Review:
Barry Island: The Making of a Seaside Playground, c.1790 - c.1965
by Andy Croll
From Planet 241
Andrew Campbell
reviews
Barry Island: The Making of a Seaside Playground, c.1790 - c.1965
by Andy Croll
University of Wales Press, £19.99
‘What’s occurring’, within this meticulously researched text by Andy Croll is a fascinating study into the development of Barry Island as a seaside resort between 1790 and 1965. Rich in historical detail, it provides absorbing insights into the town’s dramatic late nineteenth-century transformation from a quiet coastal backwater, with a population in 1881 of 388, to an industrial port and seaside destination in under a decade. By the early 1890s it was attracting 150,000 trippers per year and was on its way to establishing iconic status as a much loved, excursionist playground for visitors from the industrial heartlands of south Wales. The book explores underlying planning conflicts, stakeholder interests and visitor management issues – all of which continue to have widespread contemporary relevance.
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