HAYLING ISLAND HOLIDAY CAMPS T H E H I S T O R Y O F HAYLING ISLAND HOLIDAY CAMPS T H E H I S T O R Y O F 5 A s a Hayling Islander, I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to take part in HSDC’s project to research the history of Hayling holiday camps and produce an exhibition, book and documentary film. Working on the project has given me a real insight into busy summers on the island from after the Second World War up to the 1980s. Holiday camps attracted thousands of people to Hayling every week before cheap foreign holidays and societal changes led to their popularity waning in the 1980s. During the 1930s, four major camps opened on the island. Post-war, each attracted thousands of families for each of the next three decades. The Civil Service Camp, opened in 1930, was Hayling’s first holiday camp, quickly followed by Harry Warner’s Northney Holiday Camp, which opened in 1932. Sunshine opened its doors in 1936 before Coronation became the fourth camp on the island when it opened the following year. At the end of the war, Warner bought the Civil Service Camp, which was re-named Southleigh. A fifth Hayling camp, Sinah Warren, opened in 1958 and was bought by Warner at the end of the decade. Coronation became Warner’s fourth Hayling camp when it was added to the Warner empire in the early 1960s. As part of the project, we have interviewed former employees and visitors to each of the five camps and found out more about life at each of them during the heyday of British INTRODUCTION holidays. One of the biggest differences I have noticed between life then and now is the way people on holiday were more prepared to take part in communal activities than they seem to be today. For example, fancy dress competitions were popular at all the camps but no pre- made costumes were available to buy as they are now. This meant people made their outfits at home and packed them in their luggage to wear during their stay. I really enjoyed listening to the stories of the people we interviewed and directing our documentary film shoot on the island. As a project team, we would particularly like to thank Valerie Warner , daughter-in-law of Harry Warner, for helping us tell the story of Warner’s considerable contribution to the development of the island’s holiday camps. Thanks also go to Steve Murray , our teacher and project co-ordinator at HSDC and Mark Coates and his Year 9 students at Hayling College for their work on this book. We are grateful to The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre for hosting our exhibition and to the team at Millstream Productions for their work on the documentary film that accompanies this book. Finally, we would like to thank the National Lottery’s Heritage Fund for funding this project. Tobey Gannon HSDC Student 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Editorial team Editor: Sophie Blake Deputy Editor: Chloe Saleh Research/interview/writing team: Bailey Boulton , Poppy Butler, Isabella Byrne , Livvy Coates , Eloise Coath , Liv Ditchburn , Edie Ellis , Tobey Gannon , Alice Giudici , Tres Glen , Chloe Hammond , Finlay Hodges , Sam Hughes, Issy Hutton , Bella King , Maja Kiss , Liza Kokina , Anna Lines , Patrycja Mroziak , Mutsawashe Ndovorwi , Elsa Perelyguine , Lucy Rivers , Morgan Rogers Cover photo: Mary Evans Picture Library/GERALD WILSON Many thanks to all of those who have helped in the production of this book, particularly Alen and Valerie Warner , son and daughter-in-law of Harry Warner, Steve Murray from HSDC and Mark Coates and Rob Shepherd from Hayling College. In addition to those interviewed for this book and accompanying exhibition and film, we would also like to thank Stephanie Barker , Ben Cloud , Kathryn Ferry , Jill Goulding , Andrew Griffin , Viv Hoyle , Peter May , Julia Mitchell , Dan Musty and Wayne Moody Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders of pictures to obtain permission for their use although this has not always been possible when photographs have been posted or re-posted to public groups on platforms such as Facebook. We apologise for any errors or omissions. We have taken every care to ensure the information in this book is accurate but, again, apologise for any errors that remain. 7 CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................. Acknowledgements...................................................................................................... Utopia by the Sea.......................................................................................................... Holiday Camp Pioneers............................................................................................... Railways Drive Tourism............................................................................................... Legislation for Leisure.................................................................................................. Warner Sets Up Camp.................................................................................................. Opening of Northney.................................................................................................... A True Holiday Pioneer................................................................................................ From Far and Wide....................................................................................................... Memories of Northney................................................................................................. A Future Partnership?.................................................................................................. Camps Join War Effort................................................................................................. A