Butlins Filey Holiday Camp
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- Опубликовано: 2 июн 2021
- A look at the history of Butlins Filey Holiday Camp on the North Yorkshire coast. Almost 40 years after the closure of Butlins Filey, I took a walk along what’s left of the old railway line and station that was built specifically to serve Butlins, as well as looking at what’s on the site now.
With the British staycation likely to be as popular as ever this year, Butlins have been specialising in this for over 80 years - even offering transportation by train to its holiday resorts since the 1940s. There is little left of the original holiday camp but this is still a great story of the Yorkshire coast.
(Special thanks to the following people for sharing their content: Adrian Ball, Stuart Galloway, Chris Lipthorpe & Neil Cholmondeley.)
MORE ARCHIVE OF BUTLINS FILEY
'Filey We Remember' - • FILEY WE REMEMBER
'Butlins Filey' - • Butlins Filey
The Butlins Story - • THE BUTLINS STORY
'Secret Lives Billy Butlin' - • Secret Lives Billy But...
USEFUL LINKS
Primrose Valley - www.haven.com/parks/yorkshire...
The Bay Filey - www.ariaresorts.co.uk/our-res...
Book train travel to Filey - prf.hn/l/7QA4jA2
MY PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT
Camera - amzn.to/3uKpoMu
Tripod - amzn.to/3uFsce1
Drone - amzn.to/3wMw9yQ
Memory card - amzn.to/3uGVVmL
Music - tinyurl.com/kk8wcu2v
The lady talking on the black and white video is my Grandma.. lovely memory to have ❤ Rebecca
That's brilliant. Thanks for the comment Rebecca :)
COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
How lovely 😊
@@valtovey3676 yes you is
My grandad Lawrie ran the Butlins club in Stockton-on-Tees and arranged days out for the youngsters in the 50s/60s. There is another clip of him talking it was filmed by Granada in the 90s I believe.
Quite by accident I came across your video and viewed it with extreme interest. I was a Redcoat at Filey and to my astonishment I am one of the Redcoats in the very brief clip of us performing back in the mid seventies on the stage at the Gaiety theatre. This was the Redcoat show which was performed once a week. I had to laugh, when I spotted myself. It brought back so many memories and I found it quite haunting to see how it is now. Life was quite tough being a Redcoat. Long days and rehearsing to the small hours. It was a great experience and I really loved the campers. We were there to host, help and ensure the paying guests had the most wonderful "Butlin's" experience. We were meant to be seen, hence the famous Redcoat, but there were also places we were not allowed, so the guests could be Redcoat free! Thank you for bringing it back to me.
I was a barman on the Gaiety Bar, the season of 1980. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed the time I chose not to return the following year.
Your account of being a redcoat sounds a bit like holiday tour reps' days. At least what I learnt from the reality tv series about it. I think it was the first reality tv series ever. It was riveting. Sadly tv has become almost nothing but reality tv!
Thanks for commenting, Alan. Glad you got to see the video!
@@NorthYorkshireWanderer Thank You! It was great to watch, especially seeing myself all those years ago. I am 68 now and it really brought the memories of Filey flooding back!!!
Me too Alan, love to see these old abandoned places, as sad as they are.
My parents took me here for a family holiday in 1973. I was 8 years, it was magical and the best holiday I remember. Such a shame how times have changed and not for the better.
I get you but is sort of for the better now we can go canaries or Spain for bargain plane fair and see so many nicer places with far greater weather and diversity that England some old shit
All the seaside towns lost out to package holidays abroad :(
@@winstrolchurchill821it’s totally understandable, just pretty shitty for the former UK resorts
Yep do agree
@@mistypuffs
They still exist it’s called Center parks
That really brought back some wonderful memories of my first visit to North Yorkshire. Back in 1964, I was an East End lad living in West Ham when my Dad said we were going to got to Yorkshire for our two weeks holiday. To be honest, I wasn't very pleased as I imagined Yorkshire to be full of Mills and Factories and a far cry from our usual holidays spent in a caravan on the South Coast.
We travelled by Steam Train from Kings Cross, changed at York and were picked up by "Uncle Lance" at Malton Station.
Uncle Lance and Auntie Sheila as they became known to me and my Sister, ran a Pub in Pickering. My Dad met them when he stayed in their Digs whilst building the Fylingdales Early Warning Station and now they had taken over "The Horseshoe Inn" and we were to be staying there.
From day one, I fell in love with Yorkshire. For me living in East London, Countryside was Wanstead Flats, part of Epping Forest on the edge of Forest Gate. The vastness of the North York Moors took my breath away to be honest and the places to visit within easy reach of Pickering was amazing. We went to Butlins in Filey on a Day Ticket and I loved all the free rides, especially the Cable Car. Scarborough was also heaven to me with all the Arcades and a .proper beach (unlike Southend, our closest bit of Coast)
Saying I was upset when we had to leave is an understatement and I started to make plans on how I could convince my Parents to move to Pickering.
Obviously, that was a Pipe Dream but I was hooked. I studied how fast I could get up there on a Motorbike but at 11 years old, that wasn't going to happen, even though I could ride one.
