| Barry Island | |
|---|---|
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  Barry Island | |
| Location | Barry Island |
| Coordinates | 51°23′24″N3°16′05″W / 51.390°N 3.268°W |
| Subsequent names | Butlins Barry Island (1966–1986) Majestic Barry Island (1987–?) Barry Island Resort (?–1996) |
| Established | 18 June 1966 |
| Closed | 7 November 1996 |
Barry Island was a Butlin's (and later a Majestic Holidays) holiday camp located on Barry Island in Wales. It opened in 1966 and closed in 1996.
Barry Island (Welsh : Ynys y Barri) is a small seaside resort in the Bristol Channel (Môr Hafren) about 9 miles (14 km) south by south west of Cardiff, (Welsh : Caerdydd), south Wales. Until 1896, when a rail link was completed from the mainland, the only access to Barry Island was either by foot across the sand and mud at low tide, or, when the tide was in, by Yellow Funnel Line paddle steamer. Over 150,000 visitors were recorded arriving one August Bank Holiday weekend, mostly by train. [1] Further tourist attractions were developed on the island, and by 1934, the number of visitors to the fairground during the August Bank Holiday week was over 400,000.
Billy Butlin's inspiration for his holiday empire came from a less than happy holiday to Barry Island in his youth, when he'd been locked out of his B&B all day by his landlady. [2] He finally decided to build one of the Butlins Holiday Camps at Barry Island.
What was to become the last-built and smallest of the Butlins Holiday Camps came to Barry Island in 1965. Billy Butlin took out a 99-year lease on the headland at Nell's Point in 1966. [3] Building work began there in the winter and the gates opened to campers on 18 June 1966.
Barry Island holiday camp contained all the tried and tested Butlins ingredients: the famous Butlins Redcoats, funfair, early morning wake up with Radio Butlin, dining hall, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, ballroom; boating lake, tennis courts, sports field (for the three legged and egg and spoon races and the donkey derby), table tennis and snooker tables, amusement arcade, medical centre, theatre, arcades of shops and the Pig and Whistle Showbar. A 430-metre (1,410 ft) chairlift system was opened in 1967. There were 800 basic, 'no-frills' chalets, designed to modern 1960s standards, which, on the outside, meant wooden panels and flat roofs.
The camp continued to be enormously successful throughout until the 1980s, but on 29 October 1986, Butlins announced that it would have no place in the company's future and would close after Christmas, and it did so on 31 December 1986. [4]
The camp was sold to Majestic Holidays and re-opened on 23 May 1987 as Majestic Barry Island (later renamed The Barry Island Resort). Majestic Holidays' plans to demolish the camp and rebuild the site did not reach fruition though the camp was given a complete refurbishment, including refurbishing swimming pools. Majestic Holidays continued to use the Redcoats until 1989 but they became the Bluecoats in 1991, following Butlins threat of legal action over the name.
Maintenance had now become such an issue, especially with the chalet's flat roofs and wooden panelling, that a clause was added to the booking conditions limiting refunds to 20% of the cost of the holiday. [5] Following numerous complaints over the camp, the BBC show That's Life! investigated. The report aired in January 1989 and the report said "It's Barry Awful, It's Barry Hell" and the presenter at the end said "If you're off to Barry Island this summer, send us a postcard." They did! By the end of the summer of 1989, That's Life had received 8,000 postcards in praise of the camp, with only about 40 complaints. [6] Majestic Holidays' owner, Rick Wright, sued and Majestic received £500,000 damages. [3]
By 1996, with storm damage causing more maintenance problems, Vale of Glamorgan Council threatened to refuse renewal of Barry Island Resort's entertainments licence, unless work was carried out to improve the now 30-year-old site. Majestic's now trading company, Insurebowls Ltd, continued through the summer, but closed the camp for good on 7 November 1996, [5] although they had originally intended to reopen the following year.
The holiday camp site was sold for £2.25m to Vale of Glamorgan Council, in October 1997, who demolished the camp and sold it to Bovis Homes for housing development. Now known as Bryn Llongwr, houses were built on the site between 2002 and 2003, [4] with the remaining two original camp buildings and outdoor pool being demolished in early 2005.
On 27 September 2014, the Mayor of The Vale of Glamorgan, Councillor Howard Hamilton, unveiled a blue plaque in the new 'Seafront Garden', part of a £3,000,000 refurbishment of the coastline round Nells Point. The plaque, designed by former AEM, Steuart Kingsley-Inness and paid for by him and former Barry Redcoats, was dedicated to the late Entertainments Manager, John Wilson, it commemorates the Butlins Holiday Camp and its operator, showman and philanthropist Sir William 'Billy' Butlin. Sir Billy's widow, Sheila, Lady Butlin, sent a letter expressing her delight at this tribute to her husband and "one of his favourite camps."
