0:00:01 > 0:00:04The call of the sun. Irresistible.
0:00:07 > 0:00:13From the outing to the seaside, to the package tour to the Costas,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17holidays have always had a special place in the British imagination.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23On holiday, adults become children. We commune with nature.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Cast away our cares, and we fall in love with
0:00:26 > 0:00:31the promise of sun-kissed days and fun-filled nights.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36We journeyed far, and not so far, to search for the idyll
0:00:36 > 0:00:38of a decent beer or a nice cup of tea.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41Come rain or come shine,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44holidays have always been a very British love affair.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Britons have always sought escape from the tedium,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18toil, or even tyranny of their working lives.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22But before the 20th century, for most people, a week's respite
0:01:22 > 0:01:24remained a near-impossible dream.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34The Victorians popularised the day-trip to the seaside,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37but for most of us, real, extended holidays
0:01:37 > 0:01:39remained stubbornly out of reach.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46Then, in the early 1880s, when Lancashire's mill owners
0:01:46 > 0:01:50turned off their machinery, workers were allowed to take a week off.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53The so-called Wakes weeks became a tradition that lasted
0:01:53 > 0:01:56for more than half a century.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59People had these collective holidays, so you went on holiday
0:01:59 > 0:02:03with the people from your factory or even the people from your street.
0:02:03 > 0:02:04The famous Wakes weeks
0:02:04 > 0:02:07when almost an entire town would decamp en masse to the seaside.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11The Mecca for these people has got to be Blackpool.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13It was the working-class resort of choice.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20New rail links connected the interior to the seaside.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22Now, quickly and affordably,
0:02:22 > 0:02:24Britons everywhere could reach the resorts.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Inland towns and cities were joined up
0:02:28 > 0:02:33to particular places on the coast, so for example, Leicester was linked
0:02:33 > 0:02:34to the Lincolnshire coast.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37So places like Skegness, Mablethorpe.
0:02:37 > 0:02:38And same with London,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41if you lived in south London you might go to Brighton.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44If you lived in East London, you'd go to Southend or Margate.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51Originally, the Victorians visited the coast
0:02:51 > 0:02:55for its healthy, curative air and morning dips in the sea.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58But soon other attractions and entertainments emerged.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00The end of the pier show had arrived.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05The whole thing about the pier was that it actually allowed you
0:03:05 > 0:03:06to walk on water.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10You could feel like you were transported to another world.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Some of the pavilions where they had the shows, the variety acts
0:03:13 > 0:03:15and the pierrots and music-hall things
0:03:15 > 0:03:17were incredibly exotic in their design.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24The seaside became a fantasy land where holidaymakers might
0:03:24 > 0:03:29escape the humdrum and, for a while, experience the extraordinary.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36But in the years ahead, the more adventurous would have
0:03:36 > 0:03:39the opportunity to leave the coast and go out to sea.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44So for three-and a-half days, we are cruising leisurely down
0:03:44 > 0:03:48into the warm sunshine, a happy family party.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53Interesting companionships develop. Some shipmates become soulmates.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58And by the time we sight land, our cruise ship becomes friendship.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05In the 1920s and '30s, more and more passenger ships
0:04:05 > 0:04:09turned to cruising to meet the rising demand for glamorous holidays at sea.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13The ship itself was luxurious.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17It was no longer just a means of transport.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Sometimes the ship facilities would be more important
0:04:20 > 0:04:23than the places that you were actually visiting.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31Many sun-seekers crossed the Channel to the fashionable seaside
0:04:31 > 0:04:35towns of Normandy, while the well-heeled went south
0:04:35 > 0:04:38to the ultra-chic resorts of the French Riviera.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42Only the wealthy can go to the French Riviera, so if you've got a tan,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45that means you got some money, so it's very, very aspirational.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50Having a tan is no longer associated with poverty and work outdoors,
0:04:50 > 0:04:55but of a healthy lifestyle and also a leisured lifestyle.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Visitors to the Riviera would bring the latest French fads, fashions
0:05:00 > 0:05:02and lifestyles back home to Britain.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07It didn't matter that the temperature is not a patch on Nice
0:05:07 > 0:05:12and Monte Carlo, they're sort of suspending their reality
0:05:12 > 0:05:16for a short time and bringing a bit of the Riviera to the British seaside.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22For most people, though, adventures in Europe were a pipe dream.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Instead, for over a century, thousands of city dwellers opted
0:05:28 > 0:05:33for affordable working holidays in the hop fields of Kent and the Midlands.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37In the 1940s, Sally Cridland's family travelled from their home
0:05:37 > 0:05:40at Oldhill near Birmingham to the hop farms of Worcestershire.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50You left the dirty factory type of environment that we lived in.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55So it had to be a holiday, because you were going into the countryside.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59The air was fresh, you could see trees.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03There were no trees and fields around where we lived at all.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09- Sing us a song, Dad. - Sure!