Any way, moving on, I have holidayed and visited North Yorkshire most years since those childhood days and have got to know all of the wonderful things and places it has to offer.
Sadly, Uncle Lance and Auntie Sheila have passed on now but until they retired and left the pub, we went to Pickering every year until I was old enough to get pissed in the Bar of the Horseshoes with my Dad
I'm 67 now with 4 grown up kids and 5 granddaughters and guess what, we are holidaying in Yorkshire this year in August.
There will be 8 of us jammed into a Caravan at a Holiday Camp just South of Scarborough and I can't wait!!
Keep up the excellent work with the Videos mate!!!!
When I was a kid we used to go to Lowestoft for our holidays, as that was my mum's home town and we could stay with relatives free - otherwise we couldn't afford a holiday every year. Now when you tell young people that, they look at you as if you're mad - as they go on-line to book a flight somewhere exotic, and couldn't imagine staying with relatives for a holiday. They were happy times - I still love Lowestoft even though it has become a bit run-down now.
Loved reading that! It's a brilliant area. Hope you all have a great time in August!
Mr Worple, you are an honorary Yorkshireman !! Born and Bred in Barnsley and Wakefield, your comment filld me with tears ... and pride. Thank you! Enjoy the Dales again.
As a proud Yorkshireman, I loved reading that Sir. I agree, Pickering is a lovely place. Hope you enjoy your holiday.
J Worple, I would say you are an honourary Yorkshireman now. I remember that station at the holiday camp being built. How? I was there being a native of the area, first nearby Hunmanby then Filey. My father had a license to drive STEAM rollers which he did to roll all the surfaces for the road trains between the station and the tunnel. As a small boy he used to take me with him, I remember it well. Pickering is a delightful place, in the late '50s I used to ride there on my bike from Filey. I am 80 now, still riding and could definitely still do that. Kind regards.
Heartbreaking as we spent many happy holidays here with our Dad. I got my first kiss in the disco in the camp when I was 12! Im now over 60 and dad was taken by the virus last year. I seems that all my childhood memories and places we loved are all being demolished and housing estates built on them. I used to have viewer thing you could look through that the camp gave the kids. They would take photos of you on holiday then put a small transparency in this viewer which was then sealed. I had this up to about 20 years ago it was very precious, sadly everything I own was lost in a flood I was left with only the clothes I had on. The picture was of my 4 year old brother and myself in the dining hall! Happy days RIP Butlins and our dear Dad.
So sorry to hear of your sad losses. But so happy to read about your good times. Keep those memories fresh! They are what got you here. All the best.
God bless
To cope we have to look at life as chapters. That's how I cope.
i have me and mum in the red with white front viewer its just like looking at her think its one from something we entered R.I.P YOUR DAD MY DAD MUM NANA hope its a sunny day in filey or skeggy and your all there having a laugh like we could before this silly virus take good care and be safe lass
I remember the little red viewers too
Thanks for the memories god bless you
I worked on the camp for one season. There were lots of things to remember, but one stands out.
A young couple in the swimming pool had apparently forgotten that it had glass sides and were, let's say enjoying each other's company in the water. A small crowd had gathered before they were interrupted. The older folks disgusted (but still watching) the younger ones cheering them on.
how did i know it was gonna be sexual ? the blossoming of a lot of us.surely.
I was just 4 when I went there, but my 3 memories of it were the glass side of the swimming pool. (I was too young to appreciate anything that might have been going on in it!), the cable car (which I was fascinated by and pearsuaded my dad to take me up loads of times) and that there was a goat in some sort of animal/pet area.
Thanks life's like that 🤗 my pal Tony was a redcoat and mentioned how professional he had to be on his night round 🤗
Yes mate I remember the glass sides and me and my mate were only about eleven then but we still had a wee perve at the adult women,yeya it was funny.l loved it there and spenta few summer holidays there from fife in Scotland, happy memory's indeed,cheers for that
The 1947 film Holiday Camp was filmed at Butlins Filey
I never went to a Butlins but I can only imagine how exciting that must have been in the 70s. To be a child arriving by train with other families sharing a compartment, must be unforgettable.
We had two weeks at Filey in 1972,we bought our daughter and her friend,they really enjoyed the holiday,but don't ask my wife what she thought about it,,I think it bought back memories of when she went to Squires Gate end of the 1940s with her parents and young brother,,I think she had nightmares about her Squires Gate holiday that has never left her,,shame because my daughter and her friend enjoyed our holiday.
So sad that Butlins closed
When England was England, happy days, many happy holiday memories at at butlins in minehead and Barry island! sad really these videos how life as changed.
Some great memories sad that my kids can't experience the Butlins we did as kids
"When England was England"?????
Eh?
@@moorzymoores i guess that means white???
Talk about rose tinted glasses. When it was legal to discriminate on age, race, sex etc. When being gay was illegal. When cancer was a death sentence for nearly everyone getting it. Brilliant times for sure.
@@moorzymoores When england got beat in the Euro's FORZA ITALIA 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹
Went as a child in the 70's year after year and enjoyed every minute as that was our only holiday for the year. Remember the outside pool was always freezing and meal times were regimented due to the numbers of people attending . Mum loved it because for a week she didn't have to cook.
