Cheers for uploading this I went there every year from 1990 - 1998. Had some great times there absolutely loved it. It's a shame it got demolised I never went back after it closed down for demolishing I had started going to skegness butlins after they demolished pwllheli. Me and my mum have been talking about going back just for the weekend just to see what it's like and I also heard that it's not the same anymore. I really miss pwllheli 😭😭😭
Same here. Me and my family went there from 1993 until 1998. Started going to Minehead and Bognor after Pwllheli was torn down. Went to Pwllheli in 1999 the year it became Haven. We never went back again. Minehead is a very good one to go to if you want a flashback to how Pwllheli once was.
Loved Pwllheli l worked there as a Show Red seasons 96,97,98 absolutely brilliant times performing each night the shows in The Broadway. Happy times & still best of friends with the cast crew & Redcoats l worked with all those years ago.
Brilliant footage, shame it’s all been bulldozed though! We went there last week and there’s not much left there now. I still can’t believe how empty and soulless the site is now.. 😢
Andy Mccabe the chalets on South camp are going this winter. I am trying to get booked up to go there before the chalets are torn down. I worked Christmas 95 and summer 96 at Pwllheli. At 19, it was certainly an experience. Now at 43 I have no idea how I did it.
100% I was working this day what a great video. Seeing 2 of the redcoats running from the stars bar towards the shop at the food court Clair and Tracey. 25 years ago this video brings back so many great memories for me it was the last year of butlins in pwllheli but the very best and only year I worked there. Never forget it. Thanks for sharing this.
That was great to watch. Went in 1978 when I was 6 and vaguely remember it but Went back last year to the haven site. Still some original buildings and e few chalets but most of it was unrecognisable. The little train station was still there though surprisingly. Thanks for sharing. 👍
Is that the old glue tunnel that linked the old red camp chalets to the fair? Sad that most of those old buildings are now gone. Was a lovely camp, now it’s completely different.
My shed was torn up then too. My husband and I booked a weekend in premier half board the day I finished my a level exams (June 12th 1998), we had only been dating for 6 months. After my time at Butlins I went back into education to redo my a levels. The shed I shared with an ex was Park View S3. It was all smashed up. That took me right back to our visit. From surprising Gaye Dillon at premier (I worked in Windsor as serving staff at my time) to the walk up to the cliffs, to the noise of the boomerang. Butlins was nicknamed the university of real life in the Midlands, and at times, working in Windsor was hard work. I am quite literally scarred for life, but that's a long story. Are you going to the reunion this year? May 10th to 13th. There is a Facebook group with all the details.
Thank you for taking me back around the most fun place I have ever lived and worked..you went past my shop opposite bar continental..i loved my Butlins days..my grandfather even stayed there during the 2nd world war when they Royal navy took over camp..I'm pretty sure I had the same blankets on my bed..😁
This is upsetting to watch. Used to come here every summer from 1994 to 1998. Such happy memories here. Haven ruined this site. I completely agree. The sites completely soulless now. It's ashame they didn't keep it running as a Butlin's resort because I could see a Skyline Pavilion looking really awesome sat next to the swimming baths. Minehead is the only resort left which resembles the Pwllheli camp.
They couldn't keep it because starcoast world was in a bad shape at the time and plus low visitor number and it wasn't making the money the company thought it was making.
I was a manager at Butlins and left early in 1991, so this isn't really my era. However, reading the comments below, I see a lot of people blaming Haven for the downfall of the centre. It really wasn't Haven's fault. Blame the 3 previous owners. Sir Robert Butlin, son of Billy, failed to Invest at a time when cheap foreign holidays were very popular. Later, a buy-out by Rank Leisure gave some investment, though it was too little too late. Later still, a new owner, Bourne Leisure, failed to build on whatever success they had and the general fate was sealed. You should be praising Haven. I see your film now and wonder where they got the money from for all those new builds at a time when any new build had to be both eco-friendly and adhere to some of the strictest Health & Safety regulations. A lot of people worked at Butlins during my time there, mostly working for about £1 an hour, often their first time away from home, some from broken homes or dealing with their sexuality in an unusual setting. Some of the older people working there were getting away from failed marriages or trying to work the few years before retiring after being laid off from other jobs elsewhere at 59 with no hope of working again. I praise Haven for keeping the place clean and welcoming after years of neglect, even though I hated my time there.
