Barry Island
Barry Island photos (25 available)
Barry Island maps (2 available)
Map of South Glamorgan
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of South Glamorgan
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Barry Island books (4 available)
- 3 photos on Barry Island appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Barry Island
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Barry Island and South Glamorgan
Barry Island memories
Read and share memories of Barry Island and South Glamorgan inspired by Frith photos
Barry Island
I was born and bred Barry Island. My mother and father had a fish and chip shop under the Western shelter. I can remember wonderful summer days, playing on the sands and making friends with children from the valleys. They thought my life wonderful! Can anybody remember the Gwalia cafe built on the rocks at Nells Point and the swimming pool below it that filled up at high tide? Oh such happy days! Mary Morgan (nee Lewis)
Contributed by First Name Last Name
Barry Island in the 50s and 60s
I traveled to Barry Island every summer because it was the nearest seaside to Brynmawr where we lived. The excitement of seeing the sea was overwhelming, and every time I would be sick on the old coach taking us there. We would first spend a few hours on the beach, then a walk around the shops, hoping for the biggest stick of rock possible. Then we spent an hour or so at the fair. I don't know how I ever went on the rides, I couldn't now! Then it was back to the coach. I was always OK going home, so it was just the thrill of being at Barry Island, something nice to look forward to. Barry Island has brought ...read more here
Contributed by jackie haynes
Roller skating at Barry Island.
Some of my best memories of Barry Island are from the week-ends I used to go to the skating rink which was situated above the block of shops on the sea side of the pleasure park overlooking the prom and sea. Three of us waited all week for this wonderful evening. We were, me, Pat Baker (Overstreet) Christine Pearce and Jackie Felix. We all saved hard to buy our own spanking new, white leather roller boots although, impatient to actually wear boots and not simply strap on skates, I bought a second hand pair from a girl called Roberta (Scott - I think) who made a wonderful and graceful dance partner with a very handsome young man, Arnold, I seem to ...read more here
Contributed by Patricia Baker
I lived at nells Point
I lived at the Navy station Nells Point around 1943 to 1947. I went to school at Clive road and attended sunday school at st Johns. I remember the army camp,and at the end of the war the squatters moved in the huts.I allso remember the U.S army giving us children lovelypartiesand eating my first donut. the one with the hole in. Pat Perring nee Nurse
Contributed by patricia perring
Extracts From Barry Island & South Glamorgan books
Beyond the happy
holidaymakers the
distinctively striped rock
face, vividly illustrated here,
is a signature feature of the
cliff face between Barry and Penarth.
An extract from from"Around Penarth Photographic Memories".
How sad – this is the end of our photographic journey around this part of the Vale of Glamorgan. Built for Peter Birt in the 1770s to a design by Robert Adam, this grand residence was for many years renowned for its beautiful interiors, their opulence virtually unparalleled in South Wales. From its pink and green dining room, a 19th-century visitor could wander throughout the castle enthralled by its vast and remarkable collection of stuffed animals on display.
An extract from from"Around Penarth Photographic Memories".
Initially commissioned to honour those of the parish who fell in the First World War, the simple Celtic cross of the war memorial was to be sadly amended in the aftermath of the Second World War with the loss of four local men. Corporal Cyril Channon died as a Japanese POW, Gunner Alec Collins was lost at sea with Captain John Duncan, and Lieutenant Rhys Thomas was killed in action.
An extract from from"Around Penarth Photographic Memories".
Seemingly indifferent to its position beside the busy thoroughfare connecting Cardiff and Cowbridge, Church Hall House (pictured) stands testament to a romanticised Victorian vision of a pre-industrial Britain. Built in 1898 in a William Morris-inspired Arts and Crafts style, the house boasts a distinctive stone, brick and render façade topped by terracotta tiles and an exaggerated turret.
An extract from from"Around Penarth Photographic Memories".
There is no general consensus as to the origin of ‘St Nicholas’ as a place name. Some believe that it is derived from the phosphorescent light effect seen around vessels in the nearby Bristol Channel, sometimes referred to by its Russian name ‘St Nicholas’s Lights’. At the time of this photograph the population of the parish had fallen to 326 – not until the 1980s would it match its 1950s high.
An extract from from"Around Penarth Photographic Memories".