Mission to Sicily........................................................................................................ New Year Bravery......................................................................................................... A New Warner’s Camp................................................................................................ Bring Me Sunshine........................................................................................................ Sunny Memories........................................................................................................... Singing in the Sunshine................................................................................................ Rockin’ all over Hayling.............................................................................................. Activities for all Ages................................................................................................... An Act of Confession.................................................................................................... A Camp fit for a King?................................................................................................. Cameras at Coronation................................................................................................ Stylish Breaks at Sinah................................................................................................. When the Sun Sets........................................................................................................ That’s Entertainment.................................................................................................... Sea, Sun and Windsurfing........................................................................................... Camps Crazy for Carnival........................................................................................... Picture Postcard Breaks............................................................................................... Timeline of Key Events................................................................................................ Map of Hayling Island Holiday Camps.................................................................... 5 6 7 10 12 14 17 19 20 22 23 26 28 31 33 32 39 43 49 50 52 53 55 57 59 66 69 71 73 74 76 77 8 T ravelling for leisure was once the preserve of the wealthy. In the late 16th century, it became common in Britain for rich young men to travel abroad to Europe to finish their education. A grand tour could last for years and the itinerary would include all the most famous cities in Europe. It wasn’t until the mid-18th century that visiting the seaside grew in popularity and initially this was not for pleasure but for health as the restorative properties of seawater became recognised. Immersing the body in cold water, usually early in the morning, became popular and resorts began to grow. Bathing machines, horse (or sometimes human) drawn contraptions helped preserve Georgian propriety by providing the upper classes with a changing room in which they could slip into their bathing suit while travelling UTOPIA BY THE SEA Dr Richard Russell transformed Brighton. The popularity of bathing in sea water transformed the prospects of coastal towns and villages in Victorian England as they became health resorts. from sand to sea. Once at the water’s edge, they jumped quickly into the water then hopped back inside to dry off and change back into their clothes. Some bathing machines even had a “dipper”, whose delightful job it was to wait at the shoreline and push people into the sea. The dipper would then help people back into their bathing machine once they had finished bathing. The picture below left shows a Victorian bather entering the water from a bathing machine in 1893. The popularity of bathing in sea water as a restorative transformed the fortunes of many seaside villages and towns, which quickly became bustling health resorts. The town of Brighton, for example, began to develop following Dr Richard Russell’s prescription of the medicinal use of seawater for “The popularity of bathing in sea water transformed the fortunes of seaside towns.” 9 his patients. In 1750, he wrote a tract advocating the drinking of seawater and sea bathing and three years later erected a large house for his own and patients’ accommodation. Hayling’s poor road network at this time meant it did not attract the attention of health resort entrepreneurs. The major issue facing those keen to develop the island was that access from the mainland was difficult. The erection of a wooden road bridge in 1824 improved matters considerably and offered opportunities for speculators to start creating a new resort optimistically referred to as ‘Utopia by the Sea’. In 1825, Norfolk Crescent, generally known as The Crescent, and The Royal Hotel were built on Beachlands as the start of the project. The Crescent originally consisted of ten houses and there were plans to develop it into a grandiose arc offering magnificent views across the Solent to the Isle of Wight, but money ran out before this was achieved. The hotel was designed for the upper classes with a large billiard room, lounges and magnificent sea views. The new buildings were joined on the sea front by a salt water bath house and a library with picture gallery and chess room. In July 1867, the same month as the public opening of the Hayling Island Branch Line, popularly known as the Hayling Billy, a grandstand was built in front of the Royal Hotel and a two mile racecourse designed. It was hoped an annual horse race under the patronage of Queen Victoria and her mother would be established but there was local opposition to the plans and they never came to pass. Bathing machines were available at the water’s edge and, by 1909, many tents and a few huts could be found on the beach to offer privacy to those who wanted to change into less formal clothing to enjoy the sunshine. The Royal Hotel and The Crescent were part of the ‘Utopia by the Sea’ project. “A grandstand was built in front of the Royal Hotel and a two mile racecourse designed.” The timber bridge connecting Hayling to the mainland first opened in 1824. 