type of people the dress sense and the atmosphere in the Isle of Man.
Interesting to see again.
I agree with someone’s comment above regarding the people from the industrial region of England. Quite a cultural experience for us coming from Northern Ireland in the early days of the troubles.
We thought there was nowhere like the isle of Mann. Last there 1977.
To see actual footage of this is fascinating after only seeing still photos. I was 6 in 1973 when the tragic fire happened but do not remember hearing about it (and I have a good memory) in the news or from people discussing it. Whoever shot this has done it like a filmmaker, with the late afternoon light adding atmosphere. It wouldn't be my cup of tea now (I prefer the natural outdoors), but I can see back then how it must have seemed a novelty, as it would have been to me as a child. I always thought the Rhyl Sun Centre was the first indoor Summer house but obviously not..
And these are the same type of people who were terrorized, injured, and killed not too long later in this same location. I remember one description that said the organist (like the one seen here) kept playing even as the fire was becoming visible. The woman who had been a dancer and was ready to go onto this same stage described how the band members she was with had to strongly batter at a huge glass window someplace behind the stage to break it so that they all could escape the tremendous wall of flame that was threatening to kill them all.
I was there with a few girlfriends from Scotland, we were at the underground disco most nights. When the fire started though, we were still in our b&b getting ready to go out for the evening. It was the sirens which alerted us to the fire, but we never for a minute imagined the full horror we were watching from our window. Summerland was a magical place with something for everyone, and my heart goes out to all who perished within it's walls on that fateful night 50 years ago. 💔
Thanks for sharing your memories.
And today we have Center parcs.
This must have been quite a forward thinking concept back then. The UK has never been known for its weather (Except 1976)
Had it not been from reading an article today I would never of known of Summerland or its tragedy.
Sadly flammable materials were in everyone's homes back then. From 3 piece suites with PU foam to nylon fabrics (Stretch covers) and the fashions we wore were often polyester. A single spark from the open fire is sadly all it took.
Old style chip pan?
Still alot of that old stuff about (Including me)
Sleep tight those who perished and hugs to those who survived and have lived with the tragedy daily. xxx
An amazing and very rare piece of history. Thank you for uploading
Thanks - if only there was sound .
9:40 What in the hell did I just see??!! Wow .. holy crap .. mind blown.
Talcum powder and a small sausage
It's really cool to see how amazing Summerland was before the fire. After the fire the IOM tourist board destroyed all videos of Summerland before the fire so this is an incredibly rare and insightful video into what the place was like before August 1973. It looks amazing and everyone is having a load of fun. It's very sad what happened and that so many people suffered terribly because of design flaws. It's good to see Summerland not in the context of the fire but to see it alive and not just a plastic shed in flames if tht makes sense. I can see why people came even from Essex to the tiny Island. Even knowing what happened there, I'd love to have visited Summerland even though I was born nearly 20 years after the disaster and only found out about it by chance but it captivated my imagination ever since.
I am so pleased that you enjoyed the film . It was a very happy place . I'd have loved to have had sound but the tech of the time was very limited . The phones we have today would have been unimaginable back then . We kept our precious memories in our heads. We engaged with the people around us and sent letters through the post .
Yes that's the thing about phones, nowadays everyone would sit around on their phone totally ignoring everyone and everything around them. I'm starting to sound like a luddite now, but it is true. It must have been amazing to work there and even now I would love to go back in time and visit Summerland (obviously before August 1973!) and it does remind me of my childhood holidays (Haven/Park Dean I think it was called before Haven and of course, Butlins). The video quality is excellent for what is now "basic" equipment but was likely high-end at the time. Thanks for sharing the video, it's great
that's interesting. are you sure there's absolutely no official / commercial summerland footage left, from 1971/72, in all its glory? anyway there must be more Super-8 etc in private archives. but not on YT, as far as i can tell
@@cwtv1969cwtPfau sadly after the fire the tourist board destroyed all their videos. It's still very taboo in the IoM
It was such a beautiful setting with the cliff as internal feature. So sad.
