The birth and boom of Barry Docks.

Barry was a tiny hamlet of farms and cottages until 1886. Then in just 5 years it was turned into the biggest coal exporting port in the world and is now the biggest town in Wales. How did that happen? What drove that expansion? Who were the people behind it and what was their motivation? And why is the dock now just a shadow of what it once was? In this video historian, author and broadcaster Graham Loveluck-Edwards discusses the meteoric rise of Barry (the docks and the town) with Nick Hodges of the Victorian Barry Experience. We look at the early years and what Barry was like before the docks, why Barry was chosen as the preferred site for the new docks, the vision of those who planned it, the labour and losses of those who physically built it and the lives of the people who lived and worked in its shadow. This video is an episode in the History On Your Doorstep series. Written, presented and published by Welsh author and historian; Graham Loveluck-Edwards and broadcast on Bro Radio. In this series of short videos, I examine the pivotal moments in the history of the Vale of Glamorgan. The people, places and events that have shaped our county and still impact on our lives today. I hope you enjoy them. And if you do, please subscribe to this channel and share them on social media. To find out more please visit my web site at https://grahamloveluckedwards.com