10 C unningham Young Men’s Holiday Camp was Britain’s first holiday camp, opening long before the likes of Warner and Butlin came onto the scene. Joseph Cunningham, born in 1853, became the superintendent of Florence Institute in Toxteth, Liverpool, in 1889. The institute was designed to help keep young working class men off the streets and give them a sense of self- respect. Each August, Cunningham and his wife Elizabeth took the boys for a week’s holiday; in 1892 and 1893, they crossed the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man to set up camp. The summer camp was the highlight of the boys’ year, but ran at a loss, a fact that didn’t worry Cunningham as the institute’s finances were extremely healthy and he felt the difference could easily be covered. However, Cunningham had always had an uneasy relationship with the institute’s committee and it took a dim view of his lack of focus on balancing the books for the annual holiday. He was relieved of his position after five years in the job and turned his attention to developing the camp on HOLIDAY CAMP PIONEERS Cunningham pioneered holiday camps. Britain’s first holiday camp was set up on the Isle of Man at the end of the nineteenth century to offer a summer break to working class young men. the Isle of Man into a viable business. Undeterred by its financial record, the Cunninghams aimed to provide cheap holidays for young men of all denominations to create a place where “the greatest possible amount of health and enjoyment may be obtained for the least possible expenditure of cash.” In 1894, a new site was found for the camp on the Howstrake Estate, near Groudle Glen. Two miles along the coast from the capital Douglas, the new plot overlooked the sea and had excellent bathing nearby. Cunningham used his extensive network of contacts to ensure he attracted campers from numerous Sunday schools, harriers’ clubs and temperance leagues in and around Liverpool. Nonetheless, Cunningham initially had to use his savings to avoid “The greatest possible amount of health and enjoyment...for the least possible cash.” 11 financial ruin, necessitating an increase in price for campers. In 1894, the Florence Institute had paid ten shillings a head for a holiday; five years later, campers were paying seventeen shillings and sixpence. By the turn of the century, the camp was attracting sufficient numbers to keep it open from May to October. By 1908, Cunningham’s had acquired all the characteristics associated with later holiday camps. It provided “All campers had to sign a pledge on their booking form promising not to touch alcohol.” cheap accommodation on a massive scale, but instead of chalets, the campers slept in row upon row of candle-lit tents. The resort had all its own facilities, including a vast dining room, concert hall, bakery, barber’s shop, valet service, bank and heated swimming pool. Team games, sing songs and other organised amusements were just as much a part of life at Cunningham’s as they were in the later camps. One of the biggest differences between Cunningham’s and its more modern counterparts was the strictness of its rules. All campers had to sign a pledge on their booking form promising not to touch alcohol or use improper language during their holiday and no women were allowed to stay at the camp. Despite the social changes brought about by the First World War, Cunningham’s remained a men-only teetotal camp until it was requisitioned at the start of the Second World War. The Isle of Man camp. An advert for Cummingham’s Young Men’s Holiday Camp in 1906. 12 T he advent of the railways in the 19th century created a boom in the holiday industry as it meant a lot more people could get to holiday destinations quickly and easily. For example in 1835, 117,000 people travelled to Brighton each year by stagecoach, which would have taken around six hours in travel time. In 1862, 132,000 people travelled to the town by train on Easter Monday alone. Railway surveyor Francis Fuller visited Hayling in the 1860s and recognised its potential for tourism. Construction of a branch line to the mainland had begun in the 1850s, but was floundering because of cost cutting measures at the time of Fuller’s first visit. Fuller, who had invested in land on the island, had a personal reason for the line to be a success and his intervention led to the project being reinvigorated. This culminated in the opening of the Hayling Billy Line in July 1867. Connecting the island to Havant’s mainline station, the line soon became a popular way to access Hayling and, by the early 1950s, it could handle up RAILWAYS DRIVE TOURISM Hayling College students Bella King, Liza Kokina, Mutsawashe Ndovorwi and Isabella Byrne research the history of the Hayling Billy branch line. to 7,000 passengers a day on summer Saturdays. In 1932, when Harry Warner opened his first holiday camp many people travelled to Hayling by car but many also travelled by train to Havant and arrived in Hayling via the Billy Line. Julia Mitchell has fond memories of the Hayling Billy. She recalls: “I lived by the Hayling Billy in Lower Grove Road for the first 22 years of my