We visited a few Butlins in my youth of the mid/late 70's and early 80's. We always went self-catering, which usually only meant breakfast and lunch as we ate out at night. I think one of them was Filey but I can't remember the camp at all. They got a lot of stick from other kids/people but I also enjoyed them, they had everything you could want and you could ignore the planned activities. Good times.
Same for my mum too. 😀 It meant she could have a complete holiday. Mum & dad told us not to go off the camp then left us to our own devices & we only met them for lunch (dinner as it was in those days), & tea. I had my 13th birthday here in 1960. My friend came with our family for the week & as usual we had a great time. I still have the photo my dad took of the two of us outside our chalet & the one taken at breakfast with everyone in the dining hall singing happy birthday to me.
Hi The video brought back fantastic memories and thank you for creating the video.
I was there in 1954 with my parents aged 6. We had been holidaying in Cornwall previously and the folks thought it would be a good idea to holiday at a place with plenty of entertainment and a chance for me to meet loads of other kids.
Living in Worcestershire at the time we came by train from Birmingham. The packed trains were lined up in the station with hundreds of holiday makers pouring out.
The holiday has stuck with me ever since. Wow what a place for a six year old and I had a whale of a time. The entertainment was wonderful with fantastic facilities for myself and the adults. It was an utter bargain.
At this time in 1954 Charlie Drake was a Redcoat and also had an act called Mick & Montmerency. At breakfast his favourite trick was to climb on a chair behind the breakfast hall door and hit all of us kids on the head with a rubber hammer!
The fifties was a great time for Butlins and it provided a brilliant contrast to the war torn years and austerity of the forties. Never forget it!
Thanks for commenting Leroy. Great memories.
Visited Butlins Filey in the late sixties. What was surprising is how long it took to get there by coach. Great time was had by all.
I am now 70 years old and have many great memories of Butlins Filey. My sister and l tormented our parents to have a holiday at Butlins and we visited for several years. As a student l worked there for two summers and loved every minute. When l tell people they always say, " Were you a Redcoat? " l reply " No l didn't have the qualifcations - you needed two " O levels" or less." HA HA. Happy times, many thanks for sharing this video. PROFESSOR KEN.
I expect you were far too superior to be Red Coat 😂
@@frankiepitt9135. Indeed l was, if that doesn't sound too snobbish. Best wishes to you and yours. PROFESSOR KEN.
@Boodysaspie. Indeed that was our standard joke to that question. The real answer to that question would have been that to be a Redcoat you had to commit to a full season and, of course, us students could only commit to several weeks at the end of summer term. But as l said it was a brilliant place to work and to holiday and l will always have fond memories of it. Regards. PROFESSOR KEN.
Malcolm Jamison.
Went to the camp at Filey in 1946 with my parents and two brothers. They were still converting the last of the chalets at the time from their wartime use back to holiday accommodation. Returned a few years later with my girlfriend, later to become my wife. We arrived in a little prewar Austin Seven which my pal had fitted a roof rack to for our luggage. we were put out of sight at the back of the carpark away from the posher cars. Happy days.
Awesome, respectable folk doing sensible/respectable things....today?...push most of 'em in a furnace for me.
My dad was in the resident band that played Butlin's, Filey in the summer season of 1961. One of the happiest summers of his life.
Very fond memories of holidaying at Filey and Skegness Butlins when I was young. Loved walking on the beach hunting for fossils and taking many rides on the chairlift. Loved everything about Butlins and think of it every time I have asparagus soup.
I worked at butlins Filey as a photographer photographing campers on holiday.
I was there in 1981 , it was enjoyable work , met loads of people.
I remember photographing campers at evening dinner time producing key rings
that you viewed by holding up to the light.
I remember Filey so well. We went there from Glasgow on holiday many times in the 70's. I loved the place. My fondest memories were the chair lifts, the big wheel and of course the Red coats. They were absolutely brilliant. I guess Butlins just couldn't compete in the end with the introduction of the cheap Spanish package holiday and the sense of adventure that came with flying overseas. My parents succumbed in the end to the Costa Blanca. Sure it was an exciting new world to a child but it never held a candle to Butlins and the Red coats.
My Mum worked as a chalet maid in the early 80s, probably one of the last years it was open. She loved it there. Still got a photo of her and some of the friends she made.
I recall coming to Filey in 1946 just after the war. It was before the camp had a designated railway station & we were bussed into the camp from the station. Of course at that time (I was 7) things were very restricted but it was wonderful to get away & everything was included in the price. Parents could go to shows leaving children in the chalets & if a child cried a message was held up on a board at the side of the stage giving the chalet number & asking parents to return to their child. A great holiday at the end of WW2
We had our first big family holiday at Filey in 1967. It was a fantastic place for a young kid. I remember the big fountains by the outside pool, the Big Mouse(?) rollercoaster as you thought you were going to head off the top at the corner, standing underneath the Giant’s legs and best of all, watching swimmers’ legs through the pool underwater windows. A magically place through a kid’s eye!
I worked there in 1973 for the summer season in the 'Shops & Bars' section. This was in between my A levels and going to Huddersfield Polytechnic. Some great memories. Think I got paid about £11 a week. Food and accommodation was included.
