Filey Holiday Camp was a Butlin's

holiday camp A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with term ...

near

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parish in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, it is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing ...

, North Yorkshire, England, built for

Billy Butlin Sir William Heygate Edmund Colborne Butlin (29 September 189912 June 1980) was a South African-born British entrepreneur whose name is synonymous with the British holiday camp.''#refRiverside, American Heritage Dictionary 2004'', p. 135.#refSc ...

's holiday organisation. Construction of the camp began in 1939. From 1939 to 1945, the camp was used as a military training base, as RAF Hunmanby Moor. The camp closed in 1983. The camp was served by its own railway branch and station (

Filey Holiday Camp railway station Filey Holiday Camp railway station was a railway station built by the London and North Eastern Railway to serve Butlin's Filey Holiday Camp just south of Filey, in the then East Riding of Yorkshire, England. (Filey became part of North Yorkshir ...

) from 1947, however the station closed in 1977 due to greater car ownership. The derelict railway station platforms remain in situ today; however they are on private land. Part of the old camp was replaced by

Primrose Valley Primrose Valley is a coastal village south of Filey, North Yorkshire, England, within the Scarborough local government area. It was historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. It had a population of 451 in the 2011 census. ...

holiday park, and the adjacent "The Bay Filey" holiday resort. The boating lake was filled in and is now a large green area with a central path through it from the holiday park to the beach.

History

Holiday Camp Gets Going Again- Everyday Life at a Butlin's Holiday Camp, Filey, Yorkshire, England, UK, 1945 D25921

Filey Holiday Camp was being built for

in 1939. The outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

led to an arrangement with the War Ministry whereby the ministry financed the camp's completion and used it as housing for military personnel as ''RAF Hunmanby Moor''. Butlin reclaimed the base in 1945. A branch off the Hull Scarborough railway line was built in 1945 and formally opened in 1947. The line had its own terminal station

. A gauge

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

was installed at the camp around 1953. The original train, supplied by

Baguley Baguley ( ) is an electoral ward of the city of Manchester in Wythenshawe, England. The population at the 2011 census was 14,794. Baguley is derived from the Old English words Bagca, badger, and Leah, clearing or meadow. Historically in Cheshi ...

, was sold in 1975, the carriages being reused by the

Meirion Mill Railway The Meirion Mill Railway was a narrow gauge railway that operated at Meirion Mill in Dinas Mawddwy, Wales. It only operated for three years from 1975 to 1977. History Meirion Mill is a tourist attraction that operates in a large slate buildi ...

Dinas Mawddwy Dinas Mawddwy () is a village in the community of Mawddwy in south-east Gwynedd, north Wales. It lies within the Snowdonia National Park, but just to the east of the main A470, and consequently many visitors pass the village by. Its population is ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. At its peak, the camp accommodated 11,000 visitors, with 175,000 visitors in total in the 1975 season. The railway branch became less used by visitors from the 1960s due to the rise of car ownership, and closure was proposed in 1972, after which Butlin's funded the cost of the line. The line was closed in 1977. The Butlin's holiday camp was closed in 1983. The site was briefly re-opened as ''Amtree Park'' in 1986. The camp buildings were demolished between 1988 and 2003.

In popular culture

The camp was used as a filming location for the 1947 British comedy drama film ''

Holiday Camp A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with term ...

''. Although Filey camp had its own railway station, the opening shot of a train arriving at the station was filmed at

Sandsend railway station Sandsend railway station was a railway station on the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway. It was opened on 3 December 1883, and served the villages of Sandsend and Lythe. It closed on 5 May 1958. The station building is now a privat ...

, as the view at Sandsend was considered more spectacular.

References

Sources

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External links

Holiday camps Tourist attractions in North Yorkshire Tourist attractions in the East Riding of Yorkshire Filey {{UK-struct-stub