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09-12-03, 10:00 AM
Pushbutton
(Originally posted by...TANNOY)
We tended to holiday out of Summer season, and I learnt what 'inclement' weather meant at Butlins - it always closed the Chairlift and Skating rink!
But what about the inclement weather indoors?
As I remember it, no venue was complete at Butlins without a leak from the roof. Remember how there would always be a few snooker tables covered in plastic sheeting when it rained? Also how there was always a plastic bucket or two in the ballrooms, the Stuart at Ayr, the Viennese at Filey and Empress at Skegness? I remember one year at Skegness (early 70's) during a bingo session there was a loud bang and the Tannoy system fused for the whole venue when the flowing waters ran down one of the internal columns right into a loudspeaker. After a short time we heard an announcement from Radio Butlin (from the speakers outside in the camp) for the electrician to report to the venue. Of course there was quite a delay before he turned up and it was fixed.
At Filey, the main road between Green camp and the indoor fair always seemed to flood when it rained, and the chalet lines down there were prone to flooding as well. Also, I remember the hand driers in the Golden Goose toilet block were popular amongst female Redcoats for drying their hair when it rained. Down to the lack of facilities for the staff I guess?
Anyone got stories of flooding or memories of the dripping ceilings? And NO.....the stream in the Beachcomber doesn't count as a flood!
(Originally posted by...Pushbutton)
I remember the very last time my family went on a "proper" full week long butlins holiday, about 1987 I think. (We only had day trips after that, and moved to Australia in 1989)
My parents found their chalet, which they shared with my 2 young sisters, and my brother and I shared one a few doors down. They were the 1980s single storey chalets, consisting of a bedroom with 2 single beds and a very small toilet room.
It was raining when we arrived and it was immediately obvious that there was a leak in the bedroom of my parents chalet.
My dad was absolutely furious and ready to demand a refund and drive back home!
Of course us kids were not having our holiday ruined by such a trivial thing as a leaking roof, and persuaded him not to do that.
He went to reception and complained, and was offered a new caravan instead of the leaking chalet, for a small extra charge.
We all went along to look at the caravan and managed to persuade him that it would be better "for the whole family to stay closer together, in the 2 chalets, rather than some there and some in the caravan at the other end of the camp.
(real reason, we just liked chalets!)
So my brother and I gladly took the leaking chalet, complete with 4 buckets provided by reception, and my parents and sisters took the dry chalet.
We all had a wonderful holiday of course (except my dad who would probably have been happier in spain or somewhere!).
(Originally posted by...Pushbutton)
The worst thing about inclement weather was when you were due to go home and just wanted to round off your holiday with one last chairlift ride, but you guessed it, they were "closed due to inclement weather"!
(Originally posted by...CHR)
John Tannoy, you must have gone there when we did, or did it flood at Filey every week! The early eighties seemed particularly bad. When I was a Redcoat we had all finished work one rainy night and waded down the green camp bottom road to get home to bed. We were woken by banging on our doors with instructions to be in the ballroom in 10 minutes only to see our white high heeled shoes (which we kept on the floor) floating past our eyeline beside our beds! There were mostly only Redcoat girls on the chalet line that night (haven't a clue where the boys might have been or what they might have been doing!).
No time to deal with our own accom, the whole of green camp was flooded so we had to drag on our uniforms, find our smiles and go to the (dry) Princes Ballroom to help the coffee bar staff distribute soup and blankets while the water was drained. The guests were great, only the odd complaint but by and large the "Blitz Spirit" was greatly in evidence. By about 4am the Redcoat boys appeared to do their share and we girls were allowed to go back to our chalets. Very little could be done, swept out a bit of the water, lifted what we could up on top of the wardrobe and collapsed into bed (we had already worked a 15/16 hour day up until finishing at a quarter to midnight).BUT, we were up, smartly dressed and smiling the next morning at the dining room doors. By then most guests accom was free of water with bales of blankets laid on the floors to give a soft dry surface. The paths in the chalet lines were lined with duck boards and the shoe shop did a roaring trade in shoes! However, very few guests went home (it was early in the week) and very few moaned. It was just part of the British climate, Butlins had done everything it could and an act of God wasn't allowed to spoil the fun. Society had a very different attitude to a crisis in those days, it was simply a case of "nothing we can do, so get on and make the best of it" Nowadays people would be claiming compensation and looking for someone (anyone) to blame.
I'm so glad I holidayed and subsequently worked at Butlins during those times when people were less desperate to shout and scream about their problems and more likely to help others.
(Originally posted by...TANNOY)
Hey <Pushbutton> - good decision I reckon to stay with the 4 buckets. Hate caravans, love chalets!
