Pontins South Devon Holiday Camp, Donkey Derby 1967

This lively 1967 scene at Pontins South Devon Holiday Camp, Paignton, shows a donkey derby taking place on one of the camp lawns, with young riders in numbered outfits and protective helmets passing in front of rows of green timber chalets. Spectators crowd the grass behind a rope boundary, while adults and children gather close to the course, giving the event the informal but highly organised feel typical of holiday-camp entertainment. The chalet numbers 212 and 213 are visible behind the riders, adding a useful everyday detail to the scene, while the neat painted timber fronts and curtained windows help place the view firmly within Pontins’ self-contained chalet setting. Novelty events such as donkey derbies were a familiar part of the British holiday-camp programme, and this photograph captures that communal, family-centred side of camp life especially well. Pontins South Devon at Paignton had been taken over by Fred Pontin just after the war, and the site later disappeared from the holiday map altogether.