life. And I think the earliest memory was when I was about five. I remember the train going up and down and the sound of the train and the hooter. The largest trains I can remember coming along the line were seven carriages with one engine at the front and two at the back. Sometimes they would get a bit low on water and they would stop, and if they stopped outside your house, then that was the ultimate accolade. The “By the early 1950s, it could handle up to 7,000 passengers a day on summer Saturdays.” Excited passengers travel on the Hayling Billy Line. 13 trains were absolutely packed. They had people standing all down the corridors and standing in the compartments as well as the people sitting in the compartments. So you really were packed in very, very tightly.” Edward Morgan, who worked for British Rail, recalls: “I was one of the clerical officers at Havant booking office and each summer one of us was seconded down to the Hayling line for clerical duties. The ‘bucket and spade’ brigade were very evident. There weren’t too many places to buy anything between the station and the seafront, apart from one shop, which only opened when “Officals from the holiday camps made representations in a bid to save the Billy Line.” the sun was out. On a fine Sunday, you couldn’t get enough trains to get the people on. You had them queuing, especially in the evening at Hayling. You had them queuing to go back on the trains to Havant.” While the Hayling Billy is generally seen to be a victim of Richard Beeching’s 1963 report calling for the closure of one third of the country’s 7,000 railway stations, the line was actually earmarked for closure before the Beeching report was released. Officials from the holiday camps on Hayling made representations in a bid to save the Billy Line. Edward Morgan recalls: “Warner’s made quite a lot of representation to try and get the line saved because their livelihood to some extent depended upon the line with the amount of people that came in.” Sadly, local efforts to save the The Hayling Billy is fondly remembered. Hayling Billy were to no avail and the line closed on 2nd November 1963. Julia Mitchell recalls: “It was very, very sad. I couldn’t believe it really, because it was such a remarkable link to Hayling and it seemed to serve so many people. I was deeply, deeply upset that it was really going to happen. I don’t think I really believed it was going to happen until I got on the train on the last public run out of Havant. In the compartment where I was sitting, it just so happened there were all people from Lower Grove Road, which was lovely.” The Hayling Billy crossing Hayling bridge. Picture: Berne Tingley. 14 W hile the development of the railways had driven travel to seaside towns in the nineteenth century, British social divisions meant affluent holidaymakers were loathe to share their coastal retreats with raucous daytrippers travelling in third class carriages, particularly when journeys were made on Sunday, the only free day of the week for the majority of factory workers. Keen to see his employees given more “Seaside resorts thereafter became hugely popular on Bank Holidays.” free time, banker and Member of Parliament John Lubbock helped drive new legislation through parliament, resulting in the Bank Holiday Act of 1871. While the act did not mandate universal holidays, these became established for white collar workers and soon spread to the wider population. Seaside resorts thereafter became hugely popular on Bank Holidays, but the working class still suffered from a paucity of paid leisure time. Trade unions first began to campaign for paid holidays for workers in 1911. Before the Industrial Revolution, farming offered seasonal breaks for workers, but the advent of industry meant most workers only had Sundays off alongside religious holidays such as Christmas and Good Friday. Pressure from unions and the International Labour Organisation saw the government pass the Holidays With Pay Act in 1938, which finally legitimised the leisure desires and activities of the working class. The final legislation recommended one week’s annual paid vacation to workers whose minimum rates of wages were fixed by trade boards. While this was progress, it fell short of the two weeks demanded by trade unions and it did not cover all workers. The campaign continued for decades and, over time, unions won the right to paid leave for more workers through collective bargaining agreements. As the act passed just a John Lubbock introduced Bank Holidays. LEGISLATION FOR LEISURE Social changes in Britain in the nineteenth century paved the way for workers to receive more leisure time, leading to a boom in domestic holidays. 15 year before the Second World War began, it had little immediate impact but once the war was over, the growth of holiday camps was inevitable with names such as Fred Pontin joining the industry to compete with the likes of Butlin and Warner. The potential for holiday camps to be successful was also boosted by the existence of Wakes Weeks in the industralised cities of Britain. After the introduction of Christianity to Britain in 597, church services began at sunset on Saturday with the late hour called a “wake” from the Old English word waecan. Over time, the religious wake developed into an annual festival featuring sports, games, drinking Factory workers such as these in Oldham in 1900 had little holiday entitlement. Charabancs preparing to leave for a Wakes Week day trip in Bury, Greater Manchester, iu 1920. and dancing. The more boisterous entertainments were moved from the sabbath to Saturday and Monday was reserved for public entertainments such as bands, games and funfairs. As the Industrial