Butlin found 85 acres (34 ha) on the coast neighbouring the Heads of Ayr and opened a camp in 1940.

[2] Heads of Ayr holiday camp contained all of the tried and tested Butlins ingredients: the famous Butlins Redcoats, a funfair, early morning wake up, a dining hall (with the cheers going up when a waitress dropped a plate), indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a ballroom, a boating lake, tennis courts, a sports field (for the three legged and egg & spoon races and the donkey derby), table tennis and snooker tables, an amusement arcade, a medical centre, a theatre, arcades of shops, a chairlift system and a miniature railway.

On 17 May 1947 a railway station was opened for the use of the camp and the nearby hotel,[5] shortly before nationalisation and the formation of British Rail.

Bourne Leisure had purchased the Ranks holiday division in the year 2000 and continued to develop this site as a Haven.

Despite a fatal incident inquiry finding death by natural causes, questions (as to how Stephen was able to walk so far by himself and whether he may have been transported by some unknown third party) remain.