Some offers finish at the end of January and some run till the 28 February. As the daylight started to disappear it was time to finish loading up the vans and say goodbye to our hosts. Don’t forget to head to Land’s End if you have time. But, at the end of a busy fun-filled day, you can retreat to the park, with its tranquil seaside setting and plenty of family-friendly activities to enjoy. From the end of the war, through the 1950s and into the mid-1960s, the holiday camp industry thrived. You’re in good company – according to the BHHPA over 87 million nights are spent on one of Britain’s 4,000 holiday parks. Tent Lodge Cottage, on a country estate to the north-east of Coniston Water, goes one better with its own private shoreline. The product itself has improved from what Munk describes as “slightly better than a tent” in the postwar years, with no double glazing or central heating.
Do check out the video below that Alex from Arcade Archive has uploaded documenting the weekend, which will give you a better idea of the location and the condition of the building. Rather than buying tokens to play, visitors to Arcade Odyssey now purchase and load up a prepaid card – simply tap your card on the reader on each machine and you’re good to go. Perhaps testament to their coastal locations, visitors to the arcades were transient, and probably didn’t see many of these titles at their local towns and cities – thus making them appealing and giving the games a longer shelf out on the arcade floors life than usual. One of the things that makes Arcade Odyssey so special is owner Rick’s passion for dedicated and unusual arcade cabinets – many of them he’s personally imported direct from Japan. Every one of the 13 vintage caravans (plus two sleeper trains, a cable car and a Trabant) is individually themed and designed by a film set designer. From touring caravan adventures to static caravans and park homes, there is much more scope to the humble caravan holiday than you might initially think. Well I’m pleased to report things are pretty much the same in terms of impressiveness!
Not only in terms of what we managed to pull out of the building and save, but especially so because of our hosts, Drew and Lauren. Mark’s close friend Drew and his daughter Lauren reached out to the arcade collecting community to ask for our help in building an inventory of what was there, and to help clear the building out. A nicer couple of people you couldn’t possibly meet, they were very accommodating, and graciously allowed us idiots to clamber around, hunting things out and pulling these old arcade cabinets from the building. Often cabinets are abandoned in pretty desolate buildings, or an ex operator decides to sell up some of their old inventory – every event like this has a story and they are all unique. There are electrical hookups for campers and several pitches have uninterrupted sea views. Glamping options with pre-pitched, fully-equipped tents featuring full-size beds, stoves and fridges have extended the appeal of camping to new groups of consumers looking for holidays with a difference.
These parks have all the right ingredients to keep everybody happy, often including cafes and restaurants, plus park shops for all holiday essentials. Sherman worked alongside Dave Theurer on iconic such as I, Robot and Missile Command, and shares many an anecdote about those early days, including soundly beating Bushnell at his own predilection, the strategy board game, Go. Camping in the UK has become increasingly popular over the last few years as more people choose to holiday closer to home and discover the joys of bedding down under the stars, including a unique sense of freedom and adventure that children relish. All the remaining cabinets and parts that he had left was stored in several connected buildings next to his home. Many of the cabinets will be available for public play at Arcade Archive museum and Pixel Busters arcade, and any parts rescued will go back into the community to be used in other cabinets to keep things running. Was Arcade Odyssey still up to scratch? The upshot I concluded back then, was that this was probably the best medium sized arcade I’d ever visited. I promised I’d share some pictures from my visit in August this year to the California Extreme arcade expo, so, here we go!