‘Treasure Island’ in Technicolor

At Hartland Quay on Monday a pirate crew wearing pigtails and carrying an assortment of weapons landed by rowing boat but their activities were cut short by rain – the first that had fallen in North Devon for weeks.

This was the start of the filming in this district of exterior scenes for Walt Disney’s production of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic ‘Treasure Island’.

There was plenty of activity at the Hartland Quay Hotel, an old building adjoining, which is being transformed into the ‘Admiral Benbow Inn’. The landing of the pirate crew, who were all ‘extras’ recruited locally, were watched with keen interest by many holidaymakers and residents.

Gazette article 8 July 1949