In an attempt to create a thriving tourist industry, the city of Quincy transformed a neglected Mississippi River island into a recreation park

Butlin’s Heads of Ayr Hotel opened in 1948, but closed just ten years later after gaining a reputation for trouble.

From a Porthcawl pleasure park to one of Britain’s largest caravan sites, the Joseph family helped shape seaside holidays for generations.

Opened in 1937 as one of Norfolk’s more upmarket holiday camps, Gorleston Holiday Camp welcomed generations of holidaymakers before disappearing beneath a large housing estate.

Developed from one of the earliest holiday camps in the country, Pontins Hemsby enjoyed great success until closing in 2008

Dobwalls Adventure Park began as one man’s private hobby and developed into one of Cornwall’s leading tourist attractions. Yet within just a few years it had disappeared almost without trace.

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.

From three small Brixham holiday camps to a major Pontins resort, St Mary’s Bay evolved through decades of expansion, redevelopment and changing ownership before becoming Riviera Bay.

The Dolphin holiday camp in Brixham opened in 1938 and later became part of the mighty Pontins empire. Sadly it was destroyed by fire in 1991

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

From Bass brewing fortunes to miniature trains, ocean liners, lion safaris and a luxury hotel, Stapleford Park’s story spans grandeur, decline and reinvention.

The colourful history of Cleethorpes Zoo which lasted only 13 years during the 1960s and 1970s

Once the jewel in the Pontins crown, this upmarket holiday camp once had a wonderful reputation for its country club atmosphere and fine dining

Little Canada opened on the Isle of Wight in 1930. Later transformed into a popular Pontins holiday camp but survives today as a PGL activity centre.

The first site in the Warners Holiday Camp empire, Northney welcomed generations of holidaymakers for half a century

Opened in 1927 and famed for its floodlit pool, South Devon Holiday Camp at Paignton thrived under Pontins before closing in 1988 to make way for housing.

Perched on Jersey’s dramatic northwest headland, Plemont Bay evolved from a 19th-century hotel into one of the island’s most popular holiday camps

Llechwedd Slate Caverns began as a Victorian slate quarry before reinventing itself as a major tourist attraction which included Britain’s first public underground mine ride

Billy Butlin helped revive a fading Cliftonville in the 1950s, transforming its struggling hotels into lively holiday centres complete with Redcoats, entertainment and all the familiar Butlin fun.

Oakhill Manor had an outstanding collection of models and one of the UKs most impressive miniature railways. But it closed just 8 years after opening

Leysdown boomed as a holiday resort after the war, but the good times disappeared almost as quickly as they had arrived.

From a millionaire’s dream home to one of Warner’s longest-running resorts, Sinah Warren has enjoyed a remarkable history of luxury, abandonment and reinvention.

Once a familiar sight on British high streets, Golden Egg transformed the humble greasy spoon into a colourful restaurant chain.

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.

Opened in 1969 as one of Pontins’ new self-catering “chalet villages,” the huge Southport camp thrived for decades before falling into decline and finally closing in 2023.

Fred Pontin was an early pioneer of overseas package holidays and formed Pontinental in 1963 to build resorts across the Mediterranean.

Age of Steam was a railway-themed leisure park that opened in 1977 near Penzance. Despite its ambitious beginnings, the park had a short life and closed after only eight years.

Opened in the 1920s as New City Holiday Camp, this site went through several name changes before closing in the 1990s

The trials and tribulations of the Rhyl monorail which ran on the seafront for only one season before being later demolished

Now a caravan park known as Romney Sands, it was previously a bustling holiday camp opened by the Maddieson family in 1930

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 Torbay Chalet Hotel was once a thriving holiday centre near Paignton, once owned by Godfrey Davis, but was demolished for housing in the 1990s

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.

Ramsgate Harbour Station, opened in 1863, faced frequent accidents before closing in 1926. Its site later became the Merrie England and Pleasurama amusement parks

British amusement park accidents, covering deaths, serious injuries, fires, and other notable incidents

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.

The fascinating history of Middleton Tower Holiday Camp from its inception in 1939, through the later Pontins era and the story of its closure