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PRIDE IN BARRY
What is happening to our Industrial Heritage? Have we any pride left in what the people of Barry achieved over the last century? In 1913 Barry Docks exported 11.5 million tons of coal. What is left at the docks to remind us that this ever happened? Not even one coal tip was spared from being scrapped. In the two wars Barry was an important seaport for our war effort and our allies, the Americans. The first American troops to arrive in Britain in the 1st World War landed at Barry Docks. During the 2nd World War, Barry was one of the few ports allowed to load explosives from the dockside and was also used extensively by the American Army. The Suez crisis saw Barry dock workers loading cargo and munitions bound for Egypt and unloading the same on the return of our troops. In the early part of the 20th century there were two Dry Docks and a number of ship repairing companies in Barry, all known world-wide. They were C. H. Bailey, Commercial Dry Docks, Barry Graving Dock Co. Ltd., and Hodge Shiprepairers, later to become Penarth Pontoon and Hodges. It was nothing to see ships from British and foreign companies arriving in Barry Docks from all over the world for either repair, de-scaling or re-painting. Ships from the White Star Line were regular visitors to Barry Graving Docks for overhaul and re-fit, and these together with ships from other lines were always assured of a speedy turn around. The Graving Dock which at that time was one of the finest and best equipped Dry Docks in South Wales had a world wide reputation for their ship repairing facilities and their turn round time. There is nothing left of the dock to indicate that it ever existed. In the war years Bailey's always seemed to have ships in their dry dock or tied up at their berth on the north side of the dock. If unable to enter the dry dock they would be moored at the tier waiting their turn to enter. Bailey's, like its counterparts had a reputation for a quick turn round which continued till well after the 60's. The rot set in when ship owners decided that it was cheaper to become "Flags of Convenience" and register their ships in foreign countries that had cheaper labour costs and registration fees than Britain. Bailey's workshops and berth are both gone and is now part of the Waterfront Development. The Dry Dock looks as though it will suffer the same fate as the Graving Dock. Penarth Pontoon & Hodges Building together with part of Subway Road has been demolished to make room for the new docks road. Buildings that were situated all around the docks are rapidly disappearing. The old hydraulic houses, which once fed power to the lock gates and cranes, are being or going to be demolished. Railway track has been taken up, signal boxes, the swingbridge, and footbridges all victims of the demolition gangs or soon will be. All this with no thought of saving anything for posterity. Small business premises which were situated all around the dock are gone, with the exception of a few on the North side of No. 2 Dock. In order to find small industrial buildings left on the dock or in Barry Town you have to search very hard. At one time small workshops were like corner shops, there was one in practically every street, from plumbers/coppersmiths, builders, small foundries, metal-work shops, bicycle and car repair workshops. Where have all these small back street/lane workshops gone? Have they all been relocated in industrial estates? (Which in itself it not a bad thing, but there should be some left around the town to remind us of our industrial heritage). At one time there were three or four foundries situated in Barry that made street furniture. These included Bailey, Graham & Co. of Barry Docks and Goulds Foundry, Barry. Their names appear on a lot of street bollards situated around the town. Woods & Jenkins Foundry (later to become Woods & Williams) of Tynewydd Road Lane were manufacturers of cast iron manhole and drain covers. Protheroe's of The Old Forge in Greenwood Street were another supplier, but their speciality was in Brass Foundry work, and they made candle sticks, fenders, companion sets and brass rails that were once used over the old ranges to dry clothes in front of the fire. Where has all the old street furniture that was made by these and other local craftsmen gone? There is still some around the town, but will they like the buildings on the dock and gradually disappear? Street lamps that used to be on every street corner are nearly all gone, and while some of these have reappeared in gardens down the Vale, there are only one or two examples left in Barry. Some have the name of the makers - Goulds Foundry, Barry or Evans Eagle Foundry, Llandaff - cast in the base. The most ornate of all the lamps left are outside the Dock Offices, these are very tall and graceful looking, even the light holders are an attractive feature. Park Benches around the town vary from park to park. Some are very ornate and were made in the early 1900's; others made by the Evans Eagle Foundry of Llandaff are solid and purely functional. Old GWR benches can still be found in some railway stations in the area, but they are now in great demand by railway buffs and are fast disappearing. An attempt has been made to reproduce street lamps and bollards around the town, and the council should be commended for the street lamps in Holton Road and on the Square, but what will happen to them if ever the Square is developed? Will these end up down the Vale? The street lamps at the Knap are a good example of a sympathetic design but could do with a bit of maintenance and a lick of paint. An attempt has been made to copy bollards, which at one time could be found all around the town. These bollards were cast originally as representing cannons upended with a cannon ball emerging from its mouth. Other bollards were used as boundary posts; some have BUDC cast on them and were made in Newport by Bakers Foundry. These can be seen at the entrance to the path in Greenwood Street leading to the Civic offices, and there are also a few around the outskirts of the town hidden from view by overgrown vegetation. Other boundary posts that were made and used by the Barry Railway Company are marked B.R.Co., and some very worn examples are on the beach at Watch Tower Bay. Some bollards have been elongated, given a fluted design and are used as gateposts or as corner support posts for railings around the town. The old gateway and railings around Yeoman's Yard and at the allotment site in Gladstone Road are good examples, some made in Wolverhampton by the Bayliss Foundry. Old entrance gateposts to the slaughterhouse are still standing; these were made and supplied by Hayward & Sons Ltd., London & Wolverhampton. In Cadoxton there are many Victorian cast iron items. Examples of the old method of the disposal of sewer gas can be seen at the top of Church Road, at the junctions of Bridge Street/Cowbridge Street and at Victoria Park Road/Belle View Terrace. At one time they were all equipped with gas burners to destroy the gas generated by sewage. There is one in St. Nicholas Road on the corner of Miskin Street, which is very much slimmer, but this was not a gas burner, just a vent. In Victoria Park was a drinking fountain, only the base now remains. There were other drinking fountains around the town but only two can now be found, both are at the Knap, one near the Rowing Club, the other in the Lake Gardens, neither are working. Victoria Park children's play area is still enclosed by the original railings that surrounded the park, the rest were taken during the drive for scrap iron in the Second World War. York Place has other good examples of Victorian cast iron railings, these were left to stop people from falling into the cellars of the houses in the black-out imposed in the war years. The balconies of some of the houses in Friars Road still retain their ornate railings erected when the houses were built in the early 1900's. Above the entrance gate to Cadoxton School is an ornate cast iron gas lamp holder, although the gas lamp disappeared years ago. The gates of the old Accident Hospital are the only reminders that it ever stood there, how much longer will they remain, I wonder? I have left out a number of places where items of Victorian street furniture can be seen on purpose, in the hope that the longer that their location remains unknown, the longer they will be left undisturbed. © T. CLEMETT 2001
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