Title
'Oh we’d take anybody...as long as they could stand up and put a pair of skis on': The running of Folkestone Ski Centre
Subject
Peter Thomas
Description
In this excerpt of an oral history recording with Peter Thomas, we hear about the operational side of the ski slope at Folkestone Sports Centre in the 1970s and '80s, and its popularity in the town. Transcript attached.
Creator
Michael Romyn; Peter Thomas
Source
Peter Thomas Oral History Recording
Publisher
Kent's Sporting Memories
Date
Interview recorded on 5 July, 2019
Rights
Kent's Sporting Memories
Relation
Peter Thomas Oral History Recording
Format
MP3 (2:51)
Language
English
Identifier
Peter Thomas
Transcription
Kent’s Sporting Memories Oral History Transcript (Excerpt 2)
Interviewee: Peter Thomas
Interviewer: Michael Romyn
Date: 5 July, 2019
Location: Peter Thomas’ home in Folkestone, Kent.
Recording Time: 26:28 – 29:17
Michael Romyn: Were you actually employed by the sports centre? Was it a sideline job for you?
Peter Thomas: I wasn’t employed until they got the Dendix in, and the ski lift, and then they wanted someone to run it, so every evening, all weekends, I was there, yep.
MR: Every evening?
PT: Yes.
MR: And was it popular among the general public as well as the schools?
PT: Oh yes, yes. My wife used to help me in actual fact because she used to run the cabin, shall we say, so she’d be in charge of all the clothes and everything else we needed for that. I would look after the equipment side – we have to gear up the customers obviously, but everything else she did, all the bookings and everything else. She was very, very good actually, bless her. And so the two of us, there, that’s why it worked, because the two of us worked together, which was great fun. But yes, we got quite a good reputation in actual fact. I had a good bunch of ski instructors, yeah, yeah, it worked well.
MR: If a member of the public wanted to have a go, would they have to book in advance? How would it work?
PT: If they wanted an instructor, then yes they’d have to. There’s be group instructions, there’d be individual lessons – you name it, we’d try and accommodate, yes. But they would ring through to the ski hut and whoever was actually on duty at that time would take the necessary details, my wife would then coordinate it, yeah. I mean she worked as often as I did. Obviously during the day, apart from school groups, their other members of staff could do all that other work anyway, you know, it was fairly quiet during the day. Weekends busy. Evenings busy. All weathers.
MR: Was it all ages as well? What was the age range?
PT: Oh we’d take anybody. I mean yes, as long as they could stand up and put a pair of skis on, they could ski, yes.
MR: And was it affordable? Skiing’s got a reputation as being quite expensive…
PT: Erm, yes. It was like other things at the sports centre – it was there to attract people in so it was no good in making it beyond their reach, no. I don’t remember any complaints as such of ‘this is expensive, we can’t afford this sort of nonsense’.
--Ends--
Interviewee: Peter Thomas
Interviewer: Michael Romyn
Date: 5 July, 2019
Location: Peter Thomas’ home in Folkestone, Kent.
Recording Time: 26:28 – 29:17
Michael Romyn: Were you actually employed by the sports centre? Was it a sideline job for you?
Peter Thomas: I wasn’t employed until they got the Dendix in, and the ski lift, and then they wanted someone to run it, so every evening, all weekends, I was there, yep.
MR: Every evening?
PT: Yes.
MR: And was it popular among the general public as well as the schools?
PT: Oh yes, yes. My wife used to help me in actual fact because she used to run the cabin, shall we say, so she’d be in charge of all the clothes and everything else we needed for that. I would look after the equipment side – we have to gear up the customers obviously, but everything else she did, all the bookings and everything else. She was very, very good actually, bless her. And so the two of us, there, that’s why it worked, because the two of us worked together, which was great fun. But yes, we got quite a good reputation in actual fact. I had a good bunch of ski instructors, yeah, yeah, it worked well.
MR: If a member of the public wanted to have a go, would they have to book in advance? How would it work?
PT: If they wanted an instructor, then yes they’d have to. There’s be group instructions, there’d be individual lessons – you name it, we’d try and accommodate, yes. But they would ring through to the ski hut and whoever was actually on duty at that time would take the necessary details, my wife would then coordinate it, yeah. I mean she worked as often as I did. Obviously during the day, apart from school groups, their other members of staff could do all that other work anyway, you know, it was fairly quiet during the day. Weekends busy. Evenings busy. All weathers.
MR: Was it all ages as well? What was the age range?
PT: Oh we’d take anybody. I mean yes, as long as they could stand up and put a pair of skis on, they could ski, yes.
MR: And was it affordable? Skiing’s got a reputation as being quite expensive…
PT: Erm, yes. It was like other things at the sports centre – it was there to attract people in so it was no good in making it beyond their reach, no. I don’t remember any complaints as such of ‘this is expensive, we can’t afford this sort of nonsense’.
--Ends--