Ha ha ha, makes me think of when I worked at Primrose Valley around 2002 just after I spent a year at college, because the wages weren't much better despite it being decades later, after taxes and "rent" I was left with about £30 a week and had to buy my own food so by time I did that I was likely getting about £10 a week
We used to go to Filey for the dance competitions when I was a child in the 70's and 80's. Off season the weather was quite 'brisk', but as the competitions were all indoors it didn't matter that much.
I remember going into the beachcomber themed bar with running water ,colourful lights and animal noises, it’s was magical
I remember that too 🙂
Tassie Devil
What an excellent video of Butlins Filey.
I remember going there in the early 60's as a 11 or 12 year old. The excitement of such a fabulous place with so many people and great things to do, what an adventure it was. One of the "things" that has stuck with me all these years was the way everyone was fed, what a feat, 2 sittings each meal time, hundreds of people to feed and the women that served the meals did an unbelievable job. These women had a carrying frame for 5 or 6 plates to speed up the serving and what an huge cheer went up when one of them dropped a plate or dish, much to the embarrassment of the lady concerned, poor woman :) . I also remember that I had to give in the chalet key to do things, like using the boating lake or playing snooker etc., good job Mum & Dad got an extra key for me to use! Very fond memories from long ago.
Thanks Mal.
Although it opened as a holiday camp in 1946, it was completed in 1939 and saw wartime service as RAF Hunmanby Moor during WW2. A number of the camps were built during the war in an agreement between BB and the war office, he got to keep them after the war. Skegness was HMS Royal Arthur and Pwllheli was HMS Glendower.
We went to Filey around 1950. I think we went on a coach. I have a pic of me in the outdoor pool learning to swim...had a great week.
When I had my own children, we went to Butlins in the 1980s once or sometimes twice a year to different places...always had a good time.
An army helicopter landed in the camp one time and I got some pics of it...we were allowed to go up to it and have a close look and a chat with the guys.
This is an excellent video, well done 👏🏻. I came to Butlin's Filey with my family in 1965. I was six. I remember it so well...the train station and the camp itself...I thought it was a wonderland!
Great video but also so sad that a camp is high so many people and families enjoyed is no more. As a child I went to Skegness, Bognor and Minehead , even at Christmas it was wonderful, so much to see and do made so many friends best holidays ever.
I spent a few weeks there as a child. It was an amazing holiday camp. Thanks for the memories.
Many thanks for this video. Butlins Filey was opened in the year I was born (1946) I spent a week there in 1959 with a school friend. Barry Lawson and his parents. Remember waking up to Zippity Doo Dah being broadcast from the tannoys every morning! Happy memories.
Thanks for this. Absolutely fascinating.
In the summers of 1975-78 I worked on a pig farm at Withernwick near Hornsea. Twice a week we drove a truck to Butlins to collect bins full of waste food which was boiled up with meal to feed the growing pigs. We also collected from many Bridlington hotels, but the bins used at Butlins were smaller than our regular size, and referred to as “Butlin bins”. In those days at age 18-20 the holiday camp seemed almost exotic to me!
You didn't know a bloke called Eddie in 1975 by any chance did you, he only worked there that season, he was just a helper in the kitchens, my wife's friend is trying to locate him as its her biological dad who she has never met, he left when she was just 15 month old
Wonderful how nature takes over if left alone. we used to love jumping into the freezing out door pool then run inside to the heated pool,the heated pool had glass panels so you could watch people in the pool swimming.
The mock beams I have on my living room ceiling were reclaimed from the old chalets so I still have a piece of Butlins history.
Our generation had the best of times life is getting very dark now and I fear for what is coming.
We went in mid 70's with the only holiday we had as a family. It was fantastic. Great happy memories.
Very strange !miserable wet day,thought I'd have a quick look on RUclips and your post was the first post that caught my eye,my dad passed away 4yrs ago and has been on my mind today,his grandparents owned the sight in Filey it was called moores farm,they all worked so hard and made very little money out of it, then billy butlin came along and offered them an amazing amount of money for the land,it was a total rags to riches story,there surname was Milner as was my maiden name,when the farm was sold my grandad cycled with 2friends to Southampton (where I am now)to rebuild after the bomb damage and I've always planned to visit my roots but have never even been to Yorkshire so thank you so much for the tour xx
Thanks for commenting Jayne and for sharing your story! Hopefully you'll get to visit at some point.
Me and my family was there at the Butlin's Filey Holiday Camp way back in 1980, great teenage memories:))) Sad it all closed in 1983. Tracey Large I loved you, my teenage Holiday romance X
Excellent video. It’s important to make videos like this as it is an effective way of recoding social history. Well done lad!
Thanks Tony.
Happy memories, went there in 1970 as a family of four. Younger sister 3 and mum and dad and me nearly 12. Loved every minute of the week holiday. Was up in my motorhome a few weeks ago, near primrose valley ❤
I went to Butlins Filey with my grandparents when I was five years old in 1959. We lived just up the coast in County Durham and drove there with my aunt& uncle. It was amazing to me, I remember the ballroom, there was a big balcony around the top where you could watch everything and listen to the music. The whole atmosphere of the place was wonderful, it’s like you were in another world. Butlins really was a holiday in every sense of the word! It’s a long time ago now, but it has always stuck in my memory👍
I really enjoyed this video. Andrew the presenter is excellent and overall the video had a professional feel about it.