Revolution progressed, the tradition of wakes was revived and adapted into a regular summer holiday in parts of northern England and the Midlands. Each area nominated a Wakes Week during which the local factories, collieries and other industries closed for a week. As the tradition became formalised, seaside towns began to benefit from an influx of holidaymakers. Blackpool in particular benefited from the Wakes Week closures in Lancashire into the 1950s. Scottish workers enjoyed similar shutdowns such as Glasgow Fair, which developed from a weekend to a week of holiday at the end of July. In Wales, some 28,000 workers at tinplate factories stopped work for the first week of August. Many friends and family members were employed at the same workplaces, which meant Wakes Weeks offered people the opportunity to go on holiday en masse with sometimes entire streets going on holiday to the same place year after year. Today, Wakes Weeks no longer exist and their disappearance is due to “Seaside towns began to benefit from an influx of holidaymakers.” 16 several factors. Firstly, the decline in Britain’s manufacturing industry meant there was less need for them, but more importantly, the standarisation of school holidays folowing the introduction of the National Curriculum changed the nature of family holidays. During the height of Wakes Weeks, local schools would also often give students the week off in lieu of holidays at another time of the year. The new standardised holiday timetable made this impossible, leading to the end of a centuries old tradition. Lesley Willis, who worked for two seasons at Southleigh Holiday Camp, remembers groups of people from various parts of the country arriving in Hayling during Wakes Weeks. She Southleigh was a popular destination for groups of holidaymakers visiting the south during their Wakes Week. recalls: “The steelworks, the metal works, the factories and the coal mines in separate areas used to shut for a week or a fortnight in the summer and all the employees were encouraged to go on holiday. They used to come in a bunch and we’d get people from Scotland first as their holidays are slightly earlier than our holidays. So you’d have all the Scots there perhaps at the beginning of the season. It was nice because they had their own little things they did and you got involved with that and got to know them really well. The social side of it was good fun, especially as a 16 year old. At another time, you’d have all the miners from Wales. The Welsh can be quite rowdy and they’d be fun. You’d also get the odd sing-song because the men would be singing; it was very much a cultural thing and they were people that were quite hard up where they came from, their housing would be quite basic post-war. So they didn’t have very much money, and they appreciated that it was all inclusive and they didn’t have to pay for anything else. They had all their food, accommodation and entertainment within the package, which was very cheap. There were also competitions that meant people could come back for a free holiday at the end of the season if they won them. So some people used to come back and you’d see them again.” “They appreciated that it was all-inclusive and they didn’t have to pay for anything else.” Guests travelled to Southleigh from as far away as Scotland. 17 I n 1906, Harry Warner left his home in Kennington, in south London, and joined the Royal Artillery. While serving in Turkey during the First World War, he met Laurence Stokes, a young man from Denvilles, Havant who was to become a close friend. After the war, Harry, now a captain, was stationed in Winchester and was invited by Laurence to visit his family home for a weekend on the south coast. Harry was immediately smitten by Laurence’s sister Tizzy and the pair borrowed Laurence’s motorbike for an outing to Hayling Island. They were excited to see a ‘For Sale’ sign outside a beach café called The Grotto. This prompted Harry to ask Tizzy to find out the sale details as he was ready to leave the army and return to civilian life. When Harry next visited Havant, the couple discussed getting married and buying The Grotto with his army pension. The plan was put into action and The Grotto was renovated and WARNER SETS UP CAMP Warner used his pension to buy and renovate Grotto Café. Captain Harry Warner’s first visit to the Hampshire coast saw him fall in love with both the beaches of Hayling Island and his close friend’s sister... reopened, selling ice creams, scones, fruit buns and sandwiches. The business was an immediate success and the family moved to The Crescent on the island once Tizzy discovered she was pregnant with their first child, Dorothy. In 1930, Hayling Island’s first holiday camp opened. The Civil Service Holiday Camp adjoined Orchard Leaze, the Civil Service’s existing convalescent home. It was the second camp to be opened by W.J Brown, general secretary of the Civil Service Clerical Association. His first camp, a 30-acre site at Corton, Suffolk, had opened in 1924, offering fun and affordable holidays for union members. The camp proved extremely popular, leading to the opening of the second site on Hayling. The opening of the camp benefited The Grotto as it led to an influx of new customers. Harry felt he could offer the holidaymakers a better experience than they were getting, especially as the camp offered little “They were excited to see a ‘For Sale’ sign outside a beach café called The Grotto.” 