Thank you Neil for that comment. Reading that opened my eyes up to what went on behind closed doors. I remember walking past a few chalets back in the day which had been neglected, probably since the hurricane in the late 80's. With that and the graffiti on chalet buildings behind the food court, I suppose resembled the state Butlin's was in at the time. My partner used to work at the Bognor Regis site in 1990 and mentioned how many members of staff didn't like their time there either.
@@titanicgeek2578 One of those places where we were meant to be happy, but weren't. I was there during the hurricane. Glad to say that all the staff pulled together, often working through the night with no pay. I saw the best of people that day.
@@MartysWhiteSuit that's so horrible. My impression of Butlin's prior to meeting my partner was everyone was happy there. Both families and staff. The horror stories he's told me have altered my opinion on it pre. 1998. Strangely enough I remember being in the food court in the summer of '97 and seeing all the top Butlin's managers and execs. walking through the food court, no doubt discussing their plans for Haven. After going to Butlin's Minehead and Bognor in the 2000's the money invested in the company finally paid off.
@@titanicgeek2578 I don't want to ruin the memories of childhood holidays for anyone, but it was not a happy place. I was lucky to have a good job there, running the beer stores, though it was long hours. I left in '91. I was glad to go. It was only supposed to be a fill in job after college. Yes, I praise Haven for putting what they could into it. I joined as it was coming out of Butlin's hands. Robert Butlin - Sir Billy's son - had some good ideas to begin with, but lack of further investment in the face of cheap foreign holidays was never going to get him ahead.
@@titanicgeek2578 Well I worked there & it was a wonderful place to work. Please don't let some ex manager who didn't enjoy his time there ruin your memories. Of course if you don't like something you will only see the negative & he certainly is very negative. It was a fantastic place & l met some of the best people there. I did season 96 97 98 & as for saying that about the wages absolutely rubbish. I was part of the ents team performing each night in The Broadway & everyone got on. The band who played every evening in The Broadway were a fantastic bunch of guys, very talented. The Redcoats who worked bloody hard, The dancers,The Krazy Krew for the kids & the brilliant stage crew not just in The Broadway but Stars, Little Darlins & Sundowners,everyone got on really well. Please don't his comments ruin your memories. We are all still very much in contact & all friends some 20 yrs on from our time there. It was brilliant. Great days great memories!!
I don't see why everyone blames Tony Marshall (then managing director of butlins) it's not his fault he had to close this site he saved butlins but unfortunately this site had to go .Plus this site was 4th in the chain for profit and was in a bad condition because of years of neglected and a tornado. So yeah this site was saved by Tony Marshall who gave it to haven and look at it now millions invested each year.
I worked there in 95 bringing back memories hi sam from harvy bay Australia! Hi Sarah from gethldeg estate Merthyr Tydfil ! Sian from Merthyr (who liked to draw sheep!! Random) sam from Liverpool who had boyfriend doh !! Oshan welsh lad with hearing aids hi big up Brian, ice-cream guy Sunday shop miss ya mate ❤ j
The camp was fully operational. Some of the accommodation was not being used as it was in a poor condition and contained asbestos. 90% of what you see in the video has now been demolished.
Everywere were there was a a arcade a shop a cinema a free activity fun fair cable cars ,train ,has now been replaced by a caravan or a car park soulless greed
35:30 Oh dear, it sounds like that you got caught exploring an area you shouldn't be in.... But looking at Butlin's at Pwllhelli, it could've easily been kept a Butlin's site, so I don't know why they transferred it to Haven in 1999....
Do you know why because Butlins have sold the land are worth million pounds then spend on Skegness, Bogus and minehead, If I were Butlins manager, simple get a loan £800 million investiment for upgrade pwheli, Ayr and others, butlins should merged Disney because kids will love to see mickey mouse, theme park style, will massive more people coming to Pwillheli and Ayr. I'm telling you Butlins director is crap plans.