I stayed here for a week in the sixties. My parents hated it and left every day as soon as they could each morning, and came back at night. I loved it and went on everything while they were out. I was about 12.
The good old days , health and safety! Me and my older brother would go in the cable cars 100s of feet up and at it’s highest point my brother would rock it violently ! The car door was a fairly simple latch the either of us could open in milliseconds.We roamed all day and night nurturing an addiction to slot machines and tipping point like contraptions.We played snooker , table tennis, darts .We swam , ran , ate , laughed and cried .Watched films and shows , played forever in the amusement park .Kid today will never know the joy and the freedom and the sadness I feel now looking back at the utter joy and amazement of this magical land.Blessed we were for never again will such an oasis , mythical , Brigadoon exists.
Fantastic video,well done and thank you, I.m a Butlins kid now 60+ cancer survivor and though I never actually went to Filey (always Skeggy) this brings back sooo many memories from 50 yrs ago, absolute gem of a vid,again mate Cheers
Thanks Ed. Really appreciate you commenting.
Thank you for making this. I have happy memories of holidays at Butlins as a child during the 60s.
I was the last person out of the swimming pool when it closed ,sad.
@Alec Hall I and it took a day to catch the floater he left dirty little git 🤣
I visited for my first family holiday camp trip in late July, 1972, by coach as a six year old from the North East of England.We stopped off at Guisborough there and back.
Great video.Enjoyed it.
Remember going when 7, 1961, arriving by train from Sunderland. What a week, boating lake, miniature railway, sky lift to the beach, the bunk beds, mum and dad winning a ballroom dancing competition. Exciting for me at that age. Thanks for the video.
Great memories of two holidays in September '80 and '81. Dad went to church and the last week of the season was something like 'Christian week'. The only difference was the dining halls became book shops, but everything else was open; we simply went self-catering. I missed the second week of school both years (as a 10 and 11 year old), had a Wimpey burger for the first time, and saw Chariots of Fire.
Spent many a holiday at Primrose Valley in the late 80's early 90's. You could see the old Butlins camp from the edge of the site. It was covered in ivy and trees, It was like an abandoned town. Never plucked up the courage to go in at the time dam it. Prob would have been awesome and also a death trap. Great vid btw, keep it up!
Thank you.
My nana and grandad took us every year between 69 and 74. I was 5 first time. The best place in the world. I really miss those days. Me and my sister used to get holiday clothes that we wore for the first time before getting on the bus from Redcar to Filey. The bus journey was so exciting. At 12 I won a portable record player in the space hopper race. My grandad won the weekly snooker championship every time he went and the prize was a free weeks holiday the following year. A self financing holiday. I just loved it so much it nearly makes me cry thinking about it. I’m 57 now and the memories are like yesterday
My aunt took me in 1976 when I was 13. The main things I remember was sitting down on long benches and tables for meals in the canteen and everyone cheering if one of the kitchen staff dropped a cup or plate and it broke. Hardly any plugs for the communal baths - you had to screw up a load of toilet paper, push it in the plug hole and have a bath as quickly as you could before the water dissappeared. Going in the cinema and every so often seeing a box light up saying, 'Baby crying in Chalet No. 4 (or wherever)' and one of the staff banging on the chalet window telling me to get up if I'd slept in after a certain time in the morning. Everything was just like Hi-De-Hi. Great fun!
A brilliant film thank you, I have never been there but enjoyed your film.
It’s great to have some knowledge of the history and read the comments of the
people who visited and remember Butlins. Thank you, regards, Chris.
Thanks Chris! I've been blown away by all the comments.
brought back some memories, really enjoyed the video, after the last year, I wonder how many people would love a simple fun holiday like Butlins was back then.
Another great video, I stayed at Butlins Filey around 1968, I went with a mate of mine and had a great week, we drove over from Burnley, and at the time we went it must have clashed with some Scottish holidays, as it felt as if they had taken over the place, but as it was the first holiday for us teens, free from the family, although the chalet sleeping accommodation was a bit basic, we didn’t mind too much as everything else was great fun, and we made the most of everything it had to offer, I seem to recollect seeing the pop group the Barron Knights on our visit, they were a popular comedy group at the time. But an all round fun place, sadly now just a memory. Happy days.
Never went to Filey, too far to travel, but went to Butlins nearly every year, from the early 70's to the late 90's mainly at Bognor Regis, with occasional trips to Minehead and Clacton. Luckily Bognor still exists, been a few times in the 2000s on adult weekenders. Enjoyable and I still love to walk around by myself and remember how it used to look. Many buildings still exist, just modernised inside and out.
Poignant , beautifully shot viewed with tears in my eyes, had a holiday there with my mum back in the very early seventies lost her a couple of years later so Filey holds a very special place in my heart .
My first holiday away from home without my parents... summer of 68, and I was only sixteen! I went with two workmates, and to this day I'm still surprised my parents let me go! I can remember the Hawiian Bar, it was like being abroad 😄 It's sad that things have to change... but that's progress. Many a family had a happy time at Butlins, and we should thank Billy Butlin for that!
