Rhyl Monorail
The trials and tribulations of the Rhyl monorail which ran on the seafront for only one season before being later demolished
The Leisure Historian
Pleasure & Leisure in the 20th Century
The Leisure Historian
Pleasure & Leisure in the 20th Century
Seacroft Holiday Camp, Hemsby
From six simple chalets in 1930 to a full-board holiday camp accommodating hundreds of guests, Seacroft survived for almost 90 years. Its story reflects the rise, decline and reinvention of the British seaside holiday camp.
Southdean Holiday Camp, Middleton on Sea
Opened in the 1920s as New City Holiday Camp, this site went through several name changes before closing in the 1990s
Stapleford House and Park
From Bass brewing fortunes to miniature trains, ocean liners, lion safaris and a luxury hotel, Stapleford Park’s story spans grandeur, decline and reinvention.
Sunnyvale Holiday Camp, Rhyl
Sunnyvale Holiday Camp in Rhyl opened in 1934. From its pre-war heyday to its increasingly troubled later years, this is the story of one of North Wales’s long-lost holiday camps.
The Golden Egg Restaurants – Britain’s Upmarket Greasy Spoon
Once a familiar sight on British high streets, Golden Egg transformed the humble greasy spoon into a colourful restaurant chain.
The London Dungeon, Tooley Street
Started by a 1970s ‘bored housewife’, the London Dungeon went on to become one of the capital’s most popular and enduring tourist attractions
The rise of the British holiday caravan park
From primitive caravan sites to huge national operators such as Haven, Parkdean and Park Holidays, this is the story of how Britain’s holiday parks grew, merged and changed hands over more than half a century.
Torbay Chalet Hotel, Marldon
The Torbay Chalet Hotel was once a thriving holiday centre near Paignton, once owned by Godfrey Davis, but was demolished for housing in the 1990s
Wallis’s Cayton Bay Holiday Camp
From its humble 1930s beginnings to its later life under Wallis's, Ladbrokes, Warner's, Haven, and Park Resorts, Cayton Bay grew into one of Yorkshire’s best-known holiday camps.
Warner’s Woodside Bay Holiday Camp
From a naturist retreat to a full-scale Warner’s holiday camp, Woodside Bay lasted less than 20 years before being left abandoned for the next 27 years
Warners Northney Holiday Camp
The first site in the Warners Holiday Camp empire, Northney welcomed generations of holidaymakers for half a century