hi there,we used to holiday on the south denes from 1960-1972 twelve years on the trot,and have happy memories,i remember the beach cafe on the cornor,happy times,and the small shops dotted about the camp.as well as the paper vans ect,two years ago i was involed in the itv programme the way we were on holiday which showed footage of us on the south denes from film taken from our cine camera,looking back they was one of the best times of our lives,so sad now to see how the years have treated the south denes,but they can't wash away all the happy memories.

i saw that programme,i went back to south denes a couple of years ago and stood in what used to be the old bike shop and the camp office and closed my eyes.ah really happy days,i hope one day some films appear.

I can remember a lot about the Great Yarmouth area. I have some happy times and I can also remember (going to) see a lot of shows and going to the wresling at the old Marina when it was all open.

We used to stay at South Denes Caravan Park and we used to get up in the morning and walk though the streets to the old Birds Eye Factory. Then getting the ferry across to Gorleston side and going to the bakers on the High Street, just at the top of Ice House Hill and buying just baked hot rolls and Do-nuts that were still hot when we got back to the caravan.

Another thing that we used to look forward to up there, as we could not get it here where we live, was to go down Market Place to the butchers shop there (the shop is no longer there thanks to a fire in that row some years ago now). In those days, the Late 1960s and 1970s, you could still buy the local potted meat and as that market is the only place where they sold the hot peas when we got of the train we used to make start for there.

In those days they had a bus on a Saturday that used to run between the train station and the Holiday camp and another bus that used to run between North and South Denes along the Marine Parade. I can give you a lot more things that I remember about the area.

I also remember the caravans stand pipes having to go to the camp office for caller gas. I remember the buses that ran to the station on Saturdays. The bakers shop in Gorleston would be Mattes, there were a few of these in Great Yarmouth. There was also Erie electronics factory on the South Denens industrial site

I came across this site whilst doing some background research into the South Denes caravan park. I saw the site from the other way - not as a holiday maker but my parents owned two caravans on this site and let them out during the summer. Cannot find too many orginal records about this caravan site

Take a look at the Billy Fury film.This was filmed on location in Yarmouth in the early 60`s.Billy is singing one of his songs down at the Harbours Mouth and you can see all the caravans in the background.

Hello all... looks like a superb site. I've not looked through it all as yet, but will do in due course. Having read this page I would love to know why (other than for the Outer Harbour project) was South Denes caravan camp - the best camp on the East Coast in my opinion - was allowed to go to the dogs? I had family holidays there every year (sometimes twice) from my year of birth (1967) through to 1990-ish. I loved every minute of it and would love to see it returned to its former glory - even in some small nostalgic part. What's the likelihood of planning permission being granted for say using two 'blocks' (the old A Block and B Block perhaps) for a new camp with modern caravans and new facilities? A small scaled-down version of Haven or Pontins, for families, perhaps? It is as far as I know (and I'd be happy to stand corrected) the ONLY camp that was actually directly next to the beach where you could look out of your caravan window (if you were on the front row) and see the beach, and thus your children playing safely. I look forward to any replies. Thanks, Mark in Coventry.

I COULD NOT AGREE MORE WITH MARK FROM COVENTRY IF ONLY. WE AS A FAMILY HAD SOME GREAT HOLIDAYS ON THIS SITE, SO MANY HAPPY MEMORIES. I AM TAKING MY FAMILY BACK TO YARMOUTH TOMMORROW, JUST FOR A LONG WEEKEND. WE ARE STAYING AT THE HAVEN CAMP AT NORTH DENES END OF TOWN, THIS SEEMS TO BE THE NEXT BEST THING NOW AS THE SOUTH DENES CAMP NO LONGER EXISTS. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE BIG GIANT IN THE FUN FAIR? ITS NOW BEEN REPLACED WITH A GREAT OGOR! WHY? ANY IDEAS ANYONE. ANYWAY HERES TO GREAT YARMOUTH AND ALL HER HAPPY MEMORIES.

Ii went to yarmouth 2 years ago and was very dissapointed at the giant. I as a child used to go to South Denes every year and have loads of fond memories that will live with me. Nothing nicer than getting up in the morning right on the beachfront and lighting up the lamps at night.

Great yarmouth is my second home,after going there for the past 36 yrs!!  I missed 1 year thats it...I'm deciding to get a 9 man tent and camping.  The things I miss are the shops on South Denes ,chippys n amusments with my younger brothers what holidays are made of.  What a shame they cleared the vans,perfect memories we love it still....