Barry Wales Dock Office by Tony Hodge is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0

Barry Wales – United Kingdom

Located in South Wales, Barry lies roughly south-west of the centre of the UK, in The Vale of Glamorgan about ten miles west of the capital of Wales, Cardiff. In ancient times, Barry Island was famous because St. Baruc lived on it. In olden days, it became infamous for pirates and wreckers. Barry Island ceased to be an island in the late Victorian era, when they dug out the docks, and used the spoil to make a land bridge to the mainland.

Barry Wales Heritage

When my grandparents were youngsters, Barry was the exporter of the most coal in the world. I believe that it still holds the world record of a million tons in one year. However, that was more than a hundred years ago. My parents told me stories of being able to walk across Barry Docks by hopping from ship to ship. They were so tightly packed in when they were teenagers. They also told me that Barry had the greatest difference between high and low tide of anywhere in the world. About 44 feet, I think.

Owen Jones - Welsh Writer

My name is Owen Jones, and I am a novelist from Barry Wales. The Colcot, to be specific, which is north-east of the town centre, on the way to Cardiff.

I grew up in Barry-Wales in the Fifties and Sixties, so just after the Second World War. Barry escaped relatively unscathed from the bombing, or so I gather, because nearby Cardiff was deemed a more important target. I enjoyed my youth there. It was busy and there was plenty to do. There seemed to be lots of work too, and there were leisure facilities galore. My particular favourites were Saturday Morning Cinema Club, and the outdoor public swimming baths, although various types of beach with clean water practically surround Barry. The rip tides were dangerous though, so I preferred the pool.

Then I left Barry-Wales for university in Portsmouth for five years, and almost ten years abroad in The Netherlands. Eventually, I returned 'for good' in my early thirties. I remember feeling that I had to be shoehorned back into Barry after the freedom of living in continental Europe. I don’t mean political freedom of course, but the English Channel is quite a mental barrier. For example, if I became bored in The Netherlands, I could hitch-hike to the South of France in a day or so. From Barry, I would have to get to the channel (175 miles), cross that (about eight hours) and then start travelling again. It takes the edge off it.

Yes, flights were an option back then. However, they were not the mode of transport that sprang first to my mind, as they would nowadays. Doesn't anyone hitch-hike any more? It's probably deemed unsafe :-(

Life in Barry Wales

I worked very happily with my brothers in my father’s local construction firm for about fifteen years until he died, work dried up, and we all went our separate ways. That was when Barry-Wales started to go down hill too. Perhaps, I’m exaggerating because my father died and our firm went bust, but I think that it is more than that. There were two big, Edwardian (or Georgian) pubs in the town centre – The Vic(toria Arms?) and the Windsor Hotel. In fact, both were built as hotels but never used as such. One day, the Vic closed down! It was such a shock.

Within a few years, they had knocked it down and replaced it with a Tesco’s....