It opened 51 yrs ago next July - I hope the return to the Isle to play on the Wurlitzer in the Villa Marina parade - hopefully July 6th 2022
@chris mannion if you do please post it to your channel. I'm subscribed and would love to see and hear your talent
@@chrismannion1: Sorry, I only just saw your reply. Same sentiment as Bustakita Yancey's!
Thanks for this upload. It was interesting to see how they created a type of indoor seaside theme park (with the deckchairs). Even included a police Dr Who Tardis phone box. So a lot of effort went into creating the interior.
Tragically the same cannot be said about the exterior which was made with flammable materials - a disgrace how planning approval was ever give. A disgrace.
RIP all the many people who were killed next year in the terrible inferno. It must have been a horrific way to die. RIP
Me and my family went to the I.O.M. in 1973 we went to see a show in summerland a week after we came home the disaster happened when we were in summerland my dad mentioned the lack of fire Escapes
Hi Chris, Many thanks for uploading this video. I remember the fire, i was 10 at the time. This vid gives me an idea of what it must have been like seeing this new concept in holidays...It was so so sad at what happened...
Yes very sad at the time but also because the Isle of Man -- as a holiday resort was never the same . I've just come back from my week there to play the Wurlitzer at the Villa Arcade. There is so much potential for the Isle . It is such a beautiful place with it's unique heritage transport .
A fascinating video that gives a superb insight into what life was like at the centre before the blaze, unaware that they were spending their holiday inside a deathtrap.
I was just wondering, would it be possible for me to use this footage as part of an upcoming documentary I'm creating about the Summerland disaster?
I will provide you will full accreditation and send you a link to the video before its release so you can review the use of your footage. :)
Just happened to watch your excellent YT video tonight. Used to spend hols in IOM each summer 1979-84 and was a frequent visitor to both Summerland and The Aquadrome. Brought back a lot of happy memories. I heard a lot of stuff over the years-when there-about the fire though had never seen film of it. The inside of Summerland doesn’t look too different on the face of it to what I remembered it as, though the sense of concrete structures which came later and strong safety aspects were something I always used to associate with the place. Sad seeing it gone.
Fascinating to see this for no other reason that I have only been to the island once, I think 1973, and that guy who is introducing the acts, if my memory for faces serves me well, used to work where I stayed, which was the Howstrake Holiday camp. The bloke I remember was called Ricky and i notice this clip was filmed by somebody called Ricky, coincidence? If anybody knows I'd be interested to find out if my grey matter still serves me well for trivia. An absolute tragedy the fire and never seems to get any mention.
Yes . It is Ricky and he made the film. He visited me only a few days ago. You have a very good memory
The film from 1972
It looks like an amazing place. You on the organ.
Yes John - I had the time of my life
This place looked like a lot of fun... Extremely heartbreaking to know what kind of tragedy took place there.
This wasn't a particularly busy day as the weather was good and people were out seeing the Queen etc. It used to get very crowded and particularly in the evenings, which is when the fire occurred.
That yellow plastic kiosk on the terrace was where some teenage kids broke into and accidentally started a fire whilst having a crafty smoke.
It melted and fell against the plastic sheet wall , and the tragedy started from there.
I would LOVE to hear just a few seconds of what that quintet starting at 5:35 were playing. Beatles numbers? Jazz? Prog rock?
A fascinating insight to the simplistic holidays if yester-year.
Can anyone shed any light on any of the groups/musicians who are performing on stage?
Maybe some of these musicians are watching this video.
So sad there’s no audio
I suppose it was good at the time but it seems well depressing for today's standard good video anyway thanks
I wonder what songs they’re playing?
probably the hits of the day
@@booth2710 I might have to learn to lip read so I can find out.
Hi Chris, would love to use this footage in a documentary project. Do you own this footage?
It belongs to Ricky Newbry. I'll phone him and get back to you
Chris Mannion manny thanks. Look forward to hearing from you.
Joshua Clague It’s fantastic isn’t it! It’s just like being back there!
@@98Tabster Hey Ruth, hope you're on the mend? The video is brilliant. So unique. Shows the venue off for its positives.
Does anybody know the musicians playing on stage? Also, on a side note, what in blazes is going on from 9:30 - 10:10? Wow, that's just so bizarre and disturbing.
