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BARRY ISLAND BEFORE THE 50's In a book entitled "A Tour in South Wales", written by the Rev. J. Evans and published in 1804, is one of the first descriptions of Barry Island. Rev. Evans gives a short account of his visit to the Island together with a list of the many types of fish which can be caught there, and the vast quantities of rabbits trapped and sent from there to market. He finishes his article with the following words "To a party that has all their amusements amongst themselves, it may be a tolerable place for a time, but to those accustomed to the luxury of society and other pleasurable amusements, Barry will not furnish a single inducement to visit". By 1873 J.D. Treharne had purchased the island, and by 1876, in order to attract visitors there, he built a pier to enable the passenger boats that plied the Channel the means to land on the Island. In the first year the pier opened, over 15,000 visitors arrived on the island, either crossing to the island by ferry from the Ship, or walking across at low tide. Many stayed at the old Marine (Pier) Hotel that was owned by Treharne. The hotel was demolished in 1894 and Friars Point House built on the site. In the 1890's over 100,000 visitors arrived at Barry Station, or disembarked at Treharne Pier on trips organised and run by The Yellow Funnel Fleet. By 1896, after a fatal accident, the Coroner asked that the pier not be used, and by 1902 the pier had been demolished. The foundations of the pier on the rocks at Friars Point are still visible. The main way to visit Barry Island was then by train, and passengers arriving at Barry Station could walk along a raised paved embankment at low tide, or at high tide, could be ferried across. Bathing at this time was from bathing machines, hired from operatives who wheeled them down to the water's edge. So many complaints were received from visitors about the delay in hiring these machines that the council segregated part of the beach and, subject to scrutiny of an inspector who had to approve the bathing costumes worn by the swimmers, visitors were allowed to bathe there. In 1893 plans were in the pipeline to construct a tramway on the same design as the Swansea /Mumbles Railway, from Barry Station to the Island, but because of the vast numbers of visitors descending on Barry Island, it was considered impracticable and abandoned. In 1896 the railway line was extended from Barry Station to the Island. This line crossed to the island at road level, needing a crossing at Plymouth Road. When modernisation of one of the premises on Station Approach was being undertaken recently, traces of a track were found in the basement. On August Bank Holiday Monday, 1896, over 30,000 visitors arrived by rail at the Island. The main complaint of these visitors was that in order to obtain refreshments they had to return to Barry, as there was only one restaurant on the Island. Between 1897 and 1898, hundreds of thousands of day visitors from the valleys arrived by rail at the Island, as unlike many other resorts, the station lay only yards from the beach. As a further incentive for people to visit Barry, paddle steamers were bought, but owing to conditions imposed on the Barry Railway Company they did not run for long and were sold, off mainly to P. & A. Campbell's White Funnel Fleet. Some years over 50,000 passengers embarked at Barry Pier for trips in the Bristol Channel. These cruises could take place at most times of the day from the pontoon in the harbour entrance. Barry Pier Station was the most southerly railway station in Wales. In 1903 attractions on the beach were donkey rides, stage shows, boat trips and Punch & Judy shows. The largest and most popular show was, Johnny Shields troupe of pierrots, who appeared in the Pavilion Theatre on the western end of the beach. The Pavilion Theatre gave its name to a well known restaurant on the Island owned and run by the Winter family - The Old Pavilion Restaurant. Barry Athletic Club was at one time known as "The Pavilion Cricket Club". At the eastern end of the beach a fairground was situated with swing boats, chair-o-planes and small roundabouts. Gifts and small goods could be obtained from sellers who arrived by boat on the beach, and used the boats as small shops. In 1909 the council passed a by-law banning their use, but allowed these traders to bid for spaces to rent. This practice ended when the promenade was being built in 1923. In the same year, 1903, the Windsor Estate commenced building a promenade above the foreshore, which was finished two years later. Entrance to the promenade was by turnstiles that were situated at Friars Road and opposite New Street (Barry Athletic Club entrance). In the first months of its opening the cost of entrance was one penny but this was reduced to one halfpenny later, and gave the promenade its name - "The Half-Penny Prom". Prior to the building of the promenade there were little or no toilet facilities on the Island. In the early 1900's the Council took over a number of roads on the Island from the Windsor Estate, for use as public highways. In return the Council agreed to provide lavatory accommodation