‘I ran away to be a Bluecoat!’: Pontins staff and guests recall happy memories of the once-loved holiday park now ranked worst in the country – and teetering on the brink of extinction.

It was voted the worst holiday park in the country, coming bottom of a survey of UK holiday parks by Which?.

But Pontins, for millions of Britons, used to be a much-loved holiday staple, as underlined by the former guests and staff we spoke to as the chain teeters on the brink of extinction, with just two parks from its original spread of 33 remaining . .

The level of commitment was intense for some – with one person revealing to MailOnline that she actually ran away to work at a Pontins camp.

Pontin’s was launched (with an apostrophe) in 1946 by Sir Fred Pontin (1906-2000) as an affordable seaside holiday for working-class families, with chalets arranged around communal areas to encourage guests to get to know each other, a defining part of the experience.

Bluecoats, rivaling Butlin’s Redcoats, provided entertainment and kept guests happy during their stay, which would involve a smorgasbord of activities, from talent competitions to tug-of-war and from knobby knees competitions to glamorous granny parades.

And over the years, Pontin’s famous – and even royal – ties have formed.

Lots of Bluecoats, like Shane Richie, Bradley Walsh and Bobby Davrowent on to have successful careers in entertainment, David Bowie and fashion designer Alexander McQueen reveals in a Dazed and Confused magazine maintenance they use to holiday at Pontin’s Camber Sands, and Princess Anne apparently stayed at the Prestatyn Sands Pontin’s in North Wales as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme in the 1960s.

This park is perhaps the most famous, in part because it was a filming location for the 1973 movie Holiday on the Buses, which was commemorated with a plaque in 2004.

Unfortunately, Pontin’s popularity waned in the 1980s as holidays abroad became more affordable.

The company struggled to keep up with maintenance costs and failed to modernize the parks.

The chalets and communal dining hall became obsolete and Pontin’s parks began to close.

In 2010 the company went into receivership, with most of the parks closing, and in 2011 it was bought by Britannia, a firm constantly derided as Britain’s worst hotel chain by a annual Which? recording.

Britannia operated six parks in 2023, but reviews were generally poor, many commenting on the outdated facilities.

Now most of the realm is closed, along with the apostrophe.

The two remaining open parks are Sand Bay Holiday Village in Weston-super-Mare and Pakefield Holiday Village in Lowestoft (which will temporarily close to guests in 2025 to accommodate workers building the Sizewell C nuclear power station).

Looking back on happier times, Kymberley Darby told MailOnline that in the early 1990s she was a Bluecoat at Pontin’s Brean Sands and Prestatyn – a role that was a life goal at the time.

She revealed: ‘I actually ran away to become a Bluecoat at 17. I packed my little VW Polo and followed my dream. Talking to people and making their vacations memorable was the best thing ever.

‘Sometimes I worked 18 hours a day but it felt like a constant holiday. The lack of sleep never bothered me – who cares when you’re having fun.

‘When I left my parents’ house, my mother still made my bed and tidied for me. I got a shock when I walked into my shared Pontin’s chalet with an outside toilet!’

Happy camper Martin Johnson said: ‘From the age of 40 my husband and I would go to Pontin’s in Prestatyn. It was a great holiday park, and we had a lot of good times there. We even won a few competitions!

“I’ll never forget when they came to our table with a birthday cake for my husband – and of course we cut it and shared it with all the Bluecoats!”

Meanwhile, Lisa Lacking, from Winsford, Cheshire, said: ‘I’ve been going to Prestatyn Sands Pontin’s since 1985.

‘I went as a child and then took my children. I also attended the holiday on the buses weekends. Great fun, and I made a lot of new friends. Many very happy memories.’

Pontins did not respond to a request to comment on the Which? report.