Wales Air Ambulance

At the January 2025 meeting, Whitchurch WI was delighted to present a cheque for £1,300 to Catrin of Wales Air Ambulance.

My Life as a Butlins Redcoat

Rosemary described Billie Butlin as a genuinely nice man, and an astute businessman. He saw an opportunity in the early 1930's to provide a service and also create a business.

 

 

At that time, anyone who could not afford to stay in an hotel used a bed and breakfast place or boarding house. In these establishments holiday makers were required to be off the premises from after breakfast until early evening. This meant that holiday towns were full of people sitting on benches and frequenting coffee bars, especially when the weather was inclement. They had to be out and about with nowhere to rest, read or play games in private. Billie Butlin's first holiday camp was in Skegness. Although facilities were rather basic, every family or group had their own chalet which was available to them throughout the day. The cost of being at Butlin's included three meals a day, entertainment, competitions and activities, and every camp had a private beach. Only drinks and exceptional activities, such as horseriding, incurred an extra cost.   

 

Over time, further holiday camps were set up, such as in Brighton and Barry Island. The camps also had shops, facilities such as barbers, and beautiful, professionally maintained gardens. Photographs were taken around the camp every day and displayed the next day for people to buy. Every photograph was an advert for Butlins -- and example of Billie Butlin's skill as an entrepreneur. 

 

 

The entertainments were a good starting place for new talent. It was a great opportunity for them as they would be given a whole season of employment. Performers who later became stars appeared at Butlins, people like Ringo Starr, Dusty Springfield, Jimmy Starbuck and Rod Hull. 

 

In 1939 three of the Butlins camps were taken over and used for army training, but returned to being holiday camps after the war. Billie Butlin also branched out into hotels where the accommodation was a bit more luxurious. All camps were maintained to a high standard however, with beautifully decorated performance halls. 

 

 

Rosemary showed many fascinating photographs of Butlins holiday camps. She herself became a Red Coat in the 1960s at the Pwllheli camp. The Red Coats arose from a suggestion that the camps needed people to show guests around and inform them what activities were available that day and where they were taking place. Rosemary had trained as a dancer but worked as a general Red Coat helping in all areas of the holiday camp. She said that it was an enjoyable life but hard work. The days were long and they had to aways display a cheerful disposition even if they were very tired. 

Fy Mywyd fel Côt Goch Butlins

Disgrifiodd Rosemary Chaloner Billie Butlin fel dyn neis iawn, a dyn busnes craff. Gwelodd gyfle yn y 1930au cynnar i ddarparu gwasanaeth a hefyd i greu busnes.

 

 

Bryd hynny, roedd unrhyw un na allai fforddio aros mewn gwesty yn defnyddio lle gwely a brecwast neu dŷ llety. Yn y sefydliadau hyn roedd yn ofynnol i bobl ar eu gwyliau fod oddi ar y safle o ar ôl brecwast tan yn gynnar gyda'r nos. Roedd hyn yn golygu bod trefi gwyliau yn llawn o bobl yn eistedd ar feinciau ac yn mynychu bariau coffi, yn enwedig pan oedd y tywydd yn arw. Roedd yn rhaid iddynt fod allan heb unrhyw le i orffwys, darllen neu chwarae gemau yn breifat. Roedd gwersyll gwyliau cyntaf Billie Butlin yn Skegness. Er bod y cyfleusterau braidd yn sylfaenol, roedd gan bob teulu neu grŵp eu caban eu hunain a oedd ar gael iddynt drwy gydol y dydd. Roedd y gost o fod yn Butlin's yn cynnwys tri phryd y dydd, adloniant, cystadlaethau a gweithgareddau, ac roedd gan bob gwersyll draeth preifat. Dim ond diodydd a gweithgareddau eithriadol, megis marchogaeth, a achosodd gost ychwanegol.  

 

Dros amser, sefydlwyd gwersylloedd gwyliau pellach, megis yn Brighton ac Ynys y Barri. Roedd gan y gwersylloedd hefyd siopau, cyfleusterau fel barbwyr, a gerddi hardd, wedi'u cynnal a'u cadw'n broffesiynol. Tynnwyd lluniau o amgylch y gwersyll bob dydd a'u harddangos y diwrnod wedyn i bobl eu prynu. Roedd pob ffotograff yn hysbyseb i Butlins – ac yn enghraifft o sgil Billie Butlin fel entrepreneur. 

 

 

Roedd yr adloniant yn fan cychwyn da i dalent newydd. Roedd yn gyfle gwych iddynt gan y byddent yn cael tymor cyfan o gyflogaeth. Ymddangosodd perfformwyr a ddaeth yn sêr yn ddiweddarach yn Butlins, pobl fel Ringo Starr, Dusty Springfield, Jimmy Starbuck a Rod Hull. 

 

Ym 1939 cymerwyd drosodd tri o wersylloedd Butlins a'u defnyddio ar gyfer hyfforddi'r fyddin, ond dychwelodd i fod yn wersylloedd gwyliau ar ôl y rhyfel. Ymestynodd Billie Butlin hefyd i westai lle roedd y llety ychydig yn fwy moethus. Fodd bynnag, roedd pob gwersyll yn cael ei gynnal a'i gadw i safon uchel, gyda neuaddau perfformio wedi'u haddurno'n hyfryd. 

