Fifty years ago family holidays were often a visit to the seaside, often staying in a local B&B, a caravan site or under canvas – to try to keep the costs down.
Holiday camps such as Butlins and Pontins were very popular and with the cost of food and entertainment include in the holiday costs, it became the ‘place to go’.
With clean, modern chalets and loads to keep both the adults and children occupied, even when it was raining, this was a holiday to look forward too!
As a child my first visit to Butlins holiday camp was to Ayr, I remember yet the loudspeaker calling you every morning with a booming “Good Morning Campers!” which resounded throughout the camp and brought those with the first breakfast band (there were 2 meal sittings – everyone getting a band for their ‘sitting’ throughout their holiday) rushing to the dining hall. I loved it!
But things were changing and during the 1960’s the package holiday became really popular and many saved all year for two wonderful weeks in sunny Spain.
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Far from inexpensive, the average cost of a holiday was equivalent to over 2 weeks wages each. Pale Brits, unused to searing sun, came home either beautifully bronzed or red and peeling, clutching a suitcase filled with a host of souveniers and ready to bore delight their friends with tales of their first foreign holiday with 1001 snaps to go with it.
How many of us stopped to looked longingly at travel agent windows and talked their parents into going in for a few brochures to pore over at home (or was that just me?)
As the sixties continued, so to did the increase in package holidays, and as most workers now received two weeks paid leave they could afford to head off to an increasing number of holiday offers in the sun and still get wages.
Today many of us have more than one holiday abroad each year, often choosing to top up our tan in summer and take a skiing holiday around Christmas time.
Do you remember your first trip abroad?
Get in touch and tell us about your holiday experiences whether it was talking in a foreign language or learning to ski, we’d love to hear from you.
