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Disappearing Barry Part 3 - The Eastern Dock What has happened to the reminders of Barry's Industrial Heritage?
In 1913 over 11 million tons of coal was exported from Barry Docks, a record that has never been beaten! What has been left to show that this ever happened? Not one coal tip was spared from demolition to show future generations that it ever took place at Barry Docks. In the late 40's Barry still had 30 modern coal hoists, 19 of them capable of lifting 20 ton wagons. A number of them were movable, and all had devices fitted to prevent the breakage of the coal whilst being tipped. There were 44 hydraulic and electrically operated cranes, some capable of lifting up to 50 tons for the swift discharge and loading of cargo. A cold store facility for the storage of meat, located next to Ranks Flour Mills, was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt, as it was thought that it would be of no commercial value. Ranks Mills' escaped the same fate in 1912 when a fire broke out in the mill. It took almost two days to bring it under control. One of the oldest established business on the docks, Ranks Mills was built in 1905 at Barry because of the incentives offered by the Dock and Railway Company. It gave Ranks a lease of 250 years at a low rental, and a loan of £40,000 to build the factory. Ranks not only made flour, but also animal foodstuffs. Amongst the many brand names of flour produced at the mill were "Ocean Pride", a flour made especially for the use of shipping companies and the navy, "Celtic Pride" because of the Welsh connection, "Banzai", to appeal to the Japanese market, and "As You Like It". This flour was bagged in various size sacks made of Egyptian cotton, which were a godsend to mothers of young children who worked in the mill, as when washed, these bags could be used for tablecloths, petticoats and knickers.
In the 1930's an enamel works was established on land opposite Ranks for the manufacture of enamelled ware. This unfortunately did not last long, and the factory was taken over by Messrs Fellows and Chamberlain. It re-opened as the Barry Enamel Works and specialised in the manufacture of enamelled hollow ware, sold under the trade mark "Good Fellows". Before coming to Barry, Mr Fellows was a director of the Vulcan Enamel and Hollow Ware factory in Wolverhampton, and together with Mr Chamberlain, gave their names to the new project. It was alleged that one of the directors, a German by the name of Fritz Richter, was a member of the German secret service who disappeared from Barry on the outbreak of war. Jewsons now use part of the site as a builder's merchants yard. Geest Industries arrived in Barry in 1959, and for many years they used Barry as their main port for the import of bananas and the export of goods from Britain to the West Indies. They moved from Barry in the 80's and relocated to docks at Bristol, later returning to new premises at Barry in the 90's. They finally left and relocated to Southampton. At one time a roll-on / roll-off service to Dublin was established by Seaspeed Ferries at the Basin (No. 3 Dock). Two dry dock companies were once located in Barry. When opened, Barry Graving Docks was one of the finest and most up-to-date docks in the country. It is now filled in, without even a sign to say that it ever existed. From the early part of the 1900's it was a regular occurrence to see ships from all parts of the world coming into Barry for repair, maintenance and general servicing, scraping and painting. Ships from The White Star Line were regular visitors to the Graving Docks for repair or servicing. The docks had a reputation for a fast turn around second to none. On the other side of the docks, C.H. Bailey occupied a dry dock together with two repair berths, one on the north (Town) side and the other on the south (Island) side. These dry docks look as though they will suffer the same fate as the Graving Dock, yet there is a world-wide shortage of these facilities!
Reading brochures published by the Barry Docks and Railway Company in the 1900's, the docks did not only give work to dockers and coal trimmers employed on the export of coal, or unloading cargo. It was a hive of activity, with hundreds of workers employed in the many small and medium sized workshops and factories situated on the docks. In a handbook for 1906, an advert extolling the virtues of locating at Barry Docks appears. It gives all the advantages for opening a business there, including the close proximity of the docks for the export of goods world-wide, without the cost of sending it to another port. Easy reach of home markets, with rail lines and depots nearby on the docks, a plentiful supply of labour, both skilled and unskilled, and a ready supply of cheap fuel. Adverts for companies already established on the docks include Ranks Mills, C.H. Bailey and the Commercial Dry Dock, Cardiff Channel Dry Docks and Pontoon Company, and the Severn Dry Dock Company, who bought the Barry Central Engine Works, Barry Graving Docks, Meggitt and Jones, and John Sherman Engineering. By the 1920's, in another brochure published by the Barry Docks and Railway Company, over 50 adverts appear of companies located on the docks and nearby. It included a number that appeared in the 1900 edition, plus Goulds Foundry, Elliot and Jeffrey (ship repairers), Hall and Lewis (wagon repairers, whose work areas were at No 1 and 2 Docks), and Barry High Level. Located in the Exchange Building next to the dock offices were a number of shipping agents and coal factors. Three boiler houses, used to generate hydraulic power for the operation of dock machinery and the opening and closing of the lock gates, were situated on the docks. One was at the foot of Battery Hill, Barry Island, another at the Bendricks entrance to the docks, and one near the Per Way yard. There were 15 hydraulic accumulators situated around the docks at strategic sites. These have all been demolished. Fresh water from the Company's own reservoir at Wenvoe was supplied to shipping for use in their boilers. The reservoir was taken over under the nationalisation of water companies, and was demolished. Two large timber floats at the eastern end of the dock have been filled in. One, Tom Edge Pond, is being used for the expansion of the chemical works complex. Messrs J.O. Williams' Company was importers of timber used in the collieries for pit props. A common sight at the docks was stacks of pit props, some being unloaded, but many being stacked ready for sorting or cutting into sizes. At one time the West Pond was practically covered by them, all sized and stacked, waiting for orders from the collieries, before being despatched. The development of "The Waterfront" has ensured that all the railway embankments, once used by the wagons carrying coal to be tipped, have been flattened. Nearly the entire railway track, which once covered the dockside, has been taken up. Signal boxes, together with signal posts, have gone, some into the hands of railway enthusiasts, but most under the hammers of demolition contractors. The only reminder that there was once a viaduct on the docks is the name of one of the roads near where it stood. All have been victims of progress with no thought of preserving anything for posterity. In fact if it wasn't for the expanse of water left, one could be forgiven for not knowing that Barry Docks was once a port known throughout the world.
© T. CLEMETT 2003
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