‘77. The Hawaiian bar was brilliant. On my mum’s birthday, our family were having a meal together. In the entrance came her sister (my auntie) & her best friend and sang, happy birthday to my mum. It was brilliant. Happy memories. 😃
My family used to visit Butlins Filey and now I own a caravan on Primrose Valley site on the spot once occupied by Butlins.Always brings back memories,thank you for the video.
Have many childhood memories of holidays at Butlins Filey
I remember visiting Butlin's, Filey as a five-year-old kid. My mother and I came second in the lookalike competition that week ( - we still have the photo's - ) and I was surprised to see a mousehole in the skirting board of our chalet - just like in the Tom 'n' Gerry cartoons! I also remember going to a wrestling match. The whole thing left a big impression on me and the memories linger... Thank you for the video. Good stuff!
Thanks for commenting - great memories!
Sounds brilliant for ya mate,as long as it kept ya happy.
Your video was very interesting. The world has moved on from holiday camps so it was sad to see the site abandoned. But I have to correct you - Filey re-opened in 1945 and my family must have been among the first holiday makers to be there in that year. My three memories of our holiday are the photograph taken on Filey beach by Butlin's photographer of our whole family. That is the only photo I have of our whole family and it now sits on my buffet. The other two memories are that Ted "Tiny" Evans was one of the red coats - he was 7 feet 6 inches tall. The other, and this shows we were there in 1945, is that during our holiday, there was great celebrations in London and all over Britain for VE Day on 8 May 1945. Butlin's posted many photographs of the celebrations so that we could all join in. Thanks for the memories.
That's a great video. I was born in Sheffield in 1966 and although we never went to Filey on holiday, I remember it being a large and special place and always wanted to go. We nearly always ended up at Ingoldmells on the Lincolnshire coast which also had a Butlins camp. We never stayed at the camp, but you could buy a day ticket if you wanted and we did that a few times. Being young, it was great and we never needed much to entertain us, it was simple innocent pleasures, but looking back to what we're used to now, I suppose it was a bit naff. Unfortunately, time has moved on and people seem to be more dissatisfied these days and continually demand more and seem to be rushing around and getting as much done as possible rather than relaxing and having fun. Thanks for the memories
Excellent video. We went there mid 70s by train when I was about 10. Going back there as an adult I couldn't picture how it had worked - I thought we must have gone to the now Filey station and got the road train from there, but it didn't tie up with my mental image. Now I know why. Seeing the video and the old footage brought it all back perfectly. Still love going to Filey, lovely town and great beaches.
Thanks Steven.
1964 and thirteen years old. Loved every minute of it. My first ever holiday.
Poignant. A great story, brilliant presentation, well-shot and narrated, evocative soundtrack, superb editing.
How holiday expectations have changed!
Thanks Richard!
Just came across this - totally random. I grew up in Lancashire & never went to Butlins but it was so famous. Everyone knew about it & the various locations and of course it was very popular. I enjoyed this video but it made me sad to see something which brought pleasure to so many people just go to ruin. I imagine it would really touch people who visited there. Many thanks for sharing this video & information.
Just found this film. Brings back happy memories. We had a family holiday there in the early 70s. We drove up from Hampshire. It was a lovely camp. My abiding memory was the disco which was all Northern Soul. Fantastic for a southerner who loved Northern Soul. (Still do).
Thank you for this. My mother and her friend went to Filey in 1946. Mum would have been 22 and her friend perhaps 19. Her friend died just last year. We holidayed at Butlins as a family for about 8 years, but never at Filey. They were great holidays - something for all the family, and I remember the double bikes. Although people say they were regimented, things generally were more organised at that time, and it was certainly better than seaside boarding houses. I look at today's cruise liners and wonder what's the difference? On-site entertainment with resident staff, bars, dining rooms with set mealtimes - very similar structure, and you're effectively captive for most of the time. I know which I'd prefer.
Different mind set Gill and the weather is worth taking into account, chalk and cheese I think, after saying that I've never been on a cruise!
My dad called cruises upmarket Butlins on Sea
You ask Gill, what is the difference between Butlin's and a cruise. None really, apart from with cruising you have the chance of drowning thrown in.
So many good memories of going there as a kid. No other holidays compare! Great work 👍👍👍👍
I stayed at primrose valley in 1986, myself aged 10 and my dad managed to walk around the abandoned camp, the eeriest thing to look at was the old cable cars in the main shed at the back. Top video 👍
Stumbled upon this by accident. A fantastic, informative and well produced piece of nostalgia. I was born in 81 so never got to see the Filey camp, but I've always loved Butlins. Thank you for making this film.
Thank you.
I visited the old Butlin's site in 2010, there were two recognisable features still standing, or semi standing.
The outdoor pool, which due to recent rain still had a reasonable amount of water in it, and the remaining bit of the indoor pool.
Next to the indoor pool was a pile of rubble, containing very recognisable thick pieces of glass.
These had been the glass in the swimming pool so campers could swim underwater and look through the glass and see family and friends in the coffee lounge on the other side!
