Hayling Island holiday camps are subject of new exhibition at The Spring Arts Centre, Havant

Funded by the National Lottery’s Heritage Lottery Fund, it traces the history of Hayling’s five major holiday camps from the 1930s through to the present day.

Film and media students at the HSDC’s Havant Campus have researched the history of the camps and interviewed former visitors and staff as well as historians such as Kathryn Ferry, the country’s foremost expert on the history of British holidays.

The students have also written a book in conjunction with Year 9 pupils at Hayling College and shot a documentary film with Emsworth-based film production company Millstream Productions. The film will premiere at The Spring on 20 June and then feature as part of the exhibition until it closes.

HSDC film and media lecturer Steve Murray said: ‘The students have enjoyed interviewing and filming people with memories of their time at the camps and unearthed some interesting stories. One of their key discoveries has been that information online relating to the holiday camps is not always accurate and mistakes are often repeated by other websites. This has highlighted the importance of not relying on a single source but verifying information across multiple sources.

‘Thanks to the generosity of the National Lottery’s Heritage Fund, the students now know much more about life in Britain across the five decades from the 1930s to the 1970s and appreciate how important Hayling Island was to the British holiday industry.’

The exhibition is on now and free to visit until July 15.