# Pontins, Blackpool - October '10 - Lots of pics



## Lauren444

*The visit-*
I went here today with my boyfriend Chris, and my sister Sara.
Most of the demolition has started and not much still stands here, Nice explore though! I used to come here when I was younger for a week or two holiday, I must say I enjoyed it here, although looking at these photo's, It's hard to believe!
Didn't see all of the site as there was lots if diggers and workmen here.
It was extremely eery, and reminded me of a ghost town! 
I would love to have come here for an explore when it first closed! 
Not much to see, once you have seen one chalet, you have seen them all.

*The History-*
The park did make some improvements to the facilities before its closure, put visitors still decliened to book.
Blackpool pontins closed on October 2nd 2009, due to a fall in visitor numbers, and the amount of money that would be needed to improve the parks facilities would just have been too much.
The Blackpool Pontin’s site is expected to redeveloped by former Pontin’s owner Trevor Hemmings, who still owns the freehold to the land.






















































































Thanks for looking


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## klempner69

Nice one..any sign of a pool?


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## Lauren444

No thats gone, did go in one room which smelled very strong of chlorine, with loads of powder on the floor, im presuming this was chlorine?


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## smileysal

Really glad someones done Blackpool Pontins.  Shame to see it like that, went there way back in the 80's lol. 

Trevor Hemmings owns the land Pontin's is built on, and Pontin's wanted to invest in updating the site. But as they leased both Blackpool and Hemsby site, from T Hemmings, and he wanted to demolish the site and build houses on it. (Why anyone would want to live in a house directly under the approach to the airport runway is anyones guess  ).

Not sure what's happened yet with Hemsby, but still a shame the Blackpool site is going. Excellent pics btw. Love closed holiday camps.  Wish I'd had the foresight to take pics of mine before it closed and had a housing estate on it. 

Cheers,

 Sal


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## TK421

Jeez that is looking a bit grim, but is still nicer than Pontins Southport which is still running

Well done for getting round, and I have to wonder looking at the information poster, just how difficult is it to operate a shower?!?


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## Lost Explorer

Nice pictures! Looks pretty depressing!

I think it was here, but when I went there was a murder on site and everything was courdened off! The joys


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## Lost Explorer

Lauren444 said:


> No thats gone, did go in one room which smelled very strong of chlorine, with loads of powder on the floor, im presuming this was chlorine?



Hope you didnt breathe much of that in! Dodgy stuff


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## nij4829

I am currently at Pontins Southport and the chalets look exactly the same lol.

I must admit i fancied a litle trip to Pontins Blackpool and a couple of other places in the area whilst I was here, but with a 1 year old it isnt easy lol


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## Lauren444

Lost Explorer said:


> Hope you didnt breathe much of that in! Dodgy stuff



Oh dont tell me that!! I was in that room for a good few minutes! Got me all worried now haha


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## Lauren444

nij4829 said:


> I am currently at Pontins Southport and the chalets look exactly the same lol.
> 
> I must admit i fancied a litle trip to Pontins Blackpool and a couple of other places in the area whilst I was here, but with a 1 year old it isnt easy lol



What with the smashed windows and the crap all over the floor . haha


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## sara35

was good today, but very eerie, hated the pigeons


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## woody65

is Trevor Hemmings the same guy that owned American adventure and is worth around £700m?


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## KooK.

great report, without all the jovility of holiday makers it looks like some kind of army base/prison camp though!


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## nivlac

woody65 said:


> is Trevor Hemmings the same guy that owned American adventure and is worth around £700m?



i just been googling and i think hi did own or even still does own aa my thought is with that amount of money why was it not profitable for him to invest in the park and move things forward? saying that i think, there may have been a lot of local protest as i vagley rember a news bullitin where they wanted to turn it into a holiday park !!!(i think he owns potins!!!! so makes sense) but would of saved the park made local jobs etc. so what will happen with it now who knows? and does this trevor still own it?


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## Lauren444

I think they are going to build a housing estate on the land, but like someone else has said on this post, why would you want to live underneath the approach to a runway? When we were in there a plane came in and it was so loud!


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## chaoticreason

Cool explore.
I stayed at a Pontins holiday camp in Yorkshire a few times as a kid.
I recall (though my memory is anything but good,straying wildly into infinitely fallible realms of complete dereliction) it being a cool (atleast I thought so height 2.5 - 4.0ft) experience.
Atleast they let you go home at the end of two weeks.Given this state of decay there appears not to be too many differences visually to that of a concentration camp.
If I recall the place correctly there was a certain 'ethos' pertaining toward a direction of conformity,and a 'you will enjoy yourself' type of regime.
Alas! despite all my negativity I did enjoy myself as a child at Pontins concentration camp.

Sorry if I have offended anybody I am not making light of concentration camps at all.


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## Derelict-UK

For 1 year, that place looks well fooked!

Although saying that, I drove past it in 2002 and it looked pretty bad then!!


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## krela

chaoticreason said:


> Sorry if I have offended anybody I am not making light of concentration camps at all.



Yes, actually yes you are.

I'm not surprised it looks so bad to be honest, they didn't look much better when open!

Southport is only vaguely better in places and that's still open...


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## sidsabbath

Great report. I love places like this...... it gives a real sence of abandonment.


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## BahrainPete

KooK. said:


> great report, without all the jovility of holiday makers it looks like some kind of army base/prison camp though!



I couldn't agree more there. It looks the most un-inviting place to be, and that's a shame considering it's for holidays.


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## RichardH

KooK. said:


> great report, without all the jovility of holiday makers it looks like some kind of army base/prison camp though!



As I was looking at the photos, I thought there was something "not quite right", aside from the general dereliction. I think you've nailed it.

Years ago I had cause to visit a permanent fairground, in the course of work. It was fairly early in the morning and although all the rides were set up and most of the stalls were unlocked, with one or two fairground staff pottering around, all the bright lights were off. Nothing was moving. It's very eerie finding yourself practically alone in a place that you associate with crowds of people enjoying themselves.


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## Lauren444

Yes, it was very eerie here, Especially on Halloween oooo! 
Im glad I got here before it was demolitied, I have seen a picture on another site and most of it has gone!


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## Foxylady

KooK. said:


> ...it looks like some kind of army base/prison camp though!


Funnily enough, my local holiday camp used to be nicknamed the 'concentration camp'. But I did find out that during the war it actually _was_ turned into a pow camp.  I don't know anything about Pontins history, but if it started before the war, then it might have been the same.


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## Ramsgatonian

I'm going to Blackpool in April (We're going for three nights - mainly for the roller coasters and Blackpool Tower!) And I hope we can go and see this one night... That is if it hasn't been demo'd yet.


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