BUTLINS SKEGNESS 1960

That's me at left, a twenty year-old Peter Lakin, with Camp Comic Lou Grant. In those days it was known as "finding a volunteer for the Holiday Princess Competition." Today, it would have a very different description. But, hey, it was taken in the right spirit.

As every full-blooded former Redcoat male will tell you, putting on that red coat could give even the shyest introvert the courage to chat up the girls.

Me with Diane Devine - opening week winner of the Holiday Princess Competition. [By the way, that duck coudn't fly).	With lovely girl camper Nanette.

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We would eat in the same dining room as the campers; celebrate birthdays and anniversaries with them; make a fuss of their children; and were often asked for our autographs (fame at last).
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In the first two pictures I am giving my "hand on cheek portrait pose." You can see where I got it from, as the lady mirroring me (in pic.1) is genuinely my mother.
However, you can only pose so many times at the dining table before you go ..... NUTS!

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Part of our duties was organising the campers into teams, for the week’s games and sporting competitions. They would be split into “Houses.” The house you were in was governed by which of the dining rooms you were allocated to, which were as follows: Gloucester, Kent, Connaught, Windsor and Edinburgh. The points each house scored in all the weekly activities, games, and competitions, were tallied up and the winning house was declared on the Friday.
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Here's me with the rest of our Redcoat Team Leaders from Connaught House

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But my favourite event was performing in the weekly Redcoat Show, in the Gaiety Theatre

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In Reds ...	In character ...	Horsing around

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In 1959 I had twice been to Butlins Skegness, as a guest. I must have felt I was a good organiser even before becoming a Redcoat, as I volunteered to be on the House Committee.
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With other members of the House Committee, and the House Redcoats.

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That second visit in 1959 was owing to my having won a place in the area heat for the 'People National Talents Final,' and so becoming a Redcoat the following year was my chosen apprenticeship for becoming a professional comedian.
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. LEFT: A get-together of acts during the week at the 1959 Skegness Area Finals. ABOVE: Mike Dennett (& Chic) and Ken Wood (see picture left). Both went on to be professional ventriloquists with over 40 years each in showbusiness, and are still with us here in 2023.

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How I got on as a professional comedian is another story for another day.
Meanwhile I look back some sixty-two years to a fabulous season with lovely teammates, and fun-loving campers. Being a Redcoat in those times had to be the best job in the world.