Barry is a town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales. Located along the northern coast of the Bristol Channel less than 7 miles (11 km) south-southwest of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, Barry is a seaside resort, with attractions including several beaches and the Barry Island Pleasure Park. Once a small village, Barry has absorbed its larger neighbouring villages of Cadoxton and Barry Island.
The meaning of the place name is derived from the Welsh ‘barr’ meaning ‘hill’. The current population of Barry is 48,000, and the town is ranked as the seventh largest locality in Wales.
By 1871 the population of Barry was over the 100 mark there being 21 buildings, the new estate-owning Romilly family being involved in the build up of the village but it remained a largely agricultural community. It grew when it was developed as a coal port in the 1880s. The coal trade was growing faster than the facilities at Tiger Bay in Cardiff ever could and so a group of colliery owners formed the Barry Railway Company and chose to build the docks at Barry. Work commenced in 1884 and the first dock basin was opened in 1889 to be followed by two other docks and extensive port installations. The Barry Railway brought coal down from the South Wales Valleys to the new docks whose trade grew from one million tons in the first year, to over nine million tons by 1903. The port was crowded with ships and had flourishing ship repair yards, cold stores, flour mills and an ice factory. By 1913, Barry was the largest coal exporting port in the world.
Although still a port, Barry is more of a manufacturing town and as a service centre for the Vale of Glamorgan. Barry Docks and the adjoining industrial area form the largest employment centre in the town. The docks, whose road links were dramatically improved with the opening of the Docks Link Road in 1981, now have direct road access with the M4 motorway. The docks can handle vessels up to 23,000 tonnes and the first-class tidal position close to the deep-water channel of the Severn Estuary, allows for regular scheduled sailings. With its extensive transit sheds, warehouses and open storage, the docks are well equipped to handle bulk cargoes for which the batteries of high capacity grab cranes are invaluable. Two roll on/roll off berths are available and have been extensively used by routes to Ireland and West Africa.