0:06:09 > 0:06:12# Alice in Wonderland thought she would go
0:06:12 > 0:06:15# Into a laugh today cinema show... #
0:06:15 > 0:06:19A lot of people say that communal singing
0:06:19 > 0:06:22was part of the entertainment, and it's what made it a holiday.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27So there was a sort of collectivity, being together which was important.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33The agricultural labour of hop picking was by no means a break
0:06:33 > 0:06:37from work, but generations still cherished the chance
0:06:37 > 0:06:38to get away once a year.
0:06:40 > 0:06:41Oh, what a difference to London.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46I've come here to try and get that schoolgirl from Clacton.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48People said that those that had come back from hop picking
0:06:48 > 0:06:50looked healthier and more radiant
0:06:50 > 0:06:54because they'd had several weeks out in the sunshine.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Perhaps they'd have looked better if they hadn't had to work as well,
0:06:58 > 0:07:00but it was an improvement.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09For years, the working holiday was one of the few affordable options
0:07:09 > 0:07:11for British families.
0:07:11 > 0:07:12But in the 1930s,
0:07:12 > 0:07:17more and more people were able to get away for a proper break.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21With the very much overdue introduction of holidays with pay,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24not only the classes but the masses, to say nothing of the missus and kids,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26will be having their first real holiday.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33In 1938, the Holidays With Pay Act gave employees
0:07:33 > 0:07:35the right to a week's paid leave.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40Now 50 million Britons could get away from it all.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54Yet at first, few could take advantage of their new entitlements.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00A year after the Act was passed, Britain was at war.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04Amid widespread fears of invasion, Britain's beaches were fenced off.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09For six years, seaside holidays were put on hold.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12But, after the Nazis were defeated,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15families could return to Britain's beaches once again.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Two things Jill has dreamed about all her young life.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23One is when Daddy comes home from fighting in the Far East,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26and the other is today, her first trip to the seaside.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Is it as good as they say it is in the story books?
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Well, this is the day to find out.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35The day mother's kept her promise to take Jill to see the sea.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38The little things, the pebbles, the rock pools,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40she sees a crab for the first time.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43There are the donkey rides, she has her first ice-cream,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45but it's the whole package.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48It's the sunshine on the beach and being able to wiggle your toes
0:08:48 > 0:08:50in the sand for the first time
0:08:50 > 0:08:54and feeling the waves crashing against your legs.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55That's just wonderful.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Post-war day-trippers made up for lost time,
0:09:02 > 0:09:06and in droves they headed back to the seaside.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11There was usually a lot of drink on the bus.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14They were quite a rowdy bunch. A lot of them are middle-aged women.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18They're not young and fancy free, but they've got the day off.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20No husbands, no kids, no work,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23and they're jolly well going to have a good time.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28My old woman went on a day-trip to Southend last Monday.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31She left me at home to do all the smalls with only half a bar of caper.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33Imagine how I felt turning the old mangle
0:09:33 > 0:09:35while she was gallivanting about on Southend prom.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43# Into each life some rain must fall... #
0:09:44 > 0:09:49Come rain or shine, the trip to the seaside was associated
0:09:49 > 0:09:51with fun, freedom and laughter.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55This was a generation that was undeterred by the vagaries of the British weather.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59We grew up in homes without central heating,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03so the idea of swimming in the North Sea wasn't that ludicrous.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06And we were used to being out in the wind and the weather too,
0:10:06 > 0:10:08so there was no hardship.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10That was good, blustery stuff.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14If they were fortunate they would have free activities
0:10:14 > 0:10:18of the beach, the swimming, making sandcastles and so on,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21but if it was raining then they'd have to find something else to do.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Indoor entertainments were too expensive for many holidaymakers.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32And for guests at the traditional seaside boarding house,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35staying indoors wasn't necessarily an alternative.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40There was definitely the stereotypical landlady
0:10:40 > 0:10:43who sort of came down in her carpet slippers and curlers
0:10:43 > 0:10:46and bossed you about and was probably quite rude.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50She took your money, but you didn't get very much in return
0:10:50 > 0:10:52beyond that bed.