sufficient for the number of visitors arriving at the Island. The Estate gave the Council a plot of freehold land at New Street to for that purpose. The first toilets were built at the western end of the promenade, near the switchback railway that ran from New Street to what is now the Athletic Club car park. The switchback railway stayed open until 1914, but it closed after the Figure 8 ride, which opened in 1912 on the present fairground site took most of its business, and the ground was used for building purposes. The next phase in the improvement of facilities at Barry Island was the building of ladies changing rooms and a paddling pool at Friars Point. At Nell's Point changing rooms for men were built. Men were not allowed to wait outside the ladies changing rooms, but were allowed on the flat roof above. Needless to say the top was always crowded with male onlookers. The beach and facilities were transferred to the Council by Lord Windsor in 1902, and in 1909 the land surrounding it was also transferred. The 1914-18 war interfered with the Council's plans for the development of the Island and it wasn't until 1922 that work on the sea wall began. In 1923 the work on the construction of both shelters and the shops under the Western Shelter began. The main contractors, Messrs. Vickery Bros., using unemployed workmen who were paid on a voucher scheme run by the Government, supervised this work. When work started on the building of the promenade, stall holders and the fairground operatives had to leave the beach and move to the present fairground. White Bros., who had rides on the beach, developed the ground that they leased from the Whitmore Bay Syndicate until 1929. In 1930, when White Bros. went to renew the lease, they found that Pat Collins had offered more. This was after White Bros. had taken over one of the sites that Pat Collins had regularly rented at Evesham. Pat Collins renamed the fairground at Barry Island "Evesham Pleasure Park" after the ground he had lost. White Bros. moved across the road and purchased a plot of land that they named "Cosy Corner". Amongst the attractions and rides offered by Pat Collins on the opening of the ground for his first season were The Honeymoon Express, Hey Day, The Welsh Golden Dragons, The Caterpillar, and Over the Falls. Other attractions were the Death Ride, a Boxing Kangaroo, a large open air dance floor with amplified music from gramophone records (one of the first disco's), and a Menagerie with 10 lions, nine tamed and one straight from the wild. At the end of the first season, Pat Collins invited his 60 staff, mostly local men, to a meal plus drinks at the Park Hotel. As he and the local manager (Mr. Bartram) were unable to attend, Mr. Dutton, one of his relations, took the chair. Capt. Clarke the lion tamer was unable to attend as he was still recovering from injuries sustained after being mauled by a lion. By the mid 30's Pat Collins was placing advertisements in many papers, and this, together with the Council's holiday guides, brought thousands of visitors to the Island from all parts of Britain by trains, boats, charabancs and motor cars. Pat Collins even established a garage where if your car broke down, you could have it repaired whilst you were enjoying yourself on the Island. By 1937 further attractions were offered at the fairground including The Whirlwind Racer, The Water Chute (the first in South Wales), The Brooklands Race Track, The Ghost Train, Dodgem Cars, and the Globe of Death. Thompson's Figure 8, which was the main attraction on the fairground from 1912 was demolished in 1939 and replaced by the Scenic Railway. This ride appeared in Glasgow in 1938, and in Belgium in 1939, from where at the outbreak of the war it was evacuated and brought to Barry. After the war years in the late 40's and early 50's, and when miners fought for and were awarded two weeks summer holiday, Barry reached its zenith. On one Bank Holiday weekend, over 50,000 visitors arrived at the Island by train, with trains arriving and leaving Barry Island station every 10 minutes. It was at this time also that the fairground changed hands. John Collins (known as Walsall John) took over and ran it until 1966, when his sons John and Pat took over the site. On 17th November 1963 hurricane force winds hit Barry Island and caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to the fairground, and partially destroying the Scenic Railway. Large sections were blown down and blocked the road past the station, and in falling it crushed the dodgems. Because of the continual high winds and the unsafe condition of what was left of the structure, work was unable to commence on the clearing of the wreckage for two days. It was repaired and made ready for opening for the following season but finally in 1973 it was demolished, to be replaced by the Log Flume in the 80's. In 1969 brothers John and Pat managed to purchase the freehold from the Whitmore Bay Syndicate, but years later the partnership between the brothers was dissolved, and in the 90's the ground was sold to Ken Rogers, who remodelled and rebuilt it as it appears now.
© T. CLEMETT 1999
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