Inside Butlin’s Minehead in the 1960s – with a visit from Princess Margaret

BUTLIN’S has been a long-time favourite for British holidaymakers, with the resorts dating back to the 1930s.

And new images have revealed their heyday at the Minehead resort back in the 1960s, which includes a visit from Princess Margaret.

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The resort is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, having opened in June 1962.

The images, revealed by Somerset Live, show owner Billy Butlin paying a visit to the parks he had created, of which there were already seven in the UK.

The new £2million resort included indoor and outdoor swimming pools, as well as a fairground, amusement arcade and boating lake.

This was alongside restaurants, bars and shops, as well as a laundrette and hairdressing salon.

Daily entertainment was provided by the iconic redcoat attendants.

In 1964, a miniature railway was added, followed by a monorail in 1967 – which was visited by Princess Margaret and her husband Lord Snowdon.

Here are some of the best pictures showing the park soon after it opened.

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Other pictures show young couples, along with families and older tourists visiting the park.

Butlin’s opened their first park in 1936 at Skegness which remains open today, followed by another eight resorts. including one in the Bahamas.

However, many have closed over the years and been taken over by other brands such as Haven, with just three remaining – Skegness, Minehead and Bognor Regis.

Butlin’s is looking for one family of ‘Funbassadors’ and it will even pay you to visit the resorts.

The family will bag three all-expenses-paid holidays to Butlin’s resorts across the country, as well as get paid £1,000.

For those of you who aren’t lucky enough to be chosen, holidays are still available for just £69.

That means a family of four can bag a staycation for as little as £17.25pp.

Here is what you can expect from a holiday to Butlin’s.