0:10:52 > 0:10:53Once breakfast was finished,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56you would have to leave the boarding house.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59The door would be locked behind you. You don't have a key.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00And, obviously,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04if you have the misfortune to have a wet week in Bognor,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07then it is really quite unfortunate because there's no provision.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10The landlady won't say, "Oh, it's raining.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Just come in and spend some time in your room."
0:11:15 > 0:11:19But, by the Fifties, there was one popular holiday institution
0:11:19 > 0:11:22that always offered a warm welcome to its guests.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Hello, everyone.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31This is Beryl, your Radio Butlin announcer wishing you
0:11:31 > 0:11:32a very good morning.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Now, holiday camps were dotted along the British coastline.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42After further improvements in paid leave entitlements,
0:11:42 > 0:11:43the holiday camp business was booming.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Operators like Butlin's delighted visitors by offering
0:11:47 > 0:11:49private chalets and indoor amusements
0:11:49 > 0:11:52as well as all the fun of the seaside.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58To illustrate our point, we go now to a holiday camp in Clacton
0:11:58 > 0:12:00and at the same time introduce a new sport, pram racing.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Which, as you can see, has its share of hazards for the inexperienced.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08Camp proprietor Billy Butlin created a technicolour playground
0:12:08 > 0:12:11for children and adults alike.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Ever present were the Redcoats,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16who did all they could to deliver on the promise
0:12:16 > 0:12:17of Butlin's famous motto.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20"Our true intent is all for your delight."
0:12:20 > 0:12:22It sounds twee.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26But he meant it, and followed it up
0:12:26 > 0:12:28and you, as his employees,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30had to follow that up.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33You had to sell that. No other message, that was it.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36"Our true intent is all for YOUR delight."
0:12:36 > 0:12:38'At our holiday camp, however,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40'you might be asked to volunteer, army fashion,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43'even if you don't know a trampoline from a trombone and don't want to,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46'in which case your luck is right out.'
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Although you encouraged people to join in, you didn't coerce anybody to join.
0:12:50 > 0:12:51Well, occasionally, you'd drag them in.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54And if they ran away and didn't want to bother,
0:12:54 > 0:12:55then, you'd let them go.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58But you did bring them out. And they thanked you for that
0:12:58 > 0:13:01when you brought them out and gave them a bit of confidence.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06Willingly or not, campers were roped
0:13:06 > 0:13:11into all kinds of harebrained stunts, games and challenges.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13There was a competition for everyone.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16The camps celebrated knobbly knees,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18beautiful eyes
0:13:18 > 0:13:20and even the chopstick dance.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26In the camps, no craze was too crazy,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28no activity too outlandish.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39'Oh, no! We've heard of crazes, but this is ridiculous.'
0:13:39 > 0:13:42You can't do underwater twisting in Sutton Coldfield,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45but you can do it if you go to your Butlin's camp.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48So they're looking for a new experience that, you know,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Mrs Welthorpe next door has never had.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59At the camps, British holidaymakers found fun, freedom and peace of mind
0:13:59 > 0:14:01in a safe, comfortable environment.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04They seemed to offer the complete holiday solution.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07# Shine on, harvest moon
0:14:07 > 0:14:10# For me and my gal. #
0:14:10 > 0:14:15It was a transposition of the entire family into an encampment.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18You wouldn't go out of it. Everything was provided.
0:14:18 > 0:14:24And the idea of everything being provided was just wonderful.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29'Based on the American-designed track at Disneyland,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31'this holiday high-riding monorail
0:14:31 > 0:14:33'has caught the imagination of young and old.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38'Germany and Japan already have commuter tracks to ease road congestion.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42'So Britain can't afford to wait too long before taking the plunge.'
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Butlin wants people to keep coming back year after year
0:14:45 > 0:14:49and he's very conscious of the need to provide them with something different,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52so he had a dedicated workshop, which made all these rides in Skegness.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55And so, he's not just being innovative in the holiday camps market,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57he's been innovative just generally
0:14:57 > 0:15:01in the kind of things that he's bringing in from abroad.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04'The Western atmosphere has been recreated here
0:15:04 > 0:15:06'in a Clacton holiday camp.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10'And there's no doubt it's an idea which really ropes the customers in.'
