Minehead Sunsplash Pool in 2003 Back

The original indoor pool at Minehead opened with the camp in 1962. It was a standard Butlins pool complete with underwater viewing windows and green plastic foliage hanging from the roof. In 1986 Minehead became the first camp to be refurbished as a 'Holiday World' but instead of gaining a completely new pool (as happened at the other camps) the decision was taken to rebuild the old pool instead. The original rectangular tank was retained and a funpool was built inside with new curved walls. The underwater windows were left in place but were covered over with the new walls and tiles. But if you could peel away the tiles (or the exterior cladding around the building) you'd still see all the underwater windows in place. In fact some of the windows are just visible (complete with original glass in situ) from the old plant room underneath the building.

A brand new indoor pool, The Oasis, opened around 1988 and was intended as a place for the serious swimmer as opposed to the 'funpool' nature of Sunsplash. It was more of a traditional pool with a 6' deep end flowing down to a beach area suitable for small children. The pool was 25 meters long by 12 metres wide but had no straight edges. The sides of the pool were meant to represent a wave shape and the corners were rounded off. The shallow end also had three smalller pools for children.

In 1998 another new indoor pool opened, Splash, and this was built on the side of the earlier Oasis. The left side of the shallow end of what was the Oasis now flows into the rest of the Splash pool. You can actually feel a change in water temperature as you move from one to the other. This same year the Sunsplash was finally closed but it's still there today, disused and off limits to the public, but in remarkably good condition. It's kept full of water for use in the sprinkler system.

Click on each image for a larger view