From the road, all you can see of Pontins in Camber Sands is the huge purple reception building and a locked gate. The sudden closure this week – alongside that of sister resort Prestatyn in North Wales – marks the end of an era for a seaside holiday park that opened in 1968 and saw its heyday in the decade that followed.
In 2011, Pontins was rescued from administration by current owners Britannia Hotels, but in recent years reviews of Camber Sands have sometimes been less than positive – see Booking.com: “Think of POW camps in old films”, and TripAdvisor: “This is the worst caravan we have ever stayed in and we will never return.”
Despite the many positive reviews (particularly about the staff at Pontins), it is clear that holidaymakers expected better from this once much-loved holiday park.
Camber itself is a small village along the beautiful beach of Camber Sands, just over the Kent border, in East Sussex. As you approach from the east, you first see Camber through rows of white static caravans set behind the sea wall: Parkdean Resorts caravans and lodges, which, together with Pontins, shrink the village’s footprint. In summer visitors outnumber locals 250 to 1 (in 2020 Rother District Council reported as many as 25,000 people going to Camber Sands every day) and tourism businesses rely on this seasonal income (just don’t mention parking for locals ) .
On a cold and sunny day in December, many businesses in Camber are closed and the huge sandy beach and car parks are sparsely populated with dog walkers. In the cafes and businesses that are open, rumors and speculation are swirling about what will happen next at the Pontins location. From redevelopment and reopening, to redevelopment, new houses or even a detention center for asylum seekers, everyone has an opinion.
On the affluent cobbled streets of nearby Rye there is far less talk about Pontin’s sudden closure, although at the Heritage Center on Strand Quay (ryeheritage.co.uk) volunteers Steve and Lee worry about a knock-on effect. Holidaymakers often went to Rye to visit a cafe, or for fish and chips, and on a rainy day spent time at the town center’s penny arcade and the Town Model light and sound show.
Steve’s fondest memories of Pontins are of big work events with bands like Showaddywaddy and Boney M, and the more recent Rockabilly Rave weekends, when vintage cars drive through town on Sundays (there’s no update yet on whether the 26e the annual Rockabilly Rave will take place in 2024 – or wherever it may be hosted).
Lee lives in Camber and says that “people had gotten used to Pontins being there; they enjoyed knocking on it, but there’s a sense of ‘better the devil, you know’”. Her main concern about the closure is that it will be converted into a migrant center (something the Home Office strongly refutes).
Lee tells me: ‘It’s impractical, there are only a little over a thousand residents in Camber, and they were talking at the same time [before Pontins signed their most recent lease] of more than 2,000 migrants. Imagine them wandering around, doing nothing.” She points out that there is no infrastructure of schools, doctors or public transport, and says residents worry about what a migrant center would mean for the village and for house prices.
“It’s all not knowing; no one comes out and says what the plan actually is.
Back in Camber at the beachside Marina Café, which is open all year round and has been since 1985, café worker Louise is hoping someone will take over the holiday park and put some money into it. She tells me, “I know it’s not the best place, but at least people can afford to go there. Some people hate it, but others come back every year because it’s reasonable.” She points out that Pontins staff were only given two hours’ notice of the closure (and some heard about it on social media), and that letting everyone go just before Christmas was quite tough: “This is a holiday village, so where are people going to go and get work?”
By all accounts, Rother District Council, which owns the freehold of the site, was also surprised by the sudden announcement. A spokesperson said: “Rother District Council was surprised to hear of the closure of Pontins in Camber, a popular holiday destination for thousands of families in the summer months. As the owner of the site, we have received no communication from Pontins or their parent company Britannia Hotels regarding the closure, its duration or their long-term intentions for the site. “We sympathize with those who may have lost their jobs at this time of year, and we are disappointed for customers whose holiday plans have been disrupted.”
So what about those who still want to stay in Camber for a holiday? Pontins was quite self-sufficient in terms of facilities and entertainment, and after closure visitors will not have much to do (part of the village’s appeal, for many). Families love the great big beach and dunes, and The Kitesurf Center (thekitesurfcentre.com), run by Rupert and his brothers, is the place for kite buggying, kite land boarding, hydrofoiling, stand-up paddle boarding and windsurfing. Rupert says they rarely saw any customers from Pontins – perhaps the occasional stag party – so the closure should not have a major impact on business, although he expects an impact on the village: “some good, some bad”.
Finally, just meters from the entrance to Pontins, but at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of holiday accommodation, is The Gallivant (thegallivant.co.uk), an adults-only wellbeing retreat aimed squarely at the urban crowd who want good food . , good wine, rest and rejuvenation. Not a bluecoat in sight, and certainly not a sports tour destination (Pontin’s bread-and-butter weekend events).
It’s clear that a big change is happening in Camber, but for those hoping for a cheap, family-friendly holiday on the British coast, their options have only become more limited.