I now have a piece of this glass on display in my home in Australia, polished and engraved with the Butlin's logo and a description of where it came from
Hi: I can only remember a little as I was about 6/ 7 years old (1967/ 68). So sad to see it is all gone. Nobody has taken over Billy's legacy.. Spending holidays. Thank you for sharing your story. Only the scars remain. Regards from South Africa 🇿🇦
We spent a week at Butlins Filey in July 1967, it rained heavily everyday. I remember being totally miserable, cold and wet all week. On the Saturday we left the sun shone brightly it was warm and we melted in the car on the way home- the great British Summer Holiday.
We love Scarborough and North Yorkshire too greetings from Scotland 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Its weird, me dad was Scottish but come down to the North East where I was born. I lived on NY moors and went to primrose valley, then I moved upto Scotland. We get around dont we 😉👍
I've had 4 holidays in Scarborough down the years. Great place. Bracing walks, crab sandwiches, fish & chips, decent beer. Who needs "abroad"??
Don't know how I ended up here but what a brilliant find. Thank you so much for a look back at a far more gentle and innocent time ❤️xx
Thanks Jane. Glad you enjoyed it.
My folks used to holiday here. Long gone now. Died so young. Got loads of photos of my dad in this camp. Used to cycle from Hull for his holidays. God bless u dad and God curse you motor neurone disease! X❤️
I live in Hull and took my daughter for a day trip to Filey via a bus early 70's. I always remember a ride called *The Mouse*. In 1989 I went for a weeks holiday to Skegness with my sister and her 2 Grandchildren. We had a great time with lots of things to do on a daily basis - happy memories :)
i remember staying at the haven primrose valley site in the early 90s. and one day i went for a explore and i could see the derelict butlins camp on the other side of a fence, it was a amazing thing to see, as there was chalets with broken doors and windows, and parts of walls missing, and there was still beds and other things inside the chalets.
I don’t know why I assumed haven was built on the bustling site. Brilliant time there in the 70s.
I remember it too, was quite spooky to see
I worked at Primrose Valley in the early 00's when I was 18, was treated like dirt by my boss, shouted at for small things all for £3 a hour and had to pay them £80 a week for rent, heating, electricity, so in other words after taxes I only had about 20-40 left for 40 hours work. And I got food poisoning my first week there buying a kebab from the on site kebab shop lol. Shame though as I liked the park.
@@revengenerd1 it does not look the same as it used to on google satellite maps. There used to be a children’s playground with a toboggan run on it. It is no longer there.
@@Rollingforwards I think I remember that, it was in the touring park end which had all the sports features, I did see a picture of the current complex which looks totally different then when I worked there which just looked like a huge warehouse.
By the 'eck, that's stirred up a few memories, not all of them pleasant. I never holidayed there with my parents and siblings, it was always Whitby and Scarborough. But I did work a season there, in 1980. I was 20 and had been out of work a couple of months, (born and raised in M/Boro), and spotted an ad' in the Evening Gazette for seasonal staff. Me and a mate went along to the Dragonara Hotel in M/Boro, and before we knew it we were Butlins bar staff! She was put on the Cabaret bar and I was on the Gaiety bar. Much of it was full of happy times, bloody long hours, but fun. A major issue was having to share a chalet with another staff member. It was smaller than a box room, two awful single beds either side of the door and on the opposite wall a wardrobe and a wash basin! My original chalet mate was a bloke who was a good 20 years older than me and he was a sex mad Irishman who brought a series of one night stands back! Imagine having to lay in bed night after night with some randy goat not more than 2 feet away getting his jollies with a succession of women. It went on for 2 months until he was caught with the wife of one of the holidaymakers in a compromising position! That sealed his fate and he was unceremoniously sacked and given 1 hour to pack and leave! All in all I did have a great time and whilst the wages weren't brilliant you didn't pay for your cell, oops, chalet, lol and all meals were free and there was a laundry room, again free. The only thing we paid for was our entertainment and even then if guests recognized you out of uniform on your free time then quite a few would buy us a drink. I'd forgotten how soon after I'd worked there the place closed down. Thanks for uploading this.
Enjoyed reading that, thanks for commenting!
@@NorthYorkshireWanderer ... No worries, pleased you enjoyed it. I've reconnected with the lass I worked the season with after joining the Memories of M/Boro group on Facebook. We lost touch after I left the Boro in 83, haven't had any contact in 37 years! We had a good catch up about this and that and she vividly remembered our season at Filey.
nice one john paul i was 20 and worked there in 1980 as well i was a waiter in the full board restaurants and from boro would you believe was there 79 80 happy days pal
@@Ardoyne10 ... Hahaha, seems the Boro recruitment campaign paid off for Butlins. Yeah, they were (mainly) happy days.
I worked at bognor as a teen in the 90s still had those crappy tiny rooms with the two beds and the wash basin used to get a roulette of people to share with
Horrible memories of the staff bar and Butlins larger 😀
Great Video, I dont think the children of today understand how great a time you had at Bultins in the early 80's , it was safe, you had freedom like you have never had before, Im nearly 50 years old and what i would do now to go back to those times. Excellent video and very easy watching, Thank you for taking me back a bit.
Thanks - glad you enjoyed it!