0:15:13 > 0:15:16In the time they spent aboard the monorail or at the themed bars,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20campers could imagine they were in lands far away.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30'On the railway stations, they used to tell us Skegness was bracing,
0:15:30 > 0:15:31'but they never warned us
0:15:31 > 0:15:34'we might expect a tropical storm as bracing as this.'
0:15:34 > 0:15:38THUNDER
0:15:38 > 0:15:41The Beachcomber Bar had this amazing facility
0:15:41 > 0:15:43that you could sit in the bar
0:15:43 > 0:15:45and be in a tropical storm
0:15:45 > 0:15:48and then, suddenly, the sun would come out.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51And this happened sort of every half hour or something.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57The jovial atmosphere was doggedly maintained by the Redcoats,
0:15:57 > 0:16:01whose sunny demeanour often lasted way beyond the summer months.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05You find yourself later, after the season,
0:16:05 > 0:16:07walking down the main street in a town
0:16:07 > 0:16:10and you realise they're all looking at you very strangely
0:16:10 > 0:16:13because you're grinning from ear to ear and saying hello to everybody,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15because you've been doing that for 16 weeks.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18And you can't get out of it. You've been to smile school.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21But that was the joy of it, it was wonderful.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27The holiday camp helped to establish the tradition
0:16:27 > 0:16:29of the collective British holiday,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32a tradition that survives to this day.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36But some British holidaymakers were desperate
0:16:36 > 0:16:40to escape the pre-packaged mass-market experience
0:16:40 > 0:16:44and find their very own route to holiday heaven.
0:16:44 > 0:16:45People suddenly realised
0:16:45 > 0:16:48what a gorgeous, wonderful country Britain was.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52And the landscape began to impress itself on people.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56And there was nothing better than to have your own car and drive around.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00It was just thrilling and exceptional to what we had known.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07By the '60s, many Britons sought escape via the open road
0:17:07 > 0:17:13and dreamt of discovering remote and forgotten corners of their homeland.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15The harder it is to get somewhere,
0:17:15 > 0:17:19then, the more it appeals to a certain type of holidaymaker.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23In an age of mass ownership of the motorcar,
0:17:23 > 0:17:28the joys of the great British camping and caravanning holiday
0:17:28 > 0:17:31were available to millions.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35For the pioneers, rural Britain was like a new frontier.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40There's a kind of romance to camping and caravanning holidays,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42but putting the holiday camp behind you
0:17:42 > 0:17:44and the kind of, the crowded Blackpool beach
0:17:44 > 0:17:46and going off on your own,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48and the freedom of the open road
0:17:48 > 0:17:52and going off and spending a week sitting in a caravan
0:17:52 > 0:17:56with hail pouring down outside the windows, endlessly playing Ludo.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Early camping holidays tended to appeal
0:18:00 > 0:18:03to the more stoical and plucky side of the British spirit.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08The idea that being outdoors is good for you is quite a new thing.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13And I suppose that's all tied up with having more leisure time available to take advantage of it.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16It's also about cycling, it's about hiking in the mountains
0:18:16 > 0:18:18and you take your tent with you.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23This is really the beginnings of camping becoming a popular pastime.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26For some holidaymakers,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30the '60s caravanning experience was reminiscent of the time
0:18:30 > 0:18:35when train companies offered a cheap alternative to seaside lodgings
0:18:35 > 0:18:39by renting out disused converted railway carriages
0:18:39 > 0:18:41parked off the beaten track.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43'A coach makes a grand holiday villa.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46'Especially fitted up for domestic occupation,
0:18:46 > 0:18:47'it's roomy and bright inside
0:18:47 > 0:18:50'with everything laid on for Mother's comfort.'