Pushbutton
(Originally posted by...TANNOY)
We tended to holiday out of Summer season, and I learnt what 'inclement' weather meant at Butlins - it always closed the Chairlift and Skating rink!
But what about the inclement weather indoors?
As I remember it, no venue was complete at Butlins without a leak from the roof. Remember how there would always be a few snooker tables covered in plastic sheeting when it rained? Also how there was always a plastic bucket or two in the ballrooms, the Stuart at Ayr, the Viennese at Filey and Empress at Skegness? I remember one year at Skegness (early 70's) during a bingo session there was a loud bang and the Tannoy system fused for the whole venue when the flowing waters ran down one of the internal columns right into a loudspeaker. After a short time we heard an announcement from Radio Butlin (from the speakers outside in the camp) for the electrician to report to the venue. Of course there was quite a delay before he turned up and it was fixed.
At Filey, the main road between Green camp and the indoor fair always seemed to flood when it rained, and the chalet lines down there were prone to flooding as well. Also, I remember the hand driers in the Golden Goose toilet block were popular amongst female Redcoats for drying their hair when it rained. Down to the lack of facilities for the staff I guess?
Anyone got stories of flooding or memories of the dripping ceilings? And NO.....the stream in the Beachcomber doesn't count as a flood!
(Originally posted by...Pushbutton)
I remember the very last time my family went on a "proper" full week long butlins holiday, about 1987 I think. (We only had day trips after that, and moved to Australia in 1989)
My parents found their chalet, which they shared with my 2 young sisters, and my brother and I shared one a few doors down. They were the 1980s single storey chalets, consisting of a bedroom with 2 single beds and a very small toilet room.
It was raining when we arrived and it was immediately obvious that there was a leak in the bedroom of my parents chalet.
My dad was absolutely furious and ready to demand a refund and drive back home!
Of course us kids were not having our holiday ruined by such a trivial thing as a leaking roof, and persuaded him not to do that.
He went to reception and complained, and was offered a new caravan instead of the leaking chalet, for a small extra charge.
We all went along to look at the caravan and managed to persuade him that it would be better "for the whole family to stay closer together, in the 2 chalets, rather than some there and some in the caravan at the other end of the camp.
(real reason, we just liked chalets!)
So my brother and I gladly took the leaking chalet, complete with 4 buckets provided by reception, and my parents and sisters took the dry chalet.
We all had a wonderful holiday of course (except my dad who would probably have been happier in spain or somewhere!).
(Originally posted by...Pushbutton)
The worst thing about inclement weather was when you were due to go home and just wanted to round off your holiday with one last chairlift ride, but you guessed it, they were "closed due to inclement weather"!
(Originally posted by...CHR)
John Tannoy, you must have gone there when we did, or did it flood at Filey every week! The early eighties seemed particularly bad. When I was a Redcoat we had all finished work one rainy night and waded down the green camp bottom road to get home to bed. We were woken by banging on our doors with instructions to be in the ballroom in 10 minutes only to see our white high heeled shoes (which we kept on the floor) floating past our eyeline beside our beds! There were mostly only Redcoat girls on the chalet line that night (haven't a clue where the boys might have been or what they might have been doing!).
No time to deal with our own accom, the whole of green camp was flooded so we had to drag on our uniforms, find our smiles and go to the (dry) Princes Ballroom to help the coffee bar staff distribute soup and blankets while the water was drained. The guests were great, only the odd complaint but by and large the "Blitz Spirit" was greatly in evidence. By about 4am the Redcoat boys appeared to do their share and we girls were allowed to go back to our chalets. Very little could be done, swept out a bit of the water, lifted what we could up on top of the wardrobe and collapsed into bed (we had already worked a 15/16 hour day up until finishing at a quarter to midnight).BUT, we were up, smartly dressed and smiling the next morning at the dining room doors. By then most guests accom was free of water with bales of blankets laid on the floors to give a soft dry surface. The paths in the chalet lines were lined with duck boards and the shoe shop did a roaring trade in shoes! However, very few guests went home (it was early in the week) and very few moaned. It was just part of the British climate, Butlins had done everything it could and an act of God wasn't allowed to spoil the fun. Society had a very different attitude to a crisis in those days, it was simply a case of "nothing we can do, so get on and make the best of it" Nowadays people would be claiming compensation and looking for someone (anyone) to blame.
I'm so glad I holidayed and subsequently worked at Butlins during those times when people were less desperate to shout and scream about their problems and more likely to help others.
(Originally posted by...TANNOY)
Hey <Pushbutton> - good decision I reckon to stay with the 4 buckets. Hate caravans, love chalets!
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