Great Yarmouth

Memories of Vauxhall Holiday Park

By Victoria Watson

I was born in 1974 and I remember going to Vauxhall h p every year as a small child. We always went first week of september. At the time it was the most amazing place. We used to get up at 6am and get the train from northampton to Vauxhall station . My mum would always make a huge picnic which she would bring in one of those shopping trolleys with wheels. And we would walk up to the holiday park and as children myself my brother and sister were just so excited when we saw the flags outside  .. What I remember most was the outdoor pool which seemed huge at the time and I remember Duncan Goodhew was there one year and my Dad raced him in a swimming competition. He still has the photo of him with Duncan and the medals which they got. That is what I loved, they always had competitions for everyone to get involved in ...It was the highlight of the week ..and the dads had running races and I also remember both my parents playing in darts competions with Eric Bristow and my mum played Keith  dellar ..Uncle Sandy and Mary where in charge of entertainment and they also had a fancy dress competion which my sister won one year ..because every holiday my mum would pack crepe paper and accessories and make all of our outfits from scratch in the caravan .. They were amazing.  I was Victoria plum my sister was a swan when she won and all made from crepe paper. To get to the disco room there was a passage which also led to the pool and it had a very distinctive smell. There were little counters to buy sweets and seafood etc. Each night my dad bought us mushy peas in a pot and cockles (which we never really liked) so we would spill them on the grass as we walked back to our caravan lol.

Each day mum would give us all a bag of 1 pence and 2 pence pieces to last the day and they almost always did . We used to go the arcade and play on the horses race game and how sad it is but my favourite thing was a machine with a chicken in and it clucked as it dropped an egg with a toy inside ... We would go down seafront and ended up in arcades which we also enjoyed...  And they had a coaster in the fair which was just a loop and it just went round and round but it was quite an advanced ride for those days. My favourite was the snails and they still had them a couple years ago as I made my girls go in them just as it was my best memory as a child I will never forget .

I have been to Yarmouth since but it just isn't the same it seems unloved these days and tired looking.