''What the blazes'' - ( unfortunate turn of phrase in hindsight ) .. Heading the ball competition . Then we asked for any couple who thought that they may have been married for the longest time . They were asked up on the stage . They were asked if they remembered how to change a babies nappy and then a pretty old baby appears to get a nappy change . It always caused hilarity . Without sound the atmosphere isn't conveyed . The same goes for the music . On the organ I played the hits of the day and show tunes etc. . The band with the sax were playing Al green '' Lets stay together '' . The folk group played The seekers songs . The guy on the stool in the show bar was playing '' The day the Music Died '' . In later years he was the front man in the group RACEY and they had chart success . He now lives in Australia
@@chrismannion1 I remember Racey, (Some Girls etc) Was he there on the day of the fire ?
@@Ian-gw2vx Racey did really well. Richard was only there for 1972. He had a lot of success with Racey . He now lives in Australia.
@@chrismannion1 Good on him. More talent than the generic autotuned tripe around today.
Is that a Police Box? 8:26
It looks like a reproduction of Dr. Who's Tardis.
@@Gavichap correct - the children's' entertainer kept props in there
Hi - do you know who owns the copyright on this footage?
Ricky Newbury - he is the guy who is the compere in the film
@@chrismannion1 Thanks. Do you have his contact details with regards to commercial licensing? Please DM me.
@@nathanrussell-raby5460 I have left a friends request on your Facebook and that will enable me to Private Message you .
@@nathanrussell-raby5460 -- I have invited you to my facebook and we can private message from there
There's a poor performer being inadvertently (I assume) assaulted from 09:40 - the lady tasked with changing his nappy is being far too efficient (and goes beneath his flesh coloured pants). I feel like we could perhaps be "covering his shame" please?
Lol just what is even happening here in this scene lol
A picture speaks a thousand words and i instantly recognised The Dream Weavers the group at 10.30section A top Harmony line up of the 70's thanks for the memory.
Thanks Victor - they really were great . The man who took the cine film is staying with me for two days and I will show him ( Ricky Newbry ) your comment. Please tell me more about how you knew the act and do you know what they did after Summerland ?
Hi Chris! Do you have a brother named tony by chance?
sorry - I haven't - where does he live ? All my folks live in Cheshire
RIP
What has amazed me is how horrible the brand new concrete looked. Doesn't look much better than a 60 year old concrete multi-storey carpark today.
It wasn't a very inviting entrance - all steps and no thought for the disabled .
1973
This video was 1972
wow this is exactly what i was looking for after hearing about the fires... and yep... is about as creepy as I imagined it to look. What is wrong us Brits? Why can't we just not be weird.
Well, ..Butlins had a similar atmosphere to it...just the way it was back then. I enjoyed my holidays n Douglas back then. I found the British people I met there to be very friendly. I hated having to go back to Dublin...
What’s the point of this?
None - if you don't see one ----
Egg & chips class 😅
Jeez what a God awful place this looks
different times
Did they pay you to go there?
Looks like the holiday from hell. 😆 😆 🤣 🤣
I was paid because I was the organist - however the public paid to go in , and were happy to do so . All people have different tastes - ok for you to snipe at happy families enjoying their holidays 50 years ago . I reckon that it was a happier and more sane society then than today .
@@chrismannion1 I was being a tad flippant as in SL paying holidaymakers to stay there, as in desperation. As you say, people liked a simpler, no frills holiday back in the day.
@@lennylaa1686 Thanks Lenny
It looks fucking dreadful!
No - you are wrong , it was great .
@Susan McLoughlin ---- . There is nothing sinister about people having a good time on holidays . Fifty years ago people enjoyed the people around them . There weren't outside distractions such as phones that numb people's awareness of the reality of the moment .
@@chrismannion1 or there wasn’t a just outside in general where there was a whole beach to explore.
@@ryanOGab -- The Isle of man is a beautiful Island with beaches , coves, a mountain - vintage transport from horse drawn trams, steam and electric railways. I'm going for a holiday in July .
But families in the early seventies loved the entertainment and amenities of the ill fated Summerland . Maybe now they wouldn't but then they did .