Butlins Camp, Textile Mill, Football Match and Garden

The newly-opened Butlin’s holiday camp at Pwllheli attracts the interest of Harold Cox and his cine camera.

What links footage of early days at Butlin’s Pwllheli (a holiday camp opened to much local opposition in 1947 with accommodation for 5,000) with shots of weaving at a textile mill (possibly Leri Tweed Mills, Ceredigion), a football match and seaside shots (probably the Dyffryn Ardudwy area) and shots of a garden (likely to be at Four Oaks, Warwickshire)? The answer is Harold Cox, a lover of Wales and owner of a music business in Birmingham.

Harold Cox, the film-maker, and his brother holiday-ed regularly with family and friends in Dyffryn Ardudwy, both having had neighbouring bungalows built there for their eventual retirements. They would use Dyffryn as a base from which to tour north and mid-Wales. Harold lived at ‘The Rowans’ in Jordan Road, Four Oaks, Warwickshire.