Ayr | Barry Island | Bognor Regis | Clacton | Filey | Minehead | Mosney | Pwllheli | Skegness
Ever since the Bognor Camp opened in 1960 the front of the camp has housed the outdoor pool and the main reception building has sat behind it.
The building which housed the main reception and Beachcomber Bar (later converted into the Gala Bingo hall) downstairs and the Butlins head offices, call centre and archives upstairs was once a hive of activity, particularly on a Saturday afternoon when hoardes of campers would arrive on camp and check in at reception.
However, during recent years the building has slowly fallen into disuse with the check in moved into the Skyline and the head office and call centre moved to Hemel Hempstead. With space at a premium on Butlins' smallest remaining camp, the building is sadly marked for demolition as part of the plans for a new hotel.
We understand that the plan is to build the new hotel and car park on the site of the old boating lake. The reception building and outdoor pool are also marked for demolition as part of plans to "modernise" the resort and make room for further hotels. Butlins "Masterplan" shows that they plan to eventually demolish the whole of "Oyster Bay" and replace the chalets with a total of four hotels circling the entrance to the Skyline and place landscaped water gardens between the hotels and the Skyline.
The back of the building is the only part of the Bognor camp which still retains a lot of the old Butlins look and feel which was common place around the camps until the 1980's when a lot of the buildings on camp began to have cladding fixed around the outside. Now the rest of the buildings on the Bognor camp are covered in cladding.
Meanwhile, the front of the building has seen several face lifts over the years, some of which have been captured here to hopefully spark some memories.
The building no doubt holds many memories for many people. Not just for the many holiday makers checking in at reception every Saturday but also for the employees working in the offices upstairs. Butlins Memories Forum member "wearecity" recalls some of his holiday memories of the building and surrounding area from the 70's to date here. If you have more memories to share then please send us an e-mail.
As well as commemorating the building and it's memories, this page is also intended to keep a record of it's demolition. Therefore, if you are going to Bognor at any point soon and able to get photos of the building or surrounding area as the changes take place then we would very much appreciate copies for use on this site.
Read some personal memories of the building here.