Between Butlins' closure and Majestic's reopening the camp was used for filming scenes in the "Shangri-La" holiday camp from the Doctor Who serial Delta and the Bannermen . Filming took place between 24 June – 8 July 1987
Butlin's is a chain of large seaside resorts in the United Kingdom, incorporated as Butlins Skyline Limited. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families.
Barry Island is a district, peninsula and seaside resort, forming part of the town of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is named after the 6th century Saint Baruc. Barry's stretch of coast, on the Bristol Channel, has the world's second highest tidal range of 15 metres (49 ft), second only to the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada.
Sir William Heygate Edmund Colborne Butlin was an entrepreneur whose name is synonymous with the British holiday camp. Although holiday camps such as Warner's existed in one form or another before Butlin opened his first in 1936, it was Butlin who turned holiday camps into a multimillion-pound industry and an important aspect of British culture.
A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation, primarily in the United Kingdom, that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with terms such as holiday park, resort, holiday village and holiday centre replacing it.
Barry is a town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is on the north coast of the Bristol Channel approximately 9 miles (14 km) south-southwest of Cardiff. Barry is a seaside resort, with attractions including several beaches and the resurrected Barry Island Pleasure Park. According to Office for National Statistics 2021 estimate data, the population of Barry was 56,605.
Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. It was acquired by Britannia Hotels in 2011.
Barry Island Pleasure Park is an amusement park situated on the coast at Barry Island in the Vale of Glamorgan, about 10 miles (16 km) south west of the capital city Cardiff, Wales.
Redcoat is the name given to frontline staff at Butlin's holiday camps in the UK. A Redcoat has duties ranging from adult entertainer or children's entertainer to stewarding.
Ingoldmells is a coastal village, civil parish and resort in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A52, and 3 miles (5 km) north from the resort town of Skegness.
Barry Council Office and Library is a local government building and public library located in King Square, Barry, Wales. The building, which was once the meeting place of Barry Municipal Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.
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Barry Docks is a port facility in the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, a few miles southwest of Cardiff on the north shore of the Bristol Channel. The docks were opened in 1889 by David Davies and John Cory as an alternative to the congested and expensive Cardiff Docks to ship coal carried by rail from the South Wales Coalfield. The principal engineer was John Wolfe Barry, assisted by Thomas Forster Brown and Henry Marc Brunel, son of the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Butlin's Ayr was a holiday camp located near Ayr in South Ayrshire, Scotland. When originally opened in 1946, it was named Butlin's Ayr, but in 1987 was renamed Wonderwest World. It closed in 1998 and re-opened in 1999 under the management of Haven Holidays who renamed it Craig Tara.
Butlin's Pwllheli was a holiday camp located near Pwllheli in Wales. The site is now used by Haven Holidays for a caravan park and has been renamed Hafan y Môr. When originally opened in 1947, it was named Butlins Pwllheli, but in 1990 was renamed Starcoast World.
Butlins Skegness, formerly Butlin's Skegness or Funcoast World; is a holiday camp located in Ingoldmells near Skegness in Lincolnshire, England. Billy Butlin conceived of its creation based on his experiences at a Canadian summer camp in his youth and by observation of the actions of other holiday accommodation providers, both in seaside resort lodging houses and in earlier smaller holiday camps.
Butlins Resort Minehead is a holiday camp operated by Butlins, located in Minehead in Somerset, England. It opened in 1962 and remains in use today. It was known as Butlin's Minehead until 1987, and as Somerwest World from then until 1999, when it reopened as Butlins Minehead Resort.
Butlin's Bognor Regis is a holiday camp in the seaside resort of Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England. It lies 55.5 miles (89 km) south southwest of London. Butlin's presence in the town began in 1932 with the opening of an amusement park; their operation soon expanded to take in a zoo as well. In 1960, Billy Butlin opened his first post-war mainland holiday camp, moving both the amusement park and zoo into the new camp. The camp survived a series of cuts in the early 1980s, attracting further investment and again in the late 1990s when it was retained as one of only three camps still bearing the Butlin name. The camp has since seen a raft of new construction as the company moves from chalet towards hotel-based accommodation.
Hafan y Môr is a holiday camp located near Pwllheli in Wales. It is currently run by Haven Holidays.
Warner Hotels is a hospitality company owning 14 country and coastal properties around the UK in North Wales, Somerset, Herefordshire, Berkshire, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Isle of Wight, Suffolk, Hampshire and Warwickshire. Founded in 1932 as Warner Holiday Camps, later known as Warner Holidays and has been adult only since 1994. In the 1990s Warner's started developing country house hotels and changing their existing 'camps' into coastal resorts and hotels.
Filey Holiday Camp was a Butlin's holiday camp near Filey, North Yorkshire, England, built for Billy Butlin's holiday organisation. Construction of the camp began in 1939. From 1939 to 1945, the camp was used as a military training base, as RAF Hunmanby Moor. The camp closed in 1983.
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