 

 

Dangosodd Rosemary nifer o luniau hynod ddiddorol o wersylloedd gwyliau Butlins. Daeth hi ei hun yn Gôt Goch yn y 1960au yng ngwersyll Pwllheli. Deilliodd y Cotiau Coch o awgrym bod angen pobl ar y gwersylloedd i ddangos gwesteion o gwmpas a rhoi gwybod iddynt pa weithgareddau oedd ar gael y diwrnod hwnnw a ble roeddent yn cael eu cynnal. Roedd Rosemary wedi hyfforddi fel dawnsiwr ond bu'n gweithio fel Côt Goch gyffredinol yn helpu ym mhob rhan o'r gwersyll gwyliau. Dywedodd ei fod yn fywyd pleserus ond yn waith caled. Roedd y dyddiau'n hir a bu'n rhaid iddynt i ffwrdd ddangos agwedd siriol hyd yn oed os oeddent yn flinedig iawn. 

Newsletter update – January 2025

An outing has been planned:

Royal Mint, Llantrisant
Thursday 20th March, in the afternoon.
Guided tour £10 plus cost of coach approximately £15.
Please pay a non-refundable deposit to secure a place.
Balance to be paid at the February meeting.

IT Training
The next session will be Thursday 6th February
2 pm in Room 1 at Ararat
Topic: Accessing Public Services on-line
Please note there is a £5 charge to cover room hire.

 

–

Newsletter –January 2025

January meeting:
13th January in Ararat Church Hall, Whitchurch Common, 2 pm.

Main speaker – Rosemary Chaloner: ‘My Life as a Butlins Redcoat’

It is time to think of which resolution you would like to vote for in 2025. Please follow the link for details.

We were sorry to hear the sad news that Margaret Wheeler has died. I'm sure all members who knew her join us in sending our sincere condolences to her family.

 

Outings:

Details of outings, sign-up sheets and payment are all available at the meeting.

The 2025 outings are being planned, so look out for notifications in future newsletters.
 

IT TRAINING with AbilityNet – for future sessions there will be a charge of £5 to cover the cost of hiring a room. You can sign up for the next session at the meeting.

Our Charity – Wales Air Ambulance
 
There will be the presentation of a cheque for £1300 at the January meeting. This is an excellent achievement and thanks are extended to all members for their contributions to the fundraising effort. The final fundraising event of 2024 was the sale of Christmas cakes baked by our expert cook, Chris Soughton. £50 was raised from their sale – though there is one payment outstanding. You know who you are! Please pay Liz for your cake at the meeting. Thank you.

Information

Link to the Glamorgan Newsletters.

MyWI site (registration and log in required)

Groups:

Choir: restarts on Wednesdays (excluding 15th January) / 11.30 am / Memorial Hall, Rhiwbina

Book Group: Wednesday 15th January / 11.00 am / La Cucina da Mara, Whitchurch

Craft Group: Monday 20th January / 10.30 am / 41 Cherry Orchard Road, Lisvane

Tangle Art Group: Wednesday 15th January / 2.00 pm / 5 Court Close, Whitchurch

Family History: Monday 3rd February / 2.00 pm / 113 Pantbach Road

Sunday Lunch Group: 26th January / 1.00 pm / Butchers Arms, Rhiwbina
 
Poetry and Prose Group: Monday 27th January 2025 / 11.00am / The Ark coffee bar, Ararat / Topic: humour and limericks

 

Following meeting(s):

10th February in Ararat Church Hall, Whitchurch Common, 2 pm.
Main speaker: Mary Watkins. Topic: Volunteering in Rwanda.

 

Advance notice for the meeting in March:

A Celebration of Wales: an opportunity to compete in several categories

– cooking: Welsh cakes and chocolate cake

– craft: clothing for a Welsh costume doll

– photography: 'daffodils' / 'two of a kind' – 7" x 5" photograph

– poetry: a limerick

– choral speaking

Details to be confirmed soon.

	Happy New Year!

Christmas Fair, November 30th

A few photos from the Christmas Fair on November 30th at Ararat Church, where we raised £100 for our charity: Wales Air Ambulance.

December 2024 Meeting

The speaker for December was Peter Davis – a poet. He informed us that his love of poetry was inspired by a past Reverend of Ararat Church, Reverend George Evans, because he used to quote from 'The Hound of Heaven' by Francis Thompson.

Peter stated that even though poetry may not be everyone's cup of tea, as a topic for a WI meeting was highly appropriate for three reasons: firstly poetry is creative, and the WI is creative; secondly we all have lines of poetry in our minds – and he called for suggestions which many members provided; and finally the WI's anthem is 'Jerusalem' by William Blake.

 

 

The format for his talk was to quote several poets on a particular topic and then round up with a piece of his own poetry on that topic. Some subjects were whimsical, some amusing, some touching, and some serious and thought provoking. His poetry was most approachable and enjoyable. 

The rest of the meeting was dedicated to socialising and eating the wonderful food that everyone had brought to share. The Christmas spirit was rounded off by finishing with a rendition of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' with each table allocated one of the numbers to sing and mime to. Everyone was in good voice and had a jolly time.