Post by KG on Nov 14, 2017 16:26:13 GMT
The birth of Barry Docks.
Work began on the new dock at Barry on 14 November 1884which opened for trade in 1889. Later, further docks were added and by 1903 exports had risen to over nine million tonnes. By 1913, Barry had become the largest coal exporting port in the country.
The docks gave rise to many subsidiary business enterprises, from repair yards and cold storage facilities to flour mills and shipping agents. Even when a worldwide depression in the 1920s began to decimate the Welsh coal trade, there were still more than fifty companies trading out of Barry docks. Eventually, the collapse of the Welsh coal trade left Barry and its docks redundant. The arrival of the Geest Company in 1959, importing bananas from the West Indies, provided a temporary reprieve, but when the company withdrew in the 1980s, the port of Barry went into terminal decline.
Today, the old waterfront has been redeveloped, like many other dockland areas. Parts of the old docks have been used as locations for TV shows like Doctor Who and Torchwood and, of course, the television series Gavin and Stacey was set and filmed in Barry.
The History of Wales.
Visitors to the seaside town of Barry, six or seven miles to the west of Cardiff, might be forgiven for thinking that the place held nothing more important than a pleasure beach, a fun fair and a few empty docks that seem to have little or no purpose.
Yet there was a time when Barry was the largest coal exporting port in Britain, possibly even the world. That may have been a long time ago and the town's days of glory may be gone, but what a glory they were. LINK
Work began on the new dock at Barry on 14 November 1884which opened for trade in 1889. Later, further docks were added and by 1903 exports had risen to over nine million tonnes. By 1913, Barry had become the largest coal exporting port in the country.
The docks gave rise to many subsidiary business enterprises, from repair yards and cold storage facilities to flour mills and shipping agents. Even when a worldwide depression in the 1920s began to decimate the Welsh coal trade, there were still more than fifty companies trading out of Barry docks. Eventually, the collapse of the Welsh coal trade left Barry and its docks redundant. The arrival of the Geest Company in 1959, importing bananas from the West Indies, provided a temporary reprieve, but when the company withdrew in the 1980s, the port of Barry went into terminal decline.
Today, the old waterfront has been redeveloped, like many other dockland areas. Parts of the old docks have been used as locations for TV shows like Doctor Who and Torchwood and, of course, the television series Gavin and Stacey was set and filmed in Barry.
The History of Wales.
Visitors to the seaside town of Barry, six or seven miles to the west of Cardiff, might be forgiven for thinking that the place held nothing more important than a pleasure beach, a fun fair and a few empty docks that seem to have little or no purpose.
Yet there was a time when Barry was the largest coal exporting port in Britain, possibly even the world. That may have been a long time ago and the town's days of glory may be gone, but what a glory they were. LINK