Butlin's Beachcomber Bar, Ayr, Scotland (bar)

Name:Butlin's Beachcomber Bar
Type:bar
Street:
City:Ayr
State:
Zip:
country:Scotland
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:
This is the my second installment on the Butlin's Beachcomber Bar chain. There were 5 Beachcomber bars in the Butlins Holiday Resorts located in Minehead, Skegness, Bognor Regis, Filey, and Ayr. The Beachcomber in Ayr was the only one located in Scotland.

I have collected a few postcards that show the outside of the Beachcomber building in Ayr. Like most of the Beachcomber bars, this one included the faux A-Frame attached to the side of a larger building accompanied by some garish Tiki figures.

There were two signs with posts located on each side of the A-frame appendage that you can see in this shot

The Ayr location was cool in that the sky tram went right over the Beachcomber building.

A night-time shot of the building lit-up.

Here are a few postcards and photos showing the inside of the Beachcomber.

(I originally thought that this one was from Minehead - then found out it was Ayr)

DC

Here are a few more tourist photos of the Tiki totems and the Beachcomber Bar sign at Ayr.

DC

awesome share. I have very fond memories of the Beachcomber at Minehead... which from memory was identical to Ayr!

I remember the thunder storms they had inside with the effects and the running water through all the river beds amongst the tables.

Thanks for sharing Dusty! Always impresionante!!!

¡Viva Tiki! Ambassador of Tiki in Mexico. Zeta is specialized in the research, study and preservation of Tiki culture in Latin countries.

[ Edited by: Zeta 2010-09-26 16:21 ]

Here is a nice old 1964 photo from the Beachcomber at Ayr that was posted a long time ago by Bamboo 54.

DC

I sent the info on this place to my old flatmate from Edinburgh to see what he knew of it and got the following reply:

The link you have sent is for a holiday resort in Ayr on the west coast of Scotland which has been closed for some time now. It is now owned by a company called Hoseasons http://www.hoseasons.co.uk/WebPages/UKPark/ProductDetailPage.aspx?ISDLNK=1&SCODE=WEMY&ACODE=LP1202&ISPKMD=true.
Tiki Bar long gone I'm afraid. There is a Tiki Cafe in Aberdeen University which I have posted link below
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/tiki/tiki/

"Tiki cafe" is no way connected to tiki other than by name, its just a sub-Starbucks clone with organic coffee, there are several of them in Scotland and they just annoy me.

The Ayr Beachcomber was refurbished into "Sweeney Todds" in 1994, then the whole Beachcomber/Stuart Ballroom was demolished when Haven took over in 1998.

Once I have a free minute I write the memories I have of the first Tiki bar I ever visited.

Wow, you mean there is a coffee chain out there that uses the buzz word quality of the name but nothing else?

" Tiki
The Science of great coffee..."

"...doesn't involve maniacal laughter and placing electrodes on poor, defenceless beans. It does, on the other hand, involve employing expert scientists to get us closer to the perfect cup of coffee....

"...Tiki have worked in the lab to understand the science of freshness -discovering that newly roasted beans have flavour characteristics of their own...
...Our Tiki Cafes, located in IMS, Polwarth, Crombie Hall and MacRobert offer a wide selection of hot and cold snacks, hot drinks and other refreshments...."

So now there is a new generation growing up associating "Tiki" with coffee - not primitive art? Only in the U.K., where there is no history to the name. Fascinating.

The Scots will know more about Tiki bars soon.......

Indeed they have, Ian finally opened "The Tiki Bar & Kitsch Inn" in Glasgow.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=38194&forum=2&0

I was doing a little more research on the Butlin's Beachcombers and found a few more photos from the Ayr location.

Brochure photo showing the Interior with that big tree.

Tourist photo posing with a PNG-type Tiki on the rock wall.

Another shot of the Tiki pole out front with some tykes.

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2011-04-20 22:15 ]

Great digging, DC. So I wonder, if some of the Butlin's lasted until the 80s, maybe even 90s, are there any British Tikiphiles out there that have salvaged any artifacts from them? I mean other than the mug and ashtray, statues or masks?