There are two reasons I heard it was transferred to Haven. Firstly, the park was ravaged by fights, and there was a riot during Christmas 96. The stag and hen parties got way out of hand, and there were some guests who expected an awful lot for their pound. Secondly, the council refused to allow them to build a skyline tent, and so there was no way they could keep it and not have the same style as the other parks. It had to go to Haven ( the rRank organisation owned it all at the time). The area has never recovered economically, there used to be 12,000 guests plus hundreds of staff when the park was full. I often used to go to Porthmadog or Pwllheli for the day. We went back in 2012 and a couple of shop keepers said it’s killed the trade, not having as many people on site.
chriggle1 There are many reasons Starcoast World was transferred to Haven Holidays for the 1999 season. First off, there was far too many chalets and out-of-peak occupancy would be quite low as this video proves. The chalets needed structurally and visually updating and it would not have been financially viable to do so - especially with how many chalets they were. This was also the case at Butlins Filey which was the largest camp out of them all in its hey day. When you also compare the locations of what was Starcoast World and also the former Butlins Ayr (which was also transferred to Haven at the same time) - these two parks are quite out of the way in terms of public transport and motorway networks unlike the three remaining Butlins resorts so thats possibly another reason because less people came by train and more by car so people would head to the other resorts which meant occupancy at Butlins Ayr and Butlins Pwllheli suffered as previously mentioned. Not only that, but the local roads and neighbouring towns did not have the adequate infrastructure to cope with such large volumes of traffic as more people came by car and Butlins expanding and refurbishing again in 1999 would have meant infrastructure would have to of been drastically improved. The council also as you said, didn’t want a huge skyline pavilion as it would have been an eyesore and what is a beautiful stretch of coastlines so that with the low occupancy, already struggling infrastructure and amount of chalets that needed updating spelt the end for Starcoast World (Butlins Pwllheli). It was transferred over to Haven as despite the fact it wasn’t viable to Butlins, it had huge potential for Haven. They quickly demolished vast amounts of the dated chalet accommodation, decreased capacity and added caravans. The main facilities were refurbished except the pool and it really was the most economically viable Bourne Leisure could do with the site. Even now, despite the huge capacity decreased, the capacity of the park is still double the population of Pwllheli. The local shops probably don’t make as much money as they previously did because capacity on the park was halved but Haven are investing millions of pounds every year into it and it is still the biggest employer in the area. I also believe that Bourne Leisure didn’t have funds to refurbish all the 5 resorts and transferring them to Haven was a cheaper alternative - especially with the othet issues Starcoast faced. It is such a shame but the now Hafan Y Mor has a very secure future and is on the road to achieve a 5* rating.
@@ellisjames3478 we were there 2 weeks ago. Admittedly not everything was open, but since our last visit in 2012, the place has really changed for the better. We stayed in an apartment in the old Bardsey Village. Some have been really well renovated. I am disabled now and caravans aren't always easy, but the apartment really suited us. I think the big thing to note is that selling caravans is their main business model. There were lots of owners on site as it was the first week the park was open. This time around I didn't feel like I wouldn't want to go back except for reminisce. It's got a very different feel now. The one way system in operation due to covid makes getting around much easier and I hope it stays after the Coronavirus restrictions are over.
chriggle1 Yeah that’s great news you’re beginning to see improvements. Haven are spending millions on the park over the next few years and are trying to get it up to a 5* rating. They have new plans to add even more caravans/lodges. They also have applied to demolish either some or all of the remaining Butlins chalets (which will be the old Bardsey Village). But i’m not sure if it’s just the older terraced rows near the beach as they want to build a beach cafe and add more coastal defences to the beach. The apartments that we’re built in the late 80’s as you said, have been really improved recently. So that’s also making me wonder if it’s just the four terraced rows closest to beach that are been demolished.. Either way it’s a shame but the terraced ones are past their best but the ones from late 80’s are still prominent at the remaining Butlins resorts so they could be refurbished even more with balconies etc.
