History

"I throw the awnings back and step out of the tent. The ground is still moist with the dew, the birds are busy with their morning concert and the weather invites me to take a nice walk through the woods and along the beach. Tomorrow I ought to check at the Castricum post office whether a business telegram has arrived from the company. And remember to buy a gazette and fetch some more oil for the lamp. The day after that I shall travel first to Haarlem by horse carriage and then by rail, 3rd class, back to Amsterdam. I am most grateful that our small company have been allowed a few days under canvas here. There is not a soul to be seen on this rural estate. Such wonderful peace and quiet."

These could well be some thoughts of a guest staying 'at Bakkum'. And they could well be almost a century old. Since that time Bakkum has been developed into a unique camping place where several generations have spent important parts of their lives. Thousands of families have spent time there, from March until October. Children grew up breathing its fresh air, learned to ride their bikes at Bakkum, went to school there. And it is where many a romance blossomed. Summers full of puppy love and flirtations, the birthplace (and the demise!) of many serious relationships. Many young people met their spouse at Bakkum. Parents enjoyed some well-deserved rest after a busy day at work or in the house, although housework naturally continued to some extent on the campsite too. Camp Bakkum was a place where city folk could forget their cramped upstairs apartments and breathe freely in the open air. Its inhabitants formed strong social communities, sharing the sweet and the bitter and helping solve each other's problems.

A wonderful place where people could escape the hussle and bustle and the accompanying isolation of the large city. All winter they looked forward to it, during the summer they lived it. Unforgettable times at Bakkum.

• A 'royal' camping area
• Spread the word
• Modern seaside resort
• Bakkum builds on
• Holiday village
• The 2nd World War
• Tent houses
• Commuter's campsite
• Supply and demand
• Bakkum, society in a nutshell
• Changing population

Supply and demand

The times that Bakkum had a place for anyone who desired to camp there, were long gone, so a method had to be found to give everyone a chance and divide the available space fairly. Until the mid-eighties Bakkum therefore used the rule that those who were lucky enough to own a tent house at the campsite could live in it for two weeks running, after which they needed to make it available for others for a four-week period. For caravans and tents - with hindsight very curious -the exact reverse applied.

But the idea of fair play was applied to the individual pitches too. At the beginning of the season everyone had to select a new pitch. In 1948 and 1949 the land was first roped off, with an army of inspectors making sure that no one scaled the fence which surrounded the area. Behind the rope, great numbers of potential campers waited for the moment they were allowed onto the campsite. By way of staking out their plot, they were supposed to leave a personal possession on the desired pitch, such as an umbrella or a model of their tent house, carefully constructed during long winter nights. When this was done, the claim could be registered at reception by taking the number plate of the pitch along.

It was a rough event, with much running, quarrelling and a lot of fuss. Older people and the disabled had little chance. There were even some who hired a member from an athletics club to pull the sprint to the desired pitch for them! The result was that on balance this method did not seem that fair after all, and an alternative was needed.