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The History of Barry If you've read Tom Clemett's articles in the Barry Gem, now you can enjoy them here too! Read Dr Jonathan Hicks' articles on "Barry and the Great War" here! People have lived in the area now occupied by Barry for thousands of years. Archaeological and historical research, much of it done by local enthusiasts, has resulted in a large amount of information being discovered and held by various local groups and individuals. Unfortunately, the nature of voluntary organisations mean that some of these come and go as they lose key individuals, and some of the personalities involved leave a lot to be desired in terms of tolerance and sharing. However, a number of local historians are keen to share their interest, insights and discoveries, and there are links and articles to their work on this page. There are many books available in the "Old Photographs of..." vein, many complied by local historians, but as photography was not readily available before the 1850's, this type of collection is limited mainly to the 20th century. The Centenary book of Barry, published in 1984, contains much information regarding the geological origins of the town, prehistoric remains, and the medieval settlements that occupied the area over the last millennium (1000 years). With the building of Barry Docks at the end of the 19th Century, the development of Barry as a town accelerated, and by the 1920's, Barry had a population of about 40,000. This population has grown slightly, and now stands just below 50,000. The Barry Town Council website has quite a nice brief history of the town on one of it's pages, plus pictures and information on the Barry Memorial Hall. Another site of interest is the Castles of Wales site, which mentions (amongst many others) the 13th century Barry Castle. More recent heritage was represented by the Barry Steam Railway Centre, which had a collection of old locomotives and heritage centre located at Barry Island railway station. Unfortunately this has now folded, and the future of the collection of artefacts and engines is uncertain. From a similar age, the Paddle Steamer Waverley is a regular visitor to the area, and there are links to two associated sites below. The Homepages section of this site also has some links which may interest those looking for information regarding the history of Barry and the surrounding area. Click here for more photographs relating to the history of Barry   Please remember that the content of externally linked sites is outside of our control! The Woodhams Scrapyard 1960-1993 Flikr group has hundreds of photos of the old locomotives in their pre-restoration state. Now we just need links to the restored photos... The Memorial to Merchant Seamen in Barry Visit the National Museums and Galleries of Wales. Nice sites, and of course, visiting the galleries in free! The Royal Commision on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales includes aerial photos, and a database with lots of local references. But sadly, not much detail (you have to contact the data holders for that). A bit academic, perhaps. Paddle Steamer Waverley pages, including trip logs and timetables Barry Town Council has a nice brief history of the Town. Details and pictures of Barry Castle from the Castle Wales site The Castle Wales site has loads of information and pictures of all sorts of castles in Wales - well worth a visit! An article on the historic Scenic Railway at Barry Island A site devoted to the UWIST student residents of Glan-y-Mor at the Knap with some history of the building, and lots of photos of the inmates. End of an era? The planned redevelopment at the Knap Lido. Butlins Memories. An amazing collection of images of the Butlins empire when people still stayed in this country and went to the seaside for their holidays! Barry and Cardiff photographs - mainly "then", but with the promise of more "now" to come... I hope to be able to expand the information presented here, but it all takes time! There are plenty of amateur historians out there - if anyone is interested in publishing anything relating to the history of the area on the Internet, then you can always contact me via the feedback pages...