0:18:50 > 0:18:55Camping coaches were introduced by some of the railway companies.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58They would convert them so that they were like a luxury caravan
0:18:58 > 0:19:01and then tow them to a siding,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03perhaps near the seaside or in the countryside,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05and then leave it there for a week
0:19:05 > 0:19:08and the holidaymaker could rent the carriage
0:19:08 > 0:19:10and live in it for their holiday.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15By the early 1960s,
0:19:15 > 0:19:20there were 75,000 drivers towing caravans on Britain's roads.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Even as they ventured into ever more unfamiliar territory,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29many were determined to take along a little bit of home.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32One of the weird things about the British and their holidays
0:19:32 > 0:19:35is that for all we talk about going away and escaping,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39when we go there, we want it actually to be just like home.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43So in the caravans, people want to kind of recreate the atmosphere
0:19:43 > 0:19:44of the kind of suburban semi -
0:19:44 > 0:19:47the hearth, the knick-knacks over the fireplace,
0:19:47 > 0:19:49all that kind of thing.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53It's the exoticism of the escape but with the reassurance of the familiar at the same time.
0:19:53 > 0:19:58'Salute British ingenuity, behold the ubiquitous mobile home,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01'a two-wheeled tribute to the British spirit of adaptability
0:20:01 > 0:20:04'and to the great and growing pastime of messing about in caravans.'
0:20:06 > 0:20:09In our desperate quest to stand out from the crowd,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12we made some most unusual holiday choices.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17'But, as ever, there's more to it than that.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20'A family in Lancashire has built a caravan that's also a boat.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23'And you don't need an amphicar to get it afloat.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25'You just park by the river, forget about your car
0:20:25 > 0:20:27'and take to the waves.'
0:20:29 > 0:20:32People actually buy into ideas like the caraboat,
0:20:32 > 0:20:37the amphibious caravan that look completely bonkers to our eyes.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41That you would actually sort of park your caravan on the slipway,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43and then get in, make a cup of tea on the Primus stove
0:20:43 > 0:20:45and steer it like it's a boat.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48It does look completely bizarre to our eyes.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52But I think it was just part of that general enthusiasm
0:20:52 > 0:20:54that people were willing to try this.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59It's all a bit James Bond.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02But I think what it testifies to it's this sort of new spirit
0:21:02 > 0:21:04of doing something different from the people next door,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07of doing something a little bit wacky, almost.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10And all that that reflects, of course, is rising affluence,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13you know, in a newly affluent society,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16people are keen to mark themselves out as individuals
0:21:16 > 0:21:18and not to be a part of the great mass
0:21:18 > 0:21:21going to Billy Butlin's camp at Bognor or something,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23to be different.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29'Goodbye, England. You wave and you're off for the day.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32'Off to the continent for a day of wine and wonders
0:21:32 > 0:21:35'and back in time for a goodnight cup of cocoa.'
0:21:35 > 0:21:38If British holidaymakers aspired to one thing,
0:21:38 > 0:21:43it was to join the privileged ranks of the continental traveller.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Going abroad was a completely new experience for most people
0:21:47 > 0:21:50in the days before mass air travel,
0:21:50 > 0:21:53when the continent seemed much further away.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Just going on the boat, on the ferry to France would be an exciting adventure.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02It was very important to have a passport.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05It was a navy blue one in those days, with lots of royal seals on it.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09And you felt proud to be British. That's what you were proud of.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11You wanted your passport to be inspected.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13You wanted people to know. You wanted to brandish it.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18For the holidaymakers of the mid 1950s,
0:22:18 > 0:22:23the arrival of the cross-channel ferry seemed to open a pathway to another world.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31'On the beach, it's the same old sun that shines down on Blackpool,
0:22:31 > 0:22:35'but there's something here that makes it just that little bit different.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39'Maybe it was the wine you had with your lunch... Oh, sorry, dejeuner.'
0:22:41 > 0:22:44You couldn't imagine anything more exotic. It would be like going to Tibet today.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49It was so exotic. I mean, the French, they ate on the street.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54They had tables and chairs and they had coffee, lots of coffee.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56We had... I'd only had tea.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02The continent held the allure of fine wine,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05exotic cuisine and constant sunshine.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08But it didn't always live up to its mystique.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14To go to the south of France or go to Italy,
0:23:14 > 0:23:15they have no conception of them,
0:23:15 > 0:23:17of what it would you like when they get there.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21And they are surprised and they're shocked by the heat and the light
0:23:21 > 0:23:23and the smells of the kind of food.
