Pontins: Photographer recalls Bluecoat friendships and happy memories

A man who documented years of happy memories at a Sussex holiday park which suddenly closed has recalled the camp in its heyday.

Alan Jones worked at Pontins in Camber from the 1970s, initially as a security officer and then as a photographer.

He only signed up for 20 weeks but stayed there for 15 years.

He remembers the camaraderie amongt the staff - known as Bluecoats - how campers came back year after year, and how he met his wife there.

Pontins was hugely popular in the 1970s, and was able to pay for the stars, Mr Jones said.

He met Freddie Starr, Bob Monkhouse and Gary Wilmot, who were already working the professional entertainment circuit, and also remembers pop duo Peters and Lee before they became famous.

On one occasion he was taking photographs on the beach for Gary Wilmot, who ripped his trousers when he suggested the photographer sit on his shoulders to get a good shot of some writing in the sand.

At Christmas, Mr Jones went round the tables photographing the campers drinking and watching the entertainment, and they'd call out to him and offer him mince pies.

Mr Jones, now 78, recalled how the punters called him Jonah, using the nickname he earned during his years in the Royal Navy.

"There would be families that had come there year after year after year. We knew them and they recognised us," he said.

"They liked stability. They knew you would be there and what they were going to get."

The camp became a destination for Londoners, he remembers.

"You're going to a camp for what is in the holiday camp," he said.

"You know you're not going to go all the way to Blackpool to stay in a camp and not go out. A lot of people couldn't afford to go up north. A lot of Londoners came down to Camber - it was easy to get to."

Mr Jones, who still lives in Camber and knows two couples who live on his road who also worked at the camp, said: "A lot of Londoners moved down here."

At its peak, when Pontins was filled to capacity, about 3,500 people would descend on the site, staying in over 800 chalets, and a seven-berth chalet could provide accommodation for two families.

The campers turned up for good entertainment, late-night drinking and to reacquaint themselves with staff, Mr Jones said.

But as time went on and people earned more money, families started to book a whole chalet of their own and numbers slowly went down, Mr Jones said.

As the holiday camp saw a succession of owners, numbers dwindled and business declined. It became a destination for rock and roll weekends, when people turned up to drink and party.

"You had chalets that had been there since 1968," he said.

"They had been tarted-up, but they were still the same chalets."

Now, after Pontins announced the immediate closure of the site in Camber, Mr Jones remembers the camp in the 70s and 80s as a place of happy memories.

He said: "There was the comradeship, in which everyone mucked in and helped each other. The Bluecoats worked long hours for little pay, but it was a chance to start out as a performer and learn the trade.

"As a photographer, you met and intermingled with staff and the campers, and you made friendships that built up over a period of time.

"The wages weren't good, but we got food and accommodation.

"For the majority of time, it was happy."

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