18 entertainment beyond a camp fire and singsong. As a result, Harry and Tizzy visited a farm for sale in north Hayling and discussed selling the café to raise funds to build a holiday village there. An opportunity soon came Harry’s way after a fortuitous meeting with funfair entrepreneur Billy Butlin in Bognor Regis. South African-born Butlin had moved to England as a seven year old following the breakdown of his parents’ marriage and he spent five years following his grandmother’s family fair around the country. He later joined his mother in Toronto after she emigrated to Canada, but he returned to England after the First World War with only £5 to his name. He travelled to Bristol to find Monkey Island became a big attraction. Warner (left) and Butlin at the opening of Sinah Warren’s Grill Room in 1960, more than 30 years after first meeting. his mother’s family and bought a hoopla stall from his uncle, which he first operated at Axebridge Fair before Easter 1921. His stall enjoyed great success due to his decision to allow customers to win more often. While this gave him a smaller margin per customer than his competitors, the increase in business gave him a bigger overall profit. Soon he had his own travelling fair visiting country fairs such as Barnstaple and he opened some permanent stalls in Barry Island, Wales, in 1925. More financial success followed when Butlin secured an exclusive licence to sell dodgem cars in Europe and introduced them to his amusement park in Skegness in 1928. After meeting Butlin, Warner asked if he would be interested in buying the bulk of his land for a funfair. The deal was agreed and Butlin was soon busy building unusual attractions on Beachlands such as Monkey Island, Tunnel of Horror, the Big Dipper and Figure of Eight. The proceeds from the sale of the land enabled Warner to buy Northney Farm, one hundred acres of marshland. Northney was destined to become the location of the first Warner holiday camp with work starting towards the end of 1931. “Northney was destined to become the location of the first Warner Holiday Camp.” 19 C aptain Harry Warner’s experiences in the army had given him a good understanding of what constituted comfortable accommodation. After running The Grotto for several years, he also understood how to meet customers’ expectations. He used this knowledge to devise a holiday camp at Northney that he felt would appeal to working people. He was determined to provide comfortable beds, four meals a day with waiter service, a resident band and a full range of sporting activities, including swimming, boating, tennis, a pitch and putt and billiards. He decided all of this should be provided for a week for no more than an average week’s wage. Local builders helped Harry to improve the old farm barn to provide a large bar and café. A new complex was constructed with kitchen and dining room seating 200 people during the first season. There was also a bar and a ballroom with stage. Frank Stocker and his Band played nightly with guests often adding their own musical abilities to the entertainment. Tizzy enrolled local wives to help with the OPENING OF NORTHNEY The boating lake at Northney. After buying land at Northney, Harry Warner was determined to create a camp that would offer affordable, all-inclusive holidays to working people. booking office and caring for the chalets. Together with local schoolboys, they helped with the weekly changeover. Work on the Northney camp began in September 1931 and most of the work was completed over the winter months ahead of the 1932 summer season. “He decided all of this should be provided for no more than an average week’s wage. ” Frank Stocker and his Band were the resident house band at Northney. 20 C aptain Harry Warner’s vision to provide affordable, all-inclusive holidays for working people was not shared by all in Hayling in the 1930s. A report from the Portsmouth News published on 15th March 1932 makes it clear how hard Warner had to work to persuade the authorities that leisure opportunities were key to Hayling’s future economic success. The report focuses on a meeting organised by Hayling Ratepayers to protest against the intended extension of the funfair. It states: “The Rev William Scott described the Fun Fair as a foul blot on the landscape and emphasised the injurious effects which it had upon the convalescent pupils in the adjacent convent whose sleep was disturbed all hours of the night by the noise of what he called ‘hurdie gurdies.’” The report continues: “Leslie Grant, on behalf of Mother Superior at the Convent School, said that the noise from the Fun Fair not only interfered with the children’s studies, but made them not only wakeful at night, but terrified.” Warner attended the meeting to speak on behalf of Butlin’s fair and stressed A TRUE HOLIDAY PIONEER Warner’s vision for Hayling was not shared by all, but Northney’s success paved the way for the island to become a popular holiday destination. its economic benefits to Hayling. The newspaper report states: “Mr Warner said that the Fun Fair supplied a great need to the many holiday makers and brought the only “new” money into Hayling. He declared that through the Fun Fair the sum of £50 per week was spent in the island and it also gave open air recreation to those who could not afford 5s for one round of golf. He reminded the assembly that most of the unsightly bathing huts at present disfiguring the common belonged to the gentlemen on the platform who had criticised his project of constructing a parade, bathing shelters and boating lake. Mr Warner declared he was the only owner of property on the front who had not dug ditches to impede people’s use of the common and that the opposition was started by trade rivals.” The meeting concluded with the passing of a resolution to oppose the extension “The Rev William Scott described the Fun Fair as a foul blot on the landscape.” Warner defended the island’s funfair.