The Bathers' Revenge

One of the few surviving films made by [Arthur] William Haggar (1851-1925), a travelling showman and film pioneer based in Wales from the 1880s onwards. Haggar's son, Walter, plays the female half of a couple who choose to sit on a heart-shaped riverside bench just made for two but their courting is disturbed when their behaviour offends! Filmed on the Western Cleddau river, Pembrokeshire.

Born in Essex, William Haggar made his home in south Wales, the coal field providing an audience for his theatrical and film shows. Having no studio, he filmed in the open air, often in Pembrokeshire, using members of his large family as cast. His films were popular and widely distributed by e.g. Gaumont, ‘Desperate Poaching Affray’ being a best-seller across the globe. He remained on the road until the death of his first wife, Sarah, in 1909, when he opened cinemas in the Valleys and settled in Aberdare, his base in winter when still travelling. Aged 61 he married a second time in 1912, his bride aged 28, and they would have honey-mooned on the ‘Titanic’ if it had been possible to procure a passage.