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Brean Sands was the first holiday camp that Fred Pontin invested in after the war. Having gained experience working as a catering
manager in the Orkney Islands during the war and also having learned a little about entertainment during his time working
in a National Service Hostal, Pontin was keen to try his hand in the Holiday Camp Industry, although on a much smaller scale
than 'Holiday Camp King', Billy Butlin. It was pulling into a garage that first kicked started Fred Pontins empire when he
asked a grarage attendant if he knew of any such site where he could start up a small camp, catering for around 50-60 guests.
This would do him nicely.
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Fred Pontin gained the majority of bed linen, furniture and Kitchen equipment from Ministry of Works sales. Although not of
the greatest quality, they did there job. The first few weeks were a bit chaotic. Afer advertising in the Sunday Express,
the camp was jammed full of campers, but it was within these first few weeks that Fred Pontin put his own mark on the holiday
camp industry. With a little help from family members, the camp settled down into a routine and proved a huge success. Brean
Sands still operates today as a Pontins Holiday Centre
We are currently looking for any photographs, maps, badges etc that we can add to the Brean Sands Page. If anybody would
like to to add any images of the camp from either the past or the present, or have any old brochures or maps of the site,
they would be more than welcome. Feel free to contact us a
pontinsholidayspastandpresent@yahoo.co.uk
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Ideally he was looking for a former barrack site which he could do up into an attractive holiday camp. However, the majority
had recently been demolished. The garage attendant suggested that he contact a gentleman by the name of Leslie Dean, the owner
of a purpose built, pre war holiday camp, around 8 acres in size. Pontin met with Mr Dean and struck a deal. Pontin would
buy up all the shares in the company, amounting to £23,000, but the site would remain under the ownership of Mr Dean.Fred
Pontin had secured his first holiday camp.
To return to the Pontins Past and Present Homepage, Click
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