I went to Butlins Filey in the summer of 1965 aged 10. It was the best weeks holiday I can remember with the family. We went there by car from Bradford.
We stayed at primrose valley in the summer of 89 me & my best friend had a row and I buggered off… ended up sneaking under a chain link fence and found myself in an abandoned holiday park! I was 15 so knew nothing then but I have vivid memories of this abandoned butlins most of the chalets were as if they were waiting for guests .. beds made curtains blowing in the breeze other areas were devastated like a huge hole in the theatres roof ceiling coming down ect! Not a very safe activity for a teenage girl but hey I was born in the 70s 😂 adventure was our middle name!! Thanks for the great video very nostalgic just a shame it’s all gone now! Progress eh 😖
I had a wonderful time at Filey in about 1960.
What a fantastic documentary well formatted thank you so much well done.
As a 12 year old boy in 1962 we had our first holiday here,there was a father and son computation my dad said son quick lets get changed into our suits. one always traveled in a suite tie in those days as jeans were for working in. Well we were the only pair looking smart so got first prise! A free week for the whole family for the following year. Happy days.
Thanks Alan.
I was 18yo and worked at Butlins Holiday Camp Filey as a dishwasher during the summer of 1966. It was a bustling place enjoyed by staff and campers alike. Great memories of Bridlington and Scarborough. I met my wife to be at Butlins. She was a waitress in the dining rooms.
I went there in the fifties, Des O"Connor was a Redcoat
Yes I remember being in a pirate show with him and others , it was a lovely place and a rare holiday for us , I think we only had about 4 holidays until till I was 18 and left home
I grew up in Scarborough ! My Mum's friend Iris drove us once to Filey Butlins for the day back in the late 60's. I remember how excited we were to go, and you could watch the swimmers in the glass sided pool when you were in the cafeteria ! I think it was viewed as a bit of a dump in later years as people's holidays habits changed.
I remember my parents taking me to Butlins, Skegness as a child in the 70s. Was quite magical back then. Free rides in the fairground, the smell of hot dogs being cooked and the freedom to walk about as a child with out any worries. Special days ☺️
Loved Butlins as a child in the 70’s. My mum was a redcoat so we went to every camp around U.K. plus we got free stay for 2 weeks. We went to Filey in the early 1970’s via London from Scotland. We finished at Barry Island Butlins in 1981. I have photos from Butlins as a child wearing my huge flares, tank tops or shorts. Every camp looked the same, the Butlins 901 kids club and Beaver Club were great. Donkey derby would now be considered illegal. Such innocent, fun times. I loved watching Hi de Hi on tv lol as it was a tongue in cheek version of Butlins,
Good on you for keeping the memory alive. Thank you.
We had many happy holidays at BUTLINS filey, and BUTLINS Skegness, then in the 80's I worked there in filey, for a summer season and had a great time.
HAPPY DAYS.
Yes it is depressing to see it now.
That this special place was conceived, built, used, enjoyed, closed, to then become what it is, today, and all within the lifetime of a single man, is difficult to comprehend.
I worked at Butlins Filey in 1982 best time of my life
I was in Foster home as a child, I went on holiday here from 1979 till 1983 I was there on the last week it was open, we had to leave on the Friday. I learnt how to roller skate here I always wish it was still there memories of butlins Filey, gave me the desire to work for butlins.
Happy memories when I was there with my parents in the sixties, still have the photos of these Happy days.
Never stayed at any Butlins; as I was a Kiwi in England on a working holiday, in 1967. Our London company took us all to Clacton on Sea for a day's outing...where I found a Butlins camp there.. I was surprised to find it had a barbed-wire fence around it! The person on the gate was not amused when I enquired "Is the fence to keep Butlins folk in- or the public out"? I recall taking a speedboat ride out and around a Pirate Radio Station, [ Radio 390, from memory] which was on an old WWII tower.. Although it was summer, the sea was damn freezing! Only two of us swam.. Happy days half a century ago..
Bro, if that is the quality of your first video, I dare say you’ll be heading for the big time pretty soon. Brilliant video, quality imaging, fab sounds and backtracking. You are have another subscriber. Keep up the great work mate. And I dare say we will all look forward to more.........
Thanks Aidy. Really appreciate your comments, very kind!
Went numerous times as a kid with my parents in the late '50s and '60s, last visit with my late wife in the '70s. Happy memories - tomorrow is just another day......
A very well made documentary. It’s sad to see how things we enjoyed when we were young, have now faded away.
Thanks Iain.
I used to work at butlins in Filey , brilliant way to spend the summer ........ahhh memories !
😎
Thanks, well produced and nostalgic .Butlins was a British institution
Scenes of happier, simpler times, before the UK lost its own identity, to be replaced by a nation of renters, flats,studios and foreign holidays.
A really interesting and well produced video. I am an Australian born Sheffield man, (my parents moved us back to UK when I was five), I’ve never ever visited a Butlins but loved watching the video to get a feel for how the place is. We moved back to Sheffield but holidayed around the UK, dad was lucky, he got a company car so we could afford a caravan. We used to go somewhere every other weekend including Filey, lots of places in Gods own country, Yorkshire, and further afield in the summer holidays. I’ve been all over the world and Yorkshire does take some beating, I promise you that.