The Elstree Film Studios |
Elstree Film Studios has a long and colourful history. The
present facilities are built on land originally purchased
in 1925.
Between 1959 and 1975 Hammer Films produced 39 films here
starring such actresses as Stephanie Beacham, Marsha Hunt
and Kate O'Mara. Films included the comedies On The Buses
and Man About The House, the ambitious The Lost Continent
as well as the chiller thrillers for which the company is
notorious, such as 'The Horror of Frankenstein, The Curse
of the Mummy's Tomb and The Vampire Lovers.
Elstree was busy throughout the 1970's and 80's with
productions such as Murder On The Orient Express, Never
Say Never Again, the Star Wars trilogy, the Indiana Jones
trilogy and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The post-production
facilities were used on a wide range of movies, including
Chariots of Fire, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The
Last Emperor. |
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The Pontins Holiday Camp, Prestatyn, North Wales |
1972 Pontins Prestatyn Brochure - | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | - (Will Open In New Window)
Fred Pontin was born in London's East End
on October 24th 1906 and went on to have a successful
career in the city's Stock Exchange. During the
summer of 1965 a week full-board at Butlins cost around
£16 per adult - the same week at Pontins was just £10.
 
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Fred Pontin and Billy Butlin always had a
strong but friendly rivalry. Butlin once paid a secret
visit to the Pontin camp at Brean Sands and nothing more
was heard until several years later when a photograph
surfaced of him drinking in the camp bar. Pontin jumped
at this wonderful publicity and the picture appeared in
the following years brochure with the slogan "All the
best people come to Pontins!". Butlin was
apparently none too pleased. |
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The 1960s saw some major developments in the holiday
camp industry with Butlins opening three massive new
centres. Pontins responded with more acquisitions and
the empire grew to include sixteen camps including
expansion into the island of Jersey. A couple of brand
new centres were also built on greenfield sites and one
of these (Prestatyn) later featured in the 1970s movie 'Holiday on the Buses'. The 1960s also saw the
introduction of the Pontin Bluecoats, a sneaky copy of
their famous Red counterparts at Butlins (Warners had
their Greencoats). Famous ex-Bluecoats include Shane
Ritchie, Brian Connelly, Bradley Walsh and Gemma Craven. |
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Butlins were still providing somewhat
basic food and accommodation and were focusing all their
energies on bigger and better entertainment. Realising
he could never compete in this area Pontin decided to
instead focus on improved accommodation and by carrying
out a major revamp of the catering department. Chalets
were equipped with such luxuries as en-suite bathrooms
and televisions, then unheard of at Butlins. Traditional
dining halls were replaced with wide ranging self-serve
buffets. Pontin also pioneered the use of self-catering,
an idea that Billy Butlin had always opposed. It wasn't
until his son Bobby took over that self catering first
appeared at Butlins |
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Pontin was also responsible for helping
to start the foreign package holiday craze in the 1960s
with the construction of a new hotel in Sardinia. He
could offer a two week holiday with flights,
accommodation, food, drink, entertainment (and
guaranteed sun!) for less than £50. The venture was
successful and Pontinental Holidays was formed to build
additional hotels and camps in Majorca, Spain and Ibiza.
He also took over a Belgian company which added a
further six sites to his growing Mediterranean empire. |
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By the mid 1970s Butlins was heading on a
downward spiral due to its massive overheads and the
need to fill thousands of beds at each camp. The smaller
Pontin sites were still booming and the empire now
consisted of 24 camps plus the Mediterranean locations.
In fact Billy Butlin accepted an invitation from Pontin
to join the board of directors at his Jersey camp.
Pontin was knighted in 1976 and the following year his
company announced profits of £6.6 million (around £30
million in 2004 prices) |
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Although Fred Pontin had deep regrets
over the sale of his company, in hindsight it was a good
move as the holiday camp industry was set to suffer some
major declines throughout the 1980s. He decided that
retirement wasn't an option and involved himself in a
number of new leisure interests including the London
Dungeon and a handful of small but exclusive hotels in
the West Country. He spent his later years living in
Blackpool and it was there that his remarkable life
ended on September 30th 2000 at the age of 93. |
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