Most people have heard of Billy Butlin in the context of holiday camps. But was he the first to set up a holiday camp ? And if so where was it? The answer is no he wasn’t. The first camp of its type was at Howstrake above Groudle.
Joseph Cunningham and his wife Elizabeth opened the original, all-male, tented city in 1894. The story of Steam Packet's TSS Manxman and 'shady' reasons behind sad downfall Full list of affected bus services today as some 'suffer cancellations' Man, 56, resisted police arrest outside Douglas nightspot Man denies biting owners in altercation at seafront hotel It attracted up to 600 men per week. By the end of the century it was open from May to October at a cost of 17/6 a week.
The success of this initial venture, in no small part down to the organisational ability of Mrs Cunningham, led in 1904, to the acquisition of five acres of agricultural land at Victoria Road not far from the Falcon Cliff. There some 1,500 tents and a 100-foot dining pavilion were erected for the season between March and October. The Howstrake Camp continued, though now in other hands, but clearly successful as by 1914 the original restaurant block had been extended and new blocks added.
Howstrake continued in operation until 1985 when a fire gutted the main dining hall and repairs were not thought to be economically viable. Since then abandoned buildings and the old swimming pool have deteriorated and stood as stark reminders of the previous use of the site. In 2019 plannin.
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