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25<br />
The chalets of Pontins and Butlins would be<br />
packed to bursting, with Bluecoats and Redcoats<br />
doing their best to stay on top of jam-packed<br />
entertainment schedules. Usually centred around<br />
an iconic boating lake, chalets were arranged in<br />
a Panopticon-like structure (make of that what<br />
you will) where ‘a rainy day simply produces<br />
more striking evidence of how well a summer<br />
holiday programme can function indoors!’. Or<br />
so declares the Southport Pontins brochure in<br />
1972, anyway.<br />
And if that programme proved disappointing,<br />
not to worry. There was always plenty to do<br />
outside of the camps too. Blackpool was<br />
prolific for hosting comedy performances<br />
from the likes of Ken Dodd and Jimmy<br />
Clitheroe (A.K.A. The Clitheroe Kid) as well<br />
as musical guests like Cilla Black and The<br />
Beatles. Couples could head to the Winter<br />
Gardens or Tower Ballroom for an intimate<br />
waltz, while any superstitious folk could<br />
get their fortunes read along the Golden<br />
Mile. That’s without mentioning the iconic<br />
Blackpool Tower Circus and menagerie!<br />
Southport had its own fair share of memories, of<br />
course. Peter Pan’s Pool & Playground opened to<br />
the public in 1930, on the site where Ocean Plaza<br />
stands today. Boasting tall slides, flying aeroplanes,<br />
a Helter Skelter and a model railway, the playground<br />
was a great base for families wanting to keep the<br />
kids entertained – children from the Platt Bridge<br />
Legion would clamber aboard <strong>Wigan</strong> double<br />
decker buses to make<br />
the trip, and enjoy boiled ham and<br />
chips before heading home in the evening. The<br />
playground also afforded the opportunity to visit<br />
the nearby boating lake for a trip on the steamer<br />
or rowboats, and was ideal for a trip to Southport’s<br />
very own lido - perhaps a tad colder than the<br />
popular paddling pool over at Rhyl!<br />
Peter Pan’s Playground eventually changed its<br />
name to Happiland in the early 1970s ahead of its<br />
closure and demolition in 1989.<br />
Of course, if you were hankering for something<br />
a bit more thrilling, the larger amusement<br />
parks offered a bit more bang for your buck.<br />
Both Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Southport<br />
Pleasureland were operated by the same<br />
company, and in their heyday both offered a mix<br />
of classic British rides. A fan favourite, the humble<br />
funhouse probably wouldn’t win any health and<br />
safety awards nowadays, but many an hour<br />
could be whiled away on the Social Mixer –
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