TV star Emily Atack unearths teenage Macca’s plea to her Redcoat grandfather

Years before becoming global superstars with The Beatles, teenagers Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon tried to get summer jobs at Butlin’s.

Sir Paul’s application letter – which has just been unveiled more than 60 years after it was written – was to his relative Mike Robbins, who was an entertainments manager and Redcoat at the world-famous holiday resorts.

The young Sir Paul joked that him and two friends were looking for a good time that summer, ‘but we don’t mind missing this if we go to Butlin’s’.

He added that they would be up for ‘any kind of work’ as long as they could share a chalet, and urged Mr Robbins, who was married to the singer’s cousin Betty, to exert his influence over the camp’s ‘officials’.

Sir Paul has previously reminisced about a childhood holiday at the Butlin’s resort in Pwllheli, North Wales, during its heyday of knobbly knees and glamorous granny contests, but it is not known which camp he was trying to get a job at – or even if he, Lennon and their friend were hired.

The letter has been discovered as part of an upcoming episode of the BBC’s genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are?, which charts the family history of actress and comedian Emily Atack. 

The letter has been discovered as part of an upcoming episode of the BBC’s genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are?, which charts the family history of actress and comedian Emily Atack (pictured)

Atack, 33, who is the granddaughter of the late Mr Robbins, has always known she is Sir Paul’s first cousin twice removed, but she only learns about the existence of the letter during the programme when it is brought out by her actress mother, Kate Robbins. 

Atack said: ‘I was brought up knowing I was from a very cool family. I am related to the McCartneys and it’s the coolest thing on earth.’

It is not clear how old the Beatles frontman was when he penned the note on behalf of himself, Lennon and a friend called ‘Len’. 

It is possible this third individual was Len Garry, who along with Lennon and Sir Paul were in the band The Quarrymen. 

This suggests the letter was written in the late 1950s, just before or after Garry joined the band.

Atack is also told that Sir Paul resisted Mr Robbins’ advice to add a touch of comedy to his vocal delivery, saying: ‘I don’t think we are going to do that.’

Who Do You Think You Are? is on BBC 1 at 9pm on July 6.

Atack, 33, who is the granddaughter of the late Mr Robbins, has always known she is Sir Paul’s first cousin twice removed. Pictured: Emily Atack’s mother Kate Robbins (left) with Mccartney (right)

Pictured: Emily Atack’s mother Kate Robbins on Good Morning Britain in December 2018

Atack said: ‘I was brought up knowing I was from a very cool family. I am related to the McCartneys and it’s the coolest thing on earth.’ Pictured: Emily Atack (right) and her father Keith Atack (left)