Camping Then & Now
Plus Ca Change
Ask a non camper about campsite life and you’re likely to hear about muddy fields, chilly ablutions blocks and soulless or non-existent facilities. For many non campers their view of camping is based on distant childhood memories of trips with the Scouts or Brownies. Either that or the rather more creative portrayal of campsite life provided by a young Barbara Windsor and hapless friends in the 1969 classic, Carry On Camping.
This traditional perception of camping as an uncomfortable, or even unpleasant, activity may have been embellished by non-believers over the years but there is no question that campers and caravanners in the ‘60s had to be made of sterner stuff than today’s satellite-tv-enabled travellers.
Campsites have evolved out of all recognition. When Alan Rogers first started inspecting campsites in 1968, the Carry On team could have exchanged their damp field in England for any number of sites in Europe and noticed little difference. In a valiant attempt to make the European butter mountain more scaleable, farmers started transforming fields into campsites with little more than the addition of one or two standpipes and a few hole-in-the-ground toilets – often with inadequate or non-existent drainage.
But expectations were lower forty years ago and coping without ‘mod cons’ made you something of an adventurer. A camping holiday quickly became the antidote to increasingly popular mass-market package holidays on the Spanish Costas. No swimming pool was an advantage for those seeking calm, rest and relaxation and the huge natural playgrounds available to curious children made camping a rather wholesome holiday for Britain’s aspiring middle classes.
The relative exclusivity of a European camping holiday was enhanced by the selective nature of car ownership. In 1968 just 49% of British households had regular use of a car and many of these were notoriously unreliable. The opportunity to travel to and from the Continent, fully laden and without risk of breakdown was only available to the few.
But Alan Rogers had his work cut out trying to find enough campsites to satisfy growing demand. In 1973 he explained:
"Unfortunately the increase in the number of camping sites does not keep pace with the increase in the number of campers, but at least there are now more new sites being opened in Continental countries than Britain, and many of them are of excellent standard."
The problem it seemed was the British obsession with toilets. We may have been ready for an adventure but not too much of an adventure. Alan would undoubtedly have ‘approved’ many more sites but for the state of the loos – what worked for a French family didn’t always work for the rather more sensitive British camper.
French campsite owners were slightly slow on the uptake but by the early ‘80s started to realise just how important the British camping market was to them. Not only did the Brits visit in numbers but when they arrived they seemed to have more money to spend. The dynamism of camping tour operators like Eurocamp and Keycamp who made camping easy, helped to grow interest in overseas campsite holidays and as their marketing spend grew, they started to reach out to a broader range of holidaymakers. Soon, camping holidays were being taken by non campers switching away from the Costas to this new type of affordable holiday.
No longer were clean loos and wide open play areas enough to satisfy demand and campsites began building. Building swimming pools, shops, restaurants and bars. Then building better swimming pools, waterslides and more.
Many of today’s family-friendly campsites offer facilities to envy many hotels or apartment complexes. The original attraction of camping as adventurous has been replaced on these ‘campsites’ by the attraction of camping as comfortable and entertaining.
But there’s nothing wrong with this evolution and many more campsites remain true to their roots – quiet, uncommercial and in wonderful settings. Travel through Europe and you’ll appreciate the range of ‘styles’ from large to small; lively and commercial to sleepy and low key. Wherever you pitch on this campsite spectrum, you’ll enjoy the eternal pleasures of campsite life.
The conviviality of an evening meal – whether pieced together on a small camp stove or enjoyed on the terrace of a simple on-site restaurant serving nothing but the daily plat du jour (a dish made in heaven, or at least by Madame herself, using home-grown produce).
The excitement on children’s faces as they experience a new-found freedom to roam and meet new friends – of all nationalities. Their tiredness at the end of a day spent in the open air.
Over forty years later, European campsites have evolved and now offer a wide choice of holiday experiences. Today’s camping is certainly not such a carry-on but as a holiday option, it deserves its popularity as it has lost none of its fundamental appeal.
Then & Now
The first edition of 1968 featured a total of just 54 campsites across Europe. Over 40 years on, remarkably, 20 of those sites still remained in the Alan Rogers guides.
The Roll Of Honour 1968 – 2006
Camping Le Colombier (FR83230)
Camping de la Plage (FR83100)
Camp du Domaine (FR83120)
Domaine de la Bergerie (FR06030)
Camping La Paillotte (FR40040)
Chateau de Leychoisier (FR87020)
Domaine de Chalain (FR39030)
Camping Bois de Boulogne (FR75020)
Castel Camping Château de la Grenouillière (FR41020)
Camping Caravaning Playa Montroig (ES8530)
Camping La Siesta (ES8470)
Camping El Delfin Verde (ES8080)
Camping Cala Llevadó (ES8200)
Camping N.S.U. Union Lido (IT6020)
Camping Olympia (IT6200)
Camping Bella Italia (IT6263)
Camping Lido Mappo (CH9880)
Camping Marina de Venezia (IT6045)
Camping Kirchzarten (DE3440)
Camping Campofelice (CH9890)
