Celebrities and thier Interests:

Several interesting, and even eccentric, characters have savoured success as racehorse owners at Aintree. Ricky George Part owner of 1998 winner Earth Summit and Hereford United FC legend : It's not often lightning strikes twice, but it did for Ricky George - albeit 26 years apart. George scored the goal for non-league Hereford that knocked First Division Newcastle out of the FA Cup in 1972. Although archive footage since has tended to focus on Ronnie Radford's screamer, it was George's effort that won the game. George, not content with cementing his name in FA Cup folklore, decided to buy a sixth share in a horse called Earth Summit. And with jockey Carl Llewellyn on board, the horse - backed down to 7-1 favourite on his favoured soft ground - won the Grand National. "I cried my eyes out there, but I never moved a muscle until he jumped the last and I didn’t cheer or shout until he crossed the line," said George. "Carl Llewellyn rode one of the most fantastic races. "I got roped into it all (investing in horses) by mistake and my goal against Newcastle was a mistake too." Freddie Starr Owner of 1994 winner Minnehoma and famous comedian "Freddie Starr ate my hamster," read The Sun headline. Well, he didn't really, but perhaps almost as hard to believe was the fact he owned Grand National winner Miinnehoma. The horse, trained by Martin Pipe and ridden by Richard Dunwoody, was victorious at Aintree in 1994. It was a welcome relief for Starr, who in his autobiography "Unwrapped" wrote about his times with Liverpool's most notorious gangsters in the 1950s, his difficulty to speak as a child and his one-time addiction to valium. Teasie Weasie Raymond Owner of 1976 winner Rag Trade, part owner of 1963 winner Ayala and celebrity hairdresser If 'Teasie Weasie' Raymond reminds you of a character from the Dick Emery Show, then you'd be wrong. If he reminds you of the owner of two Grand National winners then you would be spot on. After winning with Ayala, Mr PB Raymond, as he was known in the racing world, put some of his money into Rag Trade - not the popular TV sitcom, but another horse. And much to Teasie Weasie's pleasure he struck gold once more, as Rag Trade, who beat Red Rum into second, won the 1976 National. Teasie Weasie, who learned his trade making false beards and moustaches in his father's barber shop, was also famous for describing the Duchess of Windsor's hair as "dogmatic".

The Holiday Camps:

Pontin’s Holiday Camps: Fred Pontin was born in London's East End in 1906 and had a successful inter-war career in the city's Stock Exchange. During the war years he was involved with helping to establish hostels for construction workers and, using the experience gained, decided to venture into the holiday business by acquiring an old disused camp at Brean Sands in 1946. The small eight acre site ad been built as a holiday camp in the 1930s but had recently seen use as a US Army base. It was in a pretty bad state and consisted of nothing more than a motley collection of semi-derelict wooden huts After a quick revamp (and an advert in the Sunday Express) the site opened for business and was soon swamped with holiday makers (it could only accommodate 198 campers though!) Seeing the success of his first venture Pontin immediately went on the acquisition trail and within weeks had snapped up a nearby camp at Osmington. The following year another 4 sites were added and business was booming. This set the pattern for future expansion, he'd usually buy up existing camps and give them a Pontin makeover. Camps were hardly ever built from scratch and were always much smaller than the mammoth sites being run by Butlins. By 1947 Pontin was operating six camps which had a combined capacity of 1300 people. Butlins had five camps with a combined capacity of over 30,000 people! Pontin never had any desire to copy Butlins and always insisted that the smaller camps were more manageable and cost effective. The lower overheads were also reflected in the prices and a week at Pontins was around half the cost of Bultins, albeit without the huge range of entertainment and attractions. There were never any funfairs, trains or chairlifts at Pontins! Fred Pontin and Billy Butlin always had a strong but friendly rivalry. Butlin once paid a secret visit to the Pontin camp at Brean Sands and nothing more was heard until several years later when a photograph surfaced of him drinking in the camp bar. Pontin jumped at this wonderful publicity and the picture appeared in the following years brochure with the slogan "All the best people come to Pontins!". Butlin was apparently none too pleased. The expansion continued with the acquisition of a camp in Ireland as well as an upmarket manor house near Torquay named Barton Hall - in 1963 this became home to Britain's first outdoor artificial ski slope. The 1960s saw some major developments in the holiday camp industry with Butlins opening three massive new centres. Pontins responded with more acquisitions and the empire grew to include sixteen camps including expansion into the island of Jersey. A couple of brand new centres were also built on greenfield sites and one of these (Prestatyn) later featured in the 1970s movie 'Holiday on the Buses' (see above). The 1960s also saw the introduction of the Pontin Bluecoats, a sneaky copy of their famous Red counterparts at Butlins! (Warners had their Greencoats). Famous ex-Bluecoats include Shane Ritchie, Brian Connelly, Bradley Walsh and Gemma Craven. Butlins were still providing somewhat basic food and accommodation and were focusing all their energies towards bigger and better entertainment. Realising that he could never compete in this area Pontin decided to instead focus on providing better-than-average accommodation and by carrying out a major revamp of the catering department . Chalets were equipped with such luxuries as en-suite bathrooms and televisions, then unheard of at Butlins. Traditional food menus were replaced with wide ranging self-serve buffets. Pontin also pioneered the use of self-catering, an idea that Billy Butlin had always opposed. It wasn't until his son Bobby took over that self catering first appeared at Butlins. Pontin was also responsible for starting the foreign package holiday craze in the 1960s with the construction of a new hotel in Sardinia. He could offer a two week holiday with flights, accommodation, food, drink, entertainment (and guaranteed sun!) for less than £50. The venture was highly successful and Pontinental Holidays was formed to build additional hotels and camps in Majorca, Spain and Ibiza. He also took over a rival company which added a further six sites to his growing Mediterranean empire. By the mid 1970s Butlins was heading on a downward spiral due to its massive overheads, outdated facilities and the need to fill thousands of beds at each camp. The smaller more cost-effective Pontin sites were still booming and the empire now consisted of 24 camps (11 of which were entirely self-catering) as well as the Jersey and Mediterranean locations. In fact Billy Butlin accepted an invitation from Pontin to join the board of directors at the Jersey camp during his retirement. Pontin was knighted in 1976 for services to the British holiday industry and in 1977 his company announced profits of £6.6 million. In 1979 the company merged with betting company Coral in a £57 million deal. In 1981 it was sold to brewing giant Bass and Fred Pontin finally lost overall control. It was sold again in 1987 to a management buyout team headed by Trevor Hemmings. Mr Hemmings had been involved with Pontins since the late 1960s when his construction company had received the multi-million pound contract to build the new camps at Southport and Prestatyn. However, only three years later Mr Hemmings sold the business to Scottish and Newcastle who remained the owners for the next 10 years. During this period the company made some major changes which included the sale/closure of a number of sites whilst the remainder were subject to a huge modernisation and investment programme . Finally, in 2000, Mr Hemmings was able to buy the company back although by this time only eight camps remained in the Pontins empire. Mr Hemmings is now a major player in the UK leisure business, especially in Blackpool where he owns the Tower, the piers, the Winter Gardens, Opera House, Louis Tussauds and a share in Sea World. After selling his company Sir Fred Pontin continued his successful involvement in racehorses as well as acquiring a number of smaller leisure interests. His remarkable life ended in September 2000 at the age of 93.

Fred Pontin - The People's Choice!

Advance notification of publication:

Bernie would like to announce that his auobiography 'Carry on Showing', has been accepted by the publishers.

He would like to thankeveryone for thier help and support.

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