0:23:23 > 0:23:29Obviously, it's terribly disappointing and upsetting to a lot of people - pasta, garlic.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31The sheer level of kind of difference
0:23:31 > 0:23:37makes the continent both very alluring and a little bit frightening to people, I think, in the '50s.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44In the jet age, as cheap air travel became a reality,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48millions of Britons seeking fun in the sun
0:23:48 > 0:23:51started saving for new mass-market foreign package holidays.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Sally Cridland was a single mother in her late 20s
0:24:00 > 0:24:05when she and her three friends boarded a package flight to Majorca in 1967.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10She joined increasing numbers of British tourists
0:24:10 > 0:24:13getting their first taste of a foreign holiday.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16I thought I was the bee's knees, to be honest with you.
0:24:16 > 0:24:17SHE LAUGHS
0:24:17 > 0:24:19I really did.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23You know, the four of us, we, we had a drink at the airport
0:24:23 > 0:24:25and got on that flight
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and you could have a drink on the flight, naturally, in those days.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31And, also, you could smoke.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35So, of course, on the flight, it was, we were on our way.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37And it was a great feeling.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41I don't think I've ever felt the same from any flight,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44wherever I've been all over the world since that first time.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47'On behalf of Captain Bromley and the rest of the crew,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50'we do hope that you enjoyed your flight with us this morning
0:24:50 > 0:24:53'and we wish you all a very enjoyable holiday.'
0:24:53 > 0:24:57The wine was naff, to be honest,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00the food was too greasy.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04But, other than that, the sunshine made up for it.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08Oh! Four girls going off on their own, just divorced.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11They are off for a good time. Well, we did have a good time.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15THEY SING
0:25:15 > 0:25:18People wanted life, wanted vigorous night life.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21They wanted to be jolly all the time
0:25:21 > 0:25:24and so the evening entertainment mattered a lot.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27# Espana por favor
0:25:27 > 0:25:29# Ole! #
0:25:29 > 0:25:32As well as late nights, the package tour
0:25:32 > 0:25:36offered modern accommodation with creature comforts
0:25:36 > 0:25:38unknown on holidays back home.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42You had your own bathroom. That was revolutionary.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46You had your own balcony overlooking the sea.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50A tower block in the Costa Brava - bliss.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57The Spanish resorts would become a home from home for Britons abroad.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Part of the appeal was the cost.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05British tour operators now offered cheap, all-inclusive package deals
0:26:05 > 0:26:09to attract new, lower income holidaymakers.
0:26:10 > 0:26:16The travel company might provide a free barbecue, free wine,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20free cigars and, when people were paying for a holiday,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22they had all these things included with it.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Obviously, they want to get the full value for their money.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28And so, if something is offered, they took it.
0:26:30 > 0:26:31When they go to Benidorm,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35the idea of completely fending for themselves is alien to them.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38The expect things to be laid on for their money.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41It kind of is the ethos of the holiday camp,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44but transplanted 500 miles to the south.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51With the Spanish package holiday came guaranteed sunshine.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55And, as the British learned to shed their inhibitions,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58the sun tan became an indispensable badge of honour.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02It was very important to come back with a good tan, a very good tan.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04You hadn't got long to get it,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06so there was the rite of passage
0:27:06 > 0:27:10that was for two days you got hideously sunburnt.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12You'd never heard of suncream before.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16You just went and, really, you wanted to get sunburnt
0:27:16 > 0:27:18so people would know you'd been in the sun.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21You got red and you blistered some time.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23And then, all began to flake off,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26so it was a sort of ordeal by toasting, really,
0:27:26 > 0:27:28until you were just as you wanted to be
0:27:28 > 0:27:30and then it was time to come home.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33And the first thing, you know, people would say,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35"Where have you been?"
0:27:35 > 0:27:39You know, "Where did you get that colour?"
0:27:41 > 0:27:47By 1990, British holidaymakers were taking 31 million foreign trips a year.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Cheap package deals to places like Benidorm
0:27:50 > 0:27:53were now as British as fish and chips.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57During the past century,
0:27:57 > 0:28:01we've had conflicting attitudes to the idea of travel.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08We've cherished distinctive individualised getaways
0:28:08 > 0:28:11and embraced the mass-market package experience.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16We've craved adventures abroad,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19but have been wary of the unfamiliar once we're there.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Yet Britons have an unswerving love of holiday making...
0:28:27 > 0:28:30..our long history of collective wanderlust suggests
0:28:30 > 0:28:34that when we are away, we're very much at home.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd