Bathing Beauty Contest

Butlins bounces back after the war and, as a bid to forget the years of austerity, focus is on glamour as Clacton campers parade as prospective beauty queens.

It was William King, a businessman from Cambridge we have to thank for this film of fun and frolics at Butlins. William had a holiday house at nearby Holland-on-sea and, as an enthusiastic amateur film maker, would visit Butlins at Clacton to film campers participating in events. These films were then screened at the Camp as part of the entertainment.

Billy Butlin's holiday camps were a successful formula providing budget holidays for thousands of working families keen to experience the on-site facilties and continuous timetable of entertainment. The Clacton-on-sea camp opened in 1938 but was soon requisitioned during WW2 as a training camp. Butlins reopened